Saint John of the Cross and the Problem of Mystical Experience (First English Translation)

A landmark study first published in French in 1924, Jean Baruzi's Saint John of the Cross and the Problem of Mystical Experience is a major work in the philosophical and phenomenological study of Christian mysticism. Rather than treating Saint John of the Cross solely as a theologian or devotional writer, Baruzi approaches his life, writings, poetry, and mystical doctrine as a profound philosophical problem. What is mystical experience, and what kind of knowledge can it provide? This work traces the development of Saint John's thought from his early life and formation through his participation in the Carmelite reform and his imprisonment, before turning to his poetry and, ultimately, to the stages of the mystical way. At its heart is Baruzi's sustained investigation of the radical transformation described by Saint John - the passage through negation and darkness toward mystical union and the "theopathic state." Combining intellectual history, philosophy, psychology, literary analysis, and the study of religion, Baruzi's work remains an important and challenging interpretation of one of Christianity's greatest mystics. Translated by Wanyoung Kim-Murphy and edited by Mark Gerard Murphy, this edition presents the first complete English translation of Baruzi's monumental study, making this influential work available to a new generation of readers and scholars of Saint John of the Cross, Christian mysticism, philosophy of religion, and phenomenology.