Sermons of Meister Eckhart

Meister Eckhart's Sermons gathers some of the most searching vernacular and Latin addresses of medieval Christian mysticism, meditating on detachment, the birth of the Word in the soul, poverty of spirit, and union with God beyond images. Their style is paradoxical, compressed, and daringly speculative: biblical exposition becomes metaphysical inquiry, pastoral counsel, and poetic negation. Situated within Dominican scholasticism yet straining toward apophatic theology, these sermons illuminate a pivotal moment when learned theology entered the language of interior experience. Eckhart (c. 1260-1328), a German Dominican, university theologian, preacher, and administrator, was formed by Aristotelian scholastic debate, monastic spirituality, and the urgent devotional needs of lay and religious audiences. His career in Paris, Strasbourg, and Cologne sharpened a rare gift: translating difficult doctrines of intellect, grace, and divine simplicity into sermons that could unsettle complacency and invite spiritual transformation. The later investigation of some propositions only underscores the audacity of his thought. This volume is indispensable for readers of mysticism, theology, philosophy, and medieval literature. It rewards slow reading, offering not easy consolation but a rigorous discipline of inward freedom.