Jan Van Ruusbroec, Mystical Theologian of the Trinity (Studies in Spirituality and Theology)

Rating:
Summary: An important contribution to scholarship on mysticism
Review: Rik Van Nieuwenhove's book, Jan van Ruusbroec: Mystical Theologian of the Trinity, is the first major systematic theological study of Ruusbroec in English. This ably-written and well-researched book makes available the richness and originality of Ruusbroec's Trinitarian theology, anthropology, Christology, and theology of deification.

The book will immediately find an important place in the contemporary conversation about the role of experience for understanding union with God. Particularly in Chapter 2, "Apophatic Theologian or 'Phenomenologist of the Mystical Experience'" and Chapter 6, "The Common Life: Deification according to Ruusbroec" the author explains Ruusbroec's subtle notion of union with God and defends it against those who would misinterpret it as descriptive of an unmediated "experience" of God.

Van Nieuwenhove clearly presents Ruusbroec's original and insightful Trinitarian theology and his balanced notion of deification-the common life: a harmonious life of contemplation and virtuous activity. This is an excellent book and an important contribution to scholarship on mysticism!