The Compassion of the Mystics - Dr. Bernard McGinn

God’s “loving kindness,” “mercy,” “tenderness,” and “compassion,” all closely related terms, are featured in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. Compassio, “suffering with others,” was not, however, a value in ancient society, so early Christians had to create a new theology and practice of compassion that deeply influenced the Christian mystical tradition. Among the numerous examples of the “mysticism of compassion” this talk singles out mystics of the early thirteenth century, concentrating on il Poverello, Francis of Assisi, the “poor man,” who presented an image of universal compassion to a society wracked by political tensions and economic inequalities. Francis’s contemporaries, the “holy women” (mulieres sanctae) of the early thirteenth-century Low Countries, such as Mary of Oignies, Beatrice of Nazareth, and Ida of Nivelles (“the Compassionate”), provide further evidence of the central role of compassion in the “New Mysticism” of the thirteenth century. Finally, a brief consideration will be given to Francis de Sales (d. 1626), the great seventeenth-century mystic, who not only was an outstanding personal witness to compassion, but who also set out a profound theology of compassion as one of the necessary “little virtues.”

[@scapedebate3730]

Bernhard McGinn is such a wonderful man and has a lot to share and talk about. Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful talk with all of us!

[@JohnDupuyintegralrecovery]

A real blessing. Thank you!

[@jimhayes9939]

I feel major edification listening to this talk.

[@edvardzv5660]

Reading the books of the New Testament, we probably asked ourselves more than once: *"Why 2000 years we do not see those miracles that accompanied the Сhurch of Christ in the I century, as described in the New Testament?"* Why do the so-called preachers of Christ have to prove that Jesus really existed and atheists boldly deny the historicity or divine origin of Christ? Maybe because the Сhurch of Christ has not existed for 2000 years?
The Сhurch does not exist in the form in which it is presented in the books of the New Testament, but there are Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and other christian sects claiming to be the place of the Church, but they not have the only thing that distinguishes the divine from the human and is characteristic of just the Сhurch of Christ -the reinforcement of the word with signs, that is, miracles (Mark 16:15-20). Therefore, some researchers doubt the historicity of Christ, and some of them are not opposed to declaring him a an ordinary philosopher, teacher. But even if Jesus were an ordinary philosopher, his disciples would be ordinary followers of Jesus. And they would not dare to write about the miracles that not only Jesus, but also his disciples, could perform. In this world, the great fertility of atheism can be explained by the fact that there is no main opponent of critics of the Bible - the Church. If there were the Church in our time as described by the authors of the New Testament books, where miracles are performed, the sick are healed, where prophesied, and the dead are raised, no one would doubt the historicity of Christ. Then there would be the same controversy throughout the world as in the first century - Jesus the Son of God or the false prophet who seduces the world by miracles. As a result, we can say that the emergence and development of christian sects and atheism was the result of the fact that over the 2000 years the Сhurch of Christ did not exist.
Find *"The Mystery about the Church of Christ"* video on CZcams. The video reveals the prophecy of the disappearance and reappearance of the Church of Christ before the End of the World. Watching this video will give hope to all who sincerely seek God and will interest those who are not too lazy to think freely. Click on my name to watch the video (The video is in Russian, but English subtitles are included).