The Fullness of God is the first in a new series of titles from World Wisdom featuring the essential writings of Frithjof Schuon. Here for the first time in one volume are the most important of Schuon’s chapters on the Christian tradition. The book is edited by James Cutsinger, who also edited Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East (World Wisdom, 2002) and Not of This World: A Treasury of Christian Mysticism (World Wisdom, 2003). The Fullness of God has been organized in such a way as to guide the reader from matters of metaphysical principle, through various theological and hermeneutical issues, to “operative” questions of spiritual practice and method. Specific topics include the relationship between Christianity and non-Christian religions; the divergence within Christianity between its main branches, Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant; the place of reason and faith in Christianity and their connection to spiritual knowledge or gnosis; …
The Fullness of God is the first in a new series of titles from World Wisdom featuring the essential writings of Frithjof Schuon. Here for the first time in one volume are the most important of Schuon’s chapters on the Christian tradition. The book is edited by James Cutsinger, who also edited Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East (World Wisdom, 2002) and Not of This World: A Treasury of Christian Mysticism (World Wisdom, 2003). The Fullness of God has been organized in such a way as to guide the reader from matters of metaphysical principle, through various theological and hermeneutical issues, to “operative” questions of spiritual practice and method. Specific topics include the relationship between Christianity and non-Christian religions; the divergence within Christianity between its main branches, Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant; the place of reason and faith in Christianity and their connection to spiritual knowledge or gnosis; the principles and applications of a mystical exegesis of Scripture; the central dogmas of the Trinity and Incarnation, as well as Eucharistic and Marian doctrine; and Christian initiation, contemplative practice, and “prayer of the heart.” The volume concludes with a short appendix of previously unpublished material, including samples from Schuon’s correspondence with various Christian seekers. Editor’s notes, a glossary of foreign terms, and a comprehensive index are also included to make this volume a very useful tool for students, as well as a rich mine for seekers after the sacred.Frithjof Schuon is best known as the foremost spokesman of the religio perennis and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. Over the past 50 years, he has written more than 20 books on metaphysical, spiritual and ethnic themes as well as having been a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon's writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities alike.James S. Cutsinger is Professor of Theology and Religious Thought at the University of South Carolina. His recent works include Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East (2002), and Not of This World: A Treasury of Christian Mysticism (2003). The recipient of numerous teaching awards, he was honored in 1999 as a Michael J. Mungo University Teacher of the Year.
I really wanted to get something meaningful out of The Fullness of God, but I found it almost impossible to follow. Maybe I’m just not smart enough for Schuon, but reading this felt like getting lost in a maze of tangents.
He constantly interrupts himself to clarify a point, then interrupts that clarification with another clarification, and before you know it, you’ve completely lost the original thread. It’s like trying to read three sentences at once, all nested inside each other. There were definitely moments where I could sense something profound just beyond my reach, but the writing style made it so hard to access.
I’m sure there’s wisdom in here, but it’s buried under such dense, winding prose that I honestly couldn’t stay with it. It was more exhausting than enlightening.
