My name is Bernard McGinn and my title was the Naomi Shenstone Donnelly, Professor now Emeritus at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, where I taught for 34 years, and I’ve been 20 years retired.Â
Much of my teaching and writing in recent years has been on Christian spirituality and Christian mysticism. Â
I am pleased to have the opportunity to be involved in the series that the WCCM will be running next year called Into the Mystics, where we’ll take 10 months to introduce some of the major Christian Mystics beginning with Augustin and Bernard of Clairvaux and moving right down to the 20th century.Â
And the reason I’m interested in in doing this and very happy to do it is because I think the Mystics still have a very major role to play in the present situation both with regard to the Church and with regard to culture.
The Mystics and their wisdom to the world
What do the mystics offer to the world? I would put it in the ancient term of wisdom.Â
They offer a wisdom that they’ve been given and that they’ve worked out. Given as a gift from God to try to help us understand and live each day in a way that brings us closer to God
My own long history of mysticism has been under the title of presence of God because I think that really does summarise what the Mystics want to convey to us:Â
Curious to find out more ?
Prof Bernard McGinn (now retired Professor Emeritus at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago) shares his reflection on the Christian mystics and what they offer to the contemporary world. He will be leading Into the Mystics, an online series of 10 sessions exploring 10 major Mystics, starting January 2024.
