Book Description
Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) is often called the outstanding intellectual figure of the fifteenth century as well as the principal gatekeeper between medieval and modern philosophy. This volume gives fresh attention to the theological and mystical dimensions of his thought. The introduction casts new and exciting light on the development of Cusa's theology of spirituality. The book also provides for the first time in one volume an English translation of Cusa's basic mystical corpus: On Learned Ignorance; On the Hidden God; On Seeking God; On the Vision of God; and On the Summit of Contemplation. Another unique feature is the annotated glossary of key Cusan terms that accompanies the texts.

Cusa's writings reveal a remarkable imaginative and gifted theologian who anticipated contemporary questions of ecumenicity and pluralism, empowerment and reconciliation, and tolerance and individuality. These translations particularly communicate to us his experience of a very large God that jostles us out of our parochialism.

For all his intellectual power, he never closes his thought into a system. He is a significator and a conjecturer. He keeps pointing beyond his own words and beyond even his prized formulae and labels, including "learned ignorance" and "coincidence of opposites." He persistently brings theology to the edge of incomprehensibility, beyond both positive and negative ways, beyond even paradox and the coincidence of opposites, to the realm of the Purely Absolute and Infinite, to the contemplation of Possibility Itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Beautiful synthesis of theology, philosophy and mysticism
Nicholas of Cusa is a rare and lonely genius who straddles the time of change between the late medieval period and the early Renaissance.A cardinal in the Roman Church, Cusa like many more modern mystics, led a highly active as well as contemplative life.

This collection of writings includes Cusa's most important work, 'On Learned Ignorance' as well as several smaller works including 'The Vision of God' and 'The Unknown God.'

Cusa's mysticism is deeply speculative and intellectual, perhaps more so than any other Christian mystic except Eckhart and Eriugena.At the heart of Cusa's mysticism is God's absolute infinity, which renders God utterly and entirely incomprehensible to the human mind.Because incomprehensibility is not merely due to a defect of the human mind but is an attribute of God himself, Cusa rigorously adopts a strongly apophatic approach to God, developed along lines already laid out by Dionysius the Aeropagite, Eckhart, and Scotus Eriugena.

In the Learned Ignorance Cusa likens God to the 'absolute maximum' who while ineffable, contains the fullness of being and reality.The absolute maximum is God's essence as it is in itself, what philosophers might now call the Absolute.In the absolute maximum, which is basically God's infinite nature, all coincidences and opposites merge into one basic unity.In other words, the many become the one and the one becomes the many in God's plenitude of being.

Cusa then goes on to describe how God is related to the universe.The universe is the absolute contractum or minimum, crudely a mirror of God's infinity and infinite itself, but not God.The universe presents the believer with an overwhelming expression of God's ineffability, however God himself by virtue of his absolute infinity remains shrouded in incomprehensibility and mystery.One of Cusa's favourite sayings is the ancient maxim 'God is a sphere whose circumference is everywhere and centre is nowhere.'

Cusa also argues that as God is radically unknowable, also the universe is in a way radically unknowable.Humans are engaged in an ever deepening vision of God through creatures, though God himself will forever remain unknown to the created mind.Like Eriugena and Eckhart, Cusa pushes his apophatic theology and mysticism to the very limit and seems to argue at times even creatures themselves are somehow theophanies or appearances of deeper realities or reality which we can never know.In this sense he seems to anticipate Kant, who put a radical barrier between the knowable and the unknown.

Cusa's vision of God contains astonishing philosophical and theological depth which remains unmatched until the arrival of Spinoza.His vistas of an infinite universe are perhaps unmatched until the arrival of the mystical cosmology of Giordo Bruno and the universe of Isaac Newton.

While perhaps Cusa's vision may not be appropriate for today's universe, his courage in exploring the hidden deeps of God's being are to be admired for their profoundity and originality, and one looks forward with hope to the next Cusa who will integrate all things into a grand vision before which one feels only awe.

