Paul: Christianity’s Premier Apostolic Mystic
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Harvey Egan argues that the apostle Paul was Christianity's earliest mystic, and the world's greatest missionary, one whom scholars estimate walked over fifteen hundred miles--not to mention his dangerous sea journeys--to plant the flag of Lord Jesus in Roman colonies where Caesar was supposedly lord. This book stresses Paul's mystical consciousness and mystical life--the explicit and direct consciousness of the immediate and direct presence of the Trinity and/or Jesus-Messiah. It underscores mystical experience not only as discrete, individual experiences but also as experience in the sense that an experienced musician instinctively knows and loves music. From the light issuing from the risen Jesus-Messiah, whom he encountered on the Damascus road, Paul mystically read the Jewish Scriptures and comprehended that God consummated Israel's history through the sending of Jesus-Messiah and the Holy Spirit. Paul's letters are paradigmatic of the earliest use of the word "mystical," that is, how the Jewish Scriptures disclose Jesus-Messiah. Thus, Paul, the zealous Jewish Pharisee, grew to understand Christianity as Judaism perfected.
- Focuses on Paul's mystical worldview
- Claims that Paul's mysticism became the center of his life, which engendered in him new ways of knowing and loving
- Explains what authentic Christian mysticism is and why "apostolic mystic" is an appropriate designation for the apostle Paul
- From Saul, the Zealous Pharisee, to Paul, the Zealous Apostolic Mystic
- The Apostle Paul, Christianity's Premier Apostolic Mystic
- Pauls' Mysticism of the Cross and Resurrection
- A Trinitarian Shema Mysticism
- Paul's Mysticism of Baptism, the Church, and the Eucharist
- Paul's Mysticism of the New Creation
Ninety years ago, Albert Schweitzer recognized that Paul was the first Christian mystic. Now, Harvey Egan has expanded and deepened the picture of Paul the mystic in this new and penetrating book, investigating the apostolic, christological, trinitarian, and ecclesiological dimensions of the mysticism of the Apostle to the Gentiles. All subsequent Christian mystics read and cited Paul, but Egan’s work shows how much Pauline themes were, indeed, foundational for later Christian mysticism. By considering Paul’s relation both to previous Jewish traditions, as well as to subsequent Christian history, Egan’s incisive work casts light both on the origins and the later story of Christian mysticism. A ground-breaking series for biblical scholars, as well as for students of mysticism.
—Bernard McGinn, University of Chicago
Harvey D. Egan, SJ, brings years of study and writing on the Christian mystical tradition to this rich exploration of one of the foundational sources of that tradition: Paul, apostle and mystic. Though rooted in the faith of Israel, Paul’s mysticism is his transformative consciousness of the fulfillment of God’s salvific plan in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. Paul’s mystical consciousness animated his apostolic conviction that fulfillment in Christ is good news not only for Israel, but for all peoples, indeed for the whole of creation.
—Robert P. Imbelli, author of Rekindling the Christic Imagination
Father Harvey Egan is a former doctoral student of Karl Rahner, an expert in Christian mysticism, and is adept in New Testament scholarship. After reading all of his books and many of his articles over the last thirty-five years, I can vouch that in this vibrant and insightful book he will be the best guide for those desirous of understanding St. Paul’s mystical consciousness as well as the real nature of Christian mysticism.
—Louis Roy, OP, Dominican University College, Ottawa