An Introduction from the Editor of Medieval Mystical Theology

On behalf of The Eckhart Society I would like to welcome you to Medieval Mystical Theology 28.1. Before I introduce each of the four articles in this issue, I would like to say a big thank you to Georgina Burrows for editing the book reviews, to the peer reviewers who read the articles before the editing process began, to the Trustees of The Eckhart Society for their continued support, and finally to you the reader who make it possible and worthwhile. The opening article, by Reginald Mary Chua, is titled, ‘Eckhart, Aquinas, and the Problem of Intrinsic Goods’. Chua’s article centres on the question of how we ought to live in union with God, which he clarifies by way of two further questions. Typically, we might turn to Scripture as theological data for an answer, and yet both Aquinas and Eckhart are also informed by philosophy. It is for this reason that their respective answers to the question diverge. For Aquinas, union is between God’s will and human will, while for Eckhart it consists of an indistinct identity between God and human. Chua then looks at these two models in turn and will argue that their divergence is owing to how each answers the question: What should the ultimate purpose of our action consist in? As he continues, Chua explains what he means by the problem of intrinsic goods, a problem that arises from Aquinas’ understanding of union with God. Following this, Chua looks to the way in which Eckhart’s conception of union can be seen as a response to this problem. The focus here is on Eckhart’s understanding of God as a unique indistinctiveness and centres on the significance of the intellect for him. Furthermore, Chua argues how, ‘Eckhart’s account of living in union with God can provide resources for a striking resolution’ to the problem of intrinsic goods. Chua closes with more insights before suggesting wider questions that invite further readings. A lengthy, but extremely rich, article by Robert J. Dobie, is titled, ‘Eckhartian Mysticism as Scholastic Humanism’. From the off Dobie says: ‘What I want to do is simply to propose another and I think fresh way of looking at Eckhart’s thought’. This new reading is ‘Scholastic Humanism’, and Dobie explains what he means by each of the two elements that make up the term. Dobie is not simply saying that Eckhart was not a mystic, but rather, ‘the claim of this essay is what constitutes the “mystical” character of Eckhart’s thought is that it brings together humanism and scholasticism’. Dobie’s analysis is divided into four parts. The first part explores, ‘The Metaphysics of Detachment’. Here we learn why, for Eckhart, detachment is the most essential virtue and even greater than love. The second part is titled, ‘Ground and Birth’, and here we learn that God as existence itself (esse), ‘is thought of by Eckhart as pure freedom that can only be known by an inner detachment and completed or perfected only in an inner birth’. Dobie then proceeds to elucidate the nature and significance of this in the context of the soul. The third part is titled, ‘Science of the Intellect: Science of Divine “Birth”’. Here Dobie discusses the importance of the passive receptivity of the human intellect as a divine power that transcends all being. Thus, the intellect, ‘is “nothing” in the sense that it is no particular thing, but rather that in and through which particular beings are revealed as beings and come to truth’. Dobie then explains how, for Eckhart, the intellect works as the birth of an image of God: ‘To know God, then, in truth is to give birth to divine Truth itself, his Son, in the intellect’. The final part is titled, ‘Christ, the God-Man, as the Living Truth of Creation and of Revelation’. Here the significance of metaphysics is expounded,