A Path to a Pure Spiritual/Modern World
This book is one of many translations that are currently being made for English language readers on the 15th century writings of Nicholas of Cusa.New translations of Cusanus writings began to appear in the late 1970s by Jasper Hopkins of the University of Minnesota.Free copies of some of Hopkins translations are available on the Internet at http://www.cla.umn.edu/jhopkins/.Today, translations of these 15th century writings are also being made by the American Cusanus Society.The author of this book is past president of this society.

The writings of Nicholas of Cusa are significant because his writings, on God and our world, initiated the modern world in which we live today.To me, his writings are the most important religious writings to be found on amazon.com today.His writing will help people transform the out-dated ancient views of God and our world they have been taught into modern viewssupported by modern science.Without this transformation, a person becomes conservative with a closed mind and will not understand the natural changes that are taking place among liberal and open-minded people.

This book is a necessary addition to any home or public library.It is necessary by any person who is working on the unification of science and theology.And, it is necessary for any person who believes that a pure spiritual/modern world is possible beyond the materialistic-driven spiritual/modern world in which we live today today.

The Neo-Gnostic Christian Mystic
Of all the great Christian mystics that I have read, Nicholas de Cusa is one of the finest. In the masterpiece "On Learned Ignorance" he reveals the "coincidence of opposites," which is the point in infinity when all opposites unite and become blended together in God's infinity, the Infinite Line, which is the Absolute Maximum and Absolute Minimum combined, i.e., the two points (contradictions) of a finite line converging and becoming unified, or equal in God's un-being existence, where there is no proportion between the infinite and the finite. He believed that Jesus Christ is the Gate Keeper of the "coincidence of opposites." We can only understand God through a "learned ignorance" because God is beyond being, beyond all understanding. This work alone is worth the cost of the entire book. Also included are "Dialogue on the Hidden God," "On Seeking God," "On the Vision of God," and "On the Summit of Contemplation." All these works together form a synthesis in Nicholas' philosophy/theology. Nicholas was very gnostic. He takes Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite's mysticism to the next level, if that is even possible. You will also see the obvious influence that Meister Eckhart had on him. There's a wonderful Foreward, Introduction, Abbreviations, Notes to the Text, A Brief Glossary of Cusan Terms, Select Bibliography, and Indexes. This book is a must have for any Christian-mysticism collection. I highly recommend this volume.

A Delightful Experience!
This book affords the scholar and novice alike a wonderful foray into the thought of Nicholas of Cusa.A fine collection of principal titles by Cusanus, this book is one full of enigmatic charm and probing insight!The forward and introduction provide a helpful entryway to the texts which aresupplemented by a useful glossary of key terms and several notes. ... Read more

Book Description
Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) was one of the most illustrious figures of the fifteenth century--a man whose imagination spanned the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance to point the way to modernity.

Theologian, philosopher, canon lawyer, reformer, church statesman, and cardinal, Cusanus' ideas of learned ignorance and the coincidence of opposites still attract attention today across a wide variety of disciplines. However, there is no one book in the marketplace that explains to a general audience all the different facets of this Renaissance man. This book, which might be considered "Nicholas of Cusa 101," offers separate chapters for the non-specialist introducing the vocabulary, ideas, and works of Nicholas of Cusa on a wide variety of topics.

The book also provides a guide to his works in Latin, English, and other languages; all the secondary literature on each topic treated; a glossary of Cusan terms and ideas; and a guide to Cusan societies, sites, libraries, and museums. ... Read more

Book Description
Nicholas of Cusa was a Christian mystic who lived during the 1400s. The Vision of God is known as a classic of Christian mysticism, putting many believers in touch with the divine.

Many Christians have a desire to experience God, rather than just believe in Him. Nicholas of Cusa provides an excellent guidebook for Christians who sense something deeper to the Christian experience. He was a mystic. He experienced God on a number of levels and taught people to move beyond mere belief and have similar experiences.

By bringing spiritual principles into the Christian religious setting, Nicholas was able to instruct and enrich thousands of people. This he did at a time when Christianity was beginning to cast a long shadow of strict dogma over the masses -- it was the dawning of the Inquisition -- yet Nicholas was able to keep his mystical teachings Safely within the boundaries of the Church.

