Christianity/islam: Essays on Esoteric Ecumenicism

World Wisdom Books, 1985. Soft cover. Good. Softcovers lightly rubbed and edgeworn. Couple college rubber stamps, else interior clean and secure. . The Library of Traditional Wisdom. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. In this remarkable collection of articles, Schuon