19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good collection of Tauler's works, March 6, 2007
This review is from: Johannes Tauler: Sermons (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)
Johannes Tauler was one of the famous trio of 'Rhineland mystics' who flourished in the 13th century in Germany, the other two being Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso.
Tauler was, like Eckhart and Suso, a Dominican preacher whose calling involved both contemplation, prayer, study, but most importantly of all, going from place to place and preaching the word of God to all people in need of spiritual nourishment.
After Eckhart Tauler is certainly the most noble and great of the Rhineland mystics. While deeply influenced by many of Eckhart's ideas and notions, especially the 'ground' where the soul unites mysteriously to God, Tauler distanced himself somewhat from Eckhart after his condemnation for heresy and cautiously re-phrased or re-stated many of his ideas so they were more in line with the Church orthodoxy of the time. Tauler combined Eckhart's mysticism with excellent spiritual discernment and an extraordinary talent for pastoral care, and his warmth and impartiality in his preaching to both the lowest and highest in society attests to his great humulity, decent sense, and groundedness which is often lost by many mystics.
Tauler also had powerful mystical experiences of his own, revolving around experiencing God in the ground of his being, and while Tauler often uses extraordinary language to describe his experience, he is always careful to emphasize it cannot be achieved without the moral life of virtue and being grounded in the sacramental life of the Church, something Eckhart tended to de-emphasize more in favour of a profound sense of total oneness with God via a vigorous process of emptying the mind of ego, self, images and will.
Tauler's approach however is far more realistic and practical, and he counsels no-one under the age of 50 years will achieve these sorts of unitive experiences, and even only then if they are purified morally and in very good standing in terms of inward holiness.
This in my view, makes Tauler one of the fouyr greatest mystics of medieval times, along with Eckhart himself, the writer of the Cloud of Unknowing, and the Flemish mystic Ruysbroeck.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awonderful aid in opening the Door, December 28, 2007
This review is from: Johannes Tauler: Sermons (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)
If you buy this book...God is calling you home. You will certainly become holier than in the present n0w. Remarkably informative with insights of the Master from the student of Meister Eckhart & Thomas Aquinas. These sermons are the ones you hope to hear and n0w God has placed in your sight. Go for it! The best money can buy with a whole lot more!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Johannes Tauler: Sermons, December 17, 2007
This review is from: Johannes Tauler: Sermons (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)
The Classics of Western Spirituality is another series of resources from the writings of those who focused on the spiritual life. Each volume has a general introduction to the writer, and often each writing is also introduced.
In the volume, Johannes Tauler: Sermons, the very helpful general introduction by Josef Schmidt of McGill, gives us information not only about Tauler, but also the context in which he lived. You will be introduced to the three central features of medieval Christian mysticism and Tauler role in them. Schmidt also shares some objective observations about the "heresies" in Tauler's and others writings at the time. In addition, Schmidt gives a brief summary of Tauler's life and theology, and how he differs from Meister Eckhart and others.
A very helpful book for understanding medieval spiritual in the Christian Church.
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