During this incredibly busy and volatile time, Nicholas engaged himself whenever he could in meditation and study. It is from these introspective journeys that he received his spiritual insights. He also spent much time with a group of Benedictine monks, who asked for spiritual guidance from Nicholas after recognizing his gifts. Nicholas responded with The Vision of God in December of 1453. A rare classic brought back into print. ... Read more

Book Description
This is the first English translation of the most important work of political thought of the fifteenth century. The Catholic Concordance is the first major treatise to argue for consent through representative councils as a major prerequisite for legitimate law and government, and is the most learned and original work associated with the conciliar movement in the late medieval church. Cusa's arguments influenced such thinkers as Luther, Bruno and Locke, andProfessor Sigmund's introduction places his work in its full historical and philosophical context. ... Read more

Book Description
College text ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Book For Every Scientist, Theologian, and Religious Family
This book by the 15th century biship of the Roman Church, Nicholas of Cusa, is about God and the creation.But this is a new view of God and God's creation through the eye of Nicholas of Cusa who uses negative theology to (1) know the creation and (2) understand God, simultaneously. With this unified view of God and God's creation, God becomes truly absolute because a monotheistic God must create out of nothing and thus has no oppositions.

In this new view of a monotheistic God, the good/evil religious dualism, which is currently used by Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, must be replaced by the identity/difference religious dualism. Theontology of "identity is, in fact, the Christian Trinity and the ontology of "difference"is, in fact, the creation taught by St. Paul at Rom. 1:20. Since a true monotheistic God has no opposing forces, God is not jealous.Nor can opposing forces such as Satan, Devil, demons, and fallen angels exist. Accordingly, love, not fear, becomes the new relationship between God and Man

The true creation of a monotheistic God turns out to be a holistic theophany.In this new creation theory, the creation is eternal and has no end.This implies that the immortality of man is a natural process and that evolutionary theory is false.In Cusa's creation, God reveals Himself through contracted images of Himself. These images are infinite in God and are contracted by God with plurality and finitude. Since God creates out of nothing, God is thus found in all creature, that is, in a way that God is all actual creatures.

This book must be read by all godly persons.

Excellent translation of brilliant Renaissance philosopher
If Shakespeare was the first (and last) person to understand what is a human being, Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) was the first (and last) person to understand what is God. God -- of course -- is the object of mathematics. Nicholas' most important book _On Learned Ignorance_ (De Docta Ignorantia), inspired by Plotinus and pseudo-Dionysius, uses mathematical models in an attempt to describe God as the Unknowable One; in the process, Nicholas stumbles upon ideas that will later be formalized in calculus, non-Euclidean geometry, and the transfinite numbers of Cantor. Although Nicholas is best read in Latin, Jasper Hopkins' translation is at once very precise and superbly readable; the commentary is intelligent and informed ... Read more

Book Description
Taken from the Great Philosphers, Volume II.
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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Renaissance Quarterly, published by Renaissance Society of America on December 22, 1996. The length of the article is 631 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A Miscellany on Nicholas of Cusa.
Author: James E. Biechler
Publication: Renaissance Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 1996
Publisher: Renaissance Society of America
Volume: v49Issue: n4Page: p901(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Book Description
This volumes contains studies on Nicholas of Cusa and his times.The firstsection is concerned with Cusanus' context, beginning with ahistoriographicessay by Francis Oakley on the impact of BrianTierney's Foundations ofthe Conciliar Theory. Among the topicsaddressed are the long-termcontinuation of the Council of Basel(1431-1449) and the issues ofecclesiastical income which itaddressed. The second part is concerned withCusanus' thought on theChurch, both in his conciliarist and papalist phases.Included is thefirst translation into English of Nicholas' Reformatiogeneralis.Attention also is paid to Cusanus' reforming efforts and the relationship of his thought on these issues to his earliest speculative writings. The third part is concerned with Nicholas' ideas on Christandmystical experience.Particular attention is paid to the Devisione dei, including itsrelationship to Renaissance art. The volumeconcludes with wide-ranging essayson the larger significance ofCusanus' speculative thought. An update ofThomas M. Izbicki'sbibliography of Cusanus scholarship in English isincluded. ... Read more