Mystical Theology: The Science of Love

Johnston knows his subject like a man who's been there and done that. NOT "New Age" lightweight feelgood fodder. If you're passing through your own "Dark Night of the Soul" this is your companion on the journey.

If you really want to understand the differences between types of prayer and contemplation, this is the book for you. Citing St.. John of the Cross, one gets a very clear explanation of the "dark night of the soul" as well as , how love is "infused" into the soul by God and leads to wisdom.. Contemplation is not achieved by human effort, but is God' gift. It involves great suffering. I liked this book because of the author's depth of understanding of the content. It does require concentration and perseverance but the reward is worth your time. It met my expectations fully.

Fr. Johnston's book is the most modern and comprehensive text on Christian mystical theology to be found anywhere, east or west. Nothing else like it in print. If you want to understand the landscape of Christian contemplative prayer, this is the book to read.

Hard to review a book that is for use in a class setting. I am not really a reader but it served it's purpose It arrived in a timely manor and the price was right. Good but not really a great book. Just not my personal topic.

First class, knowledgeable contemporary intercultural work

This is an excellent and comprehensive overview of the subject of mystical theology. It is also an excellent introduction to the relationship between Christian mysticism and the mysticism of the world religions, especially those of the East.

Johnston (1995) aims to provide us with a contemporary guide to so called "Mystical Theology," in the main from the Christian tradition.The book provides good background into the Christian tradition of mystical writings, or mysticism, and in proceeding with parts on "Dialogue" and "The Mystical Journey Today" makes good reference to "The Song of Songs," Lonergan and VII documents.However: (i) the book's major downfall seems to be that it deploys the phrase "a cloud of unknowing" as a sort of bail-out phrase for something the author either does not know, or does not have the skilfulness to really 'convey.' Indeed the phrase is so often deployed in this manner one sees it literally dragged kicking and screaming throughout the entire text. The next bailout phrase seems to be "the dark night." "Love" is also deployed without any effort to distinguish it from common mediocre (crumbling) notions of the term, which get thrown around like bags of sand in everyday usage. These seem to be like a kind of hangover of Johnson's from writing too many earlier books 'about' mysticism, just as one might write 'about' poetry; (ii) Next, the author frequents talk of zen, which is ok but that we appear to be expected to know more about zen than Johnson can tell us, at least here; (iii) "Science & Mystical Theology" is the title of the book's Chapter 7, which should be "Science or Mysticism," or which should be replaced by a chapter elaborating on indian tantra and tantric Buddhism (Tibetan) that would be informative, which leads to the next point; (iv) Johnson only has one small section titled "Mysticism & Sexuality." This is odd considering the book's aim at providing a 'contemporary' guide to mystical theology supposedly dealing evenhandedly and sufficiently with contemporary issues; (v) finally, although Johnson mentions Augustine, Merton and Garrigou-Lagrange he only mentions them, when it seems he could have had chapters on each. Especially in terms of Augustine, Johnson talks about Grace, but not repentance. Indeed the word "repentance" does not feature at all in the entire book, though Kenosis does. Admittedly the terms are similar or the same but, again, there could have been a whole chapter on repentance in a book such as this. Chapter One perhaps. Johnson's book is good but not the book I would have written.

Since Vatican II and the 1960's, there has been a massively renewed interest in mysticism and interior forms of spirituality.William Johnston, a Jesuit missionary living in Japan, has extensive knowledge both of Western spirituality and mysticism and also through his experiences in Japan, of Eastern spirituality and mysticism, especially Zen Buddhism.Johnston is able to expound the insights of both traditions in a non-sectarian way on the basis of love; Christian agape and Buddhist compassion. He feels both traditions can enrich each other, provided both respect their appropriate boundaries.I am inclined to agree, being a student both of Christian spirituality and also Eastern religion as well. There is no need for the two traditions to try and 'convert' each other, rather, a dialogue will be more profitable in the longer term.

excellent

Wow!!!