Customer Reviews

Jean Gerson: Early Works (Classics of Western Spirituality)

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As the introduction included in this volume is clear to point out, Gerson is not a seminal and towering influence over subsequent intellectual developments. Gerson is, however, notable for the reader interested in the decline of the medieval scholastic tradition, for with Gerson's writtings one finds a marked departure from the disputations which dominated thirteenth and fourteenth century theology. Rather there is a move towards writting to increasingly wider audiences in increasingly plain language, anticipating modernity's tendency to emphasize more exoteric writing.

But what is most engaging, and what should garner interest in this volume, is Gerson's honest portrayal of his own inner life. Seen by a modern reader to be at times fair and loving, at times harsh and needlessly austere, and always willing to present his own weaknesses, failures, and needs, Gerson reveals the humanity of his own era in a way which allows us to recognize our own.

This volume became indispensable for all those interested in Gerson and he is worth to be interested in! Brian McGuire did an exceptional job. Highly recommended for specialists but also for all those interested in medieval spirituality.