A multi-authored, interdisciplinary guide to the study of Christian mysticism, with an emphasis on the third through the seventeenth centuries.

Introduction Amy Hollywood and Patricia Z. Beckman; Part I. Contexts: 1. Early monasticism Douglas Burton-Christie; 2. Song, experience, and the book in Benedictine monasticism Amy Hollywood; 3. New religious movements in medieval western Europe Walter Simons; 4. Early modern reformations Edward Howells; Part II. Key Terms: 5. Apophatic and cataphatic theology Andrew Louth; 6. Lectio divina E. Ann Matter; 7. Meditatio/meditation Thomas Bestul; 8. Oratio/prayer Rachel Fulton Brown; 9. Visio/vision Veerle Fraeters; 10. Raptus/rapture Dyan Elliott; 11. Unio mystica/mystical union Bernard McGinn; 12. Actio et contemplatio/action and contemplation Charlotte Radler; Part III. Contemporary Questions: 13. Latin and the vernaculars Barbara Newman; 14. Transmission Sara S. Poor; 15. Writing Charles M. Stang; 16. The body and its senses Patricia Dailey; 17. Mysticism and visuality Jeffrey Hamburger; 18. Emotions Fiona Somerset; 19. Authority Mary Frohlich; 20. Gender Alison Weber; 21. Sexuality Constance Furey; 22. Time and memory Patricia Dailey.