Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality) [Paperback]

Nicholas of Cusa (Author), H. Lawrence Bond (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Classics of Western Spirituality | Publication Date: April 1997

Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) is often called the outstanding intellectual figure of the fifteenth century as well as the principal gatekeeper between medieval and modern philosophy. This volume gives fresh attention to the theological and mystical dimensions of his thought. The introduction casts new and exciting light on the development of Cusa's theology of spirituality. The book also provides for the first time in one volume an English translation of Cusa's basic mystical corpus: On Learned Ignorance; On the Hidden God; On Seeking God; On the Vision of God; and On the Summit of Contemplation. Another unique feature is the annotated glossary of key Cusan terms that accompanies the texts.

Cusa's writings reveal a remarkable imaginative and gifted theologian who anticipated contemporary questions of ecumenicity and pluralism, empowerment and reconciliation, and tolerance and individuality. These translations particularly communicate to us his experience of a very large God that jostles us out of our parochialism.

For all his intellectual power, he never closes his thought into a system. He is a significator and a conjecturer. He keeps pointing beyond his own words and beyond even his prized formulae and labels, including "learned ignorance" and "coincidence of opposites." He persistently brings theology to the edge of incomprehensibility, beyond both positive and negative ways, beyond even paradox and the coincidence of opposites, to the realm of the Purely Absolute and Infinite, to the contemplation of Possibility Itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Never before have the major spiritual writings of Nicholas been bound together in such a well-informed single volume. -- The Thomist

Scholars as well as students of the works of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-64) will welcome this volume. -- The Journal of Religion

Students of spirituality and mysticism will find much valuable material in this volume. -- Catholic Library World

The translators and publishers have done their jobs well, the texts are nicely presented. -- Mystics Quarterly

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809136988
• ISBN-13: 978-0809136988
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Neo-Gnostic Christian Mystic, October 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

Of all the great Christian mystics that I have read, Nicholas de Cusa is one of the finest. In the masterpiece "On Learned Ignorance" he reveals the "coincidence of opposites," which is the point in infinity when all opposites unite and become blended together in God's infinity, the Infinite Line, which is the Absolute Maximum and Absolute Minimum combined, i.e., the two points (contradictions) of a finite line converging and becoming unified, or equal in God's un-being existence, where there is no proportion between the infinite and the finite. He believed that Jesus Christ is the Gate Keeper of the "coincidence of opposites." We can only understand God through a "learned ignorance" because God is beyond being, beyond all understanding. This work alone is worth the cost of the entire book. Also included are "Dialogue on the Hidden God," "On Seeking God," "On the Vision of God," and "On the Summit of Contemplation." All these works together form a synthesis in Nicholas' philosophy/theology. Nicholas was very gnostic. He takes Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite's mysticism to the next level, if that is even possible. You will also see the obvious influence that Meister Eckhart had on him. There's a wonderful Foreward, Introduction, Abbreviations, Notes to the Text, A Brief Glossary of Cusan Terms, Select Bibliography, and Indexes. This book is a must have for any Christian-mysticism collection. I highly recommend this volume.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful synthesis of theology, philosophy and mysticism, November 23, 2006

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Greg (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

Nicholas of Cusa is a rare and lonely genius who straddles the time of change between the late medieval period and the early Renaissance. A cardinal in the Roman Church, Cusa like many more modern mystics, led a highly active as well as contemplative life.

This collection of writings includes Cusa's most important work, 'On Learned Ignorance' as well as several smaller works including 'The Vision of God' and 'The Unknown God.'

Cusa's mysticism is deeply speculative and intellectual, perhaps more so than any other Christian mystic except Eckhart and Eriugena. At the heart of Cusa's mysticism is God's absolute infinity, which renders God utterly and entirely incomprehensible to the human mind. Because incomprehensibility is not merely due to a defect of the human mind but is an attribute of God himself, Cusa rigorously adopts a strongly apophatic approach to God, developed along lines already laid out by Dionysius the Aeropagite, Eckhart, and Scotus Eriugena.

In the Learned Ignorance Cusa likens God to the 'absolute maximum' who while ineffable, contains the fullness of being and reality. The absolute maximum is God's essence as it is in itself, what philosophers might now call the Absolute. In the absolute maximum, which is basically God's infinite nature, all coincidences and opposites merge into one basic unity. In other words, the many become the one and the one becomes the many in God's plenitude of being.

Cusa then goes on to describe how God is related to the universe. The universe is the absolute contractum or minimum, crudely a mirror of God's infinity and infinite itself, but not God. The universe presents the believer with an overwhelming expression of God's ineffability, however God himself by virtue of his absolute infinity remains shrouded in incomprehensibility and mystery. One of Cusa's favourite sayings is the ancient maxim 'God is a sphere whose circumference is everywhere and centre is nowhere.'

Cusa also argues that as God is radically unknowable, also the universe is in a way radically unknowable. Humans are engaged in an ever deepening vision of God through creatures, though God himself will forever remain unknown to the created mind. Like Eriugena and Eckhart, Cusa pushes his apophatic theology and mysticism to the very limit and seems to argue at times even creatures themselves are somehow theophanies or appearances of deeper realities or reality which we can never know. In this sense he seems to anticipate Kant, who put a radical barrier between the knowable and the unknown.

Cusa's vision of God contains astonishing philosophical and theological depth which remains unmatched until the arrival of Spinoza. His vistas of an infinite universe are perhaps unmatched until the arrival of the mystical cosmology of Giordo Bruno and the universe of Isaac Newton.

While perhaps Cusa's vision may not be appropriate for today's universe, his courage in exploring the hidden deeps of God's being are to be admired for their profoundity and originality, and one looks forward with hope to the next Cusa who will integrate all things into a grand vision before which one feels only awe.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Experience!, April 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

This book affords the scholar and novice alike a wonderful foray into the thought of Nicholas of Cusa. A fine collection of principal titles by Cusanus, this book is one full of enigmatic charm and probing insight! The forward and introduction provide a helpful entryway to the texts which are supplemented by a useful glossary of key terms and several notes.