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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1642: Crossing Borders in the Medieval Mystical Tradition, II: Friendship, Affectus, Union

Thursday 9 July 2020, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Mystical Theology Network / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Organiser:John Arblaster, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Moderator/Chair:John Arblaster, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Paper 1642-aAelred of Rievaulx at the Border of History, Spirituality, and Psychology
(Language: English)
Joost Baneke, Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen, KU Leuven
Index terms: Monasticism, Religious Life, Theology
Paper 1642-bThe Abyssal Cut of Desire: Transgressing and Dissolving Divine-Human (In)Distinctions in the Mystical Theology of Hadewijch
(Language: English)
Amy Maxey, Department of Theology University of Notre Dame Indiana
Index terms: Philosophy, Theology
Paper 1642-cIs There a Border between God and the Human Person according to the Middle Dutch Mystics?
(Language: English)
Rob Faesen, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Index terms: Philosophy, Theology
Abstract

The sessions sponsored by the Mystical Theology Network will explore fundamental philosophical and theological issues related to medieval conceptions of the presence and absence of borders between the human and the divine, the finite and the infinite, and questions about the reception of mystical texts in different times, places, and languages. To what extent are 'friendship' and 'affectus' not only general social and psychological concepts, but also central to the historical and spiritual understanding of medieval mystics? How do mystics transgress the boundaries separating divinity and humanity and thus perhaps dissolve such distinctions? And to what extent are the receptions and perceptions of mystical texts dependent on differing contexts?