Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism: Ascent and Awakening in Bonaventure and Chinul

by Yongho Francis Lee

Publisher:

Lexington Books

, 2020

Overview

Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism explores two influential intellectual and religious leaders in Christianity and Buddhism, Bonaventure (c. 1217–74) and Chinul (1158–1210), a Franciscan theologian and a Korean Zen master respectively, with respect to their lifelong endeavors to integrate the intellectual and spiritual life so as to achieve the religious aims of their respective religious traditions. It also investigates an associated tension between different modes of discourse relating to the divine or the ultimate—positive (cataphatic) discourse and negative (apophatic) discourse. Both of these modes of discourse are closely related to different ways of understanding the immanence and transcendence of the divine or the ultimate. Through close studies of Bonaventure and Chinul, the book presents a unique dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism and between West and East.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Bonaventure’s Integration of the Intellectual and Spiritual Life

Chapter 2 Chinul’s Integration of Buddhist Doctrinal Teachings and Sŏn Practices

Chapter 3 The Spiral Dialectics of Cataphasis and Apophasis in Bonaventure

Chapter 4 The Tension between Moderate and Radical Subitism:

Conclusion

Appendix: Further Reading

Bibliography

About the Author

Praise for Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism

Through his work Fr. Lee draws out where east meets west and where these spiritual traditions are distinct. This is the type of study critically needed today, especially since the western Christian mystical tradition has in the past overpowered the rich spirituality of the east, and Buddhism in particular. I encourage everyone interested in the mystical quest for ultimate reality to read this book and reflect on the spiritual capacity of the human person, for east needs west and west needs east, if we are to see the human spiritual experience within the unity of cosmic life.

Yongho Francis Lee’s Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism is an impressive and much-needed contribution to our understanding of spiritual and mystical theology, and thus to the emerging field of comparative theology. We are invited to learn from two great European and Korean thinkers never studied together before—but also to think anew about the integration of religious learning and practice in our time and place.

Fr. Lee has brought to his study both the meticulous attention to text and argument that one expects of a careful scholar and the sensitivity to the spiritual resonances and nuances of those sources that one can expect to find in a Franciscan friar. Thus, both historical theologians and those pursuing their own personal spiritual paths are likely to find this study a valuable resource.

Product Details

• Title : Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism: Ascent and Awakening in Bonaventure and Chinul
• Author: Lee, Yongho Francis
• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication Date: 2020
• ISBN: 9781793600714

About Yongho Francis Lee

Yongho Francis Lee is professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical University Antonianum.