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For Life on Purpose Episode #55, a special “Soul Series” interview, my guest is preeminent theologian and bestselling author Matthew Fox, a popularizer of Western mysticism.
Matthew joined me for an enlightening chat about his new book A WAY TO GOD: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey, the Cosmic Christ, the divine feminine, eco-justice, and MUCH more!
“A WAY TO GOD is a powerful book about Merton’s pioneering work in deep ecumenism and interfaith; about his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and action; and about how the vision of thirteenth century mystic Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced both Merton and Creation Spirituality, which Fox has long espoused and written about.”
“Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.” —Pope Francis
About Matthew Fox:
Matthew Fox is a preeminent scholar and popularizer of Western mysticism, who became an Episcopal priest after being expelled from the Catholic Dominican Order by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict.
He holds a doctorate in spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris and has authored 32 books on spirituality and contemporary culture that have been translated into 60 languages.
He’s devoted 45 years to developing and teaching the tradition of Creation Spirituality and in doing so has reinvented forms of education and worship. His work is inclusive of today’s science and world spiritual traditions and has awakened millions to the much neglected earth-based mystical tradition of the West.
He has helped to rediscover Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and Thomas Aquinas. Among his books are Original Blessing, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, The Reinvention of Work, A Spirituality Named Compassion and Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times.
About A Way To God:
In his latest book A WAY TO GOD: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey, Matthew Fox reimmersed himself in Merton’s journals, poetry, and religious writings, finding that Merton’s marriage of mysticism and prophecy, contemplation and action closely paralleled that of Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century mystic who inspired Fox’s own Creation Spirituality.
This powerful book was prompted by an invitation Matthew Fox received to speak on the centennial of Thomas Merton’s birth. Fox says that much of the trouble he’s gotten into — such as being expelled from the Dominican Order in 1993, after thirty-four years, by Cardinal Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict) — was because of Merton, who prompted Fox to attend the Institut Catholique in Paris to undertake a doctoral program in spirituality.
In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and action, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey.
A Way to God creates a methodology for understanding the vast contributions that Merton made to the history of spirituality. Readers will rediscover the beauty and depth of Merton’s thinking and his pioneering work in bridging the religions, as well as discover a new dimension to Merton: his journey as a Creation Spirituality pilgrim.
To learn more about Matthew and his work, visit: http://www.matthewfox.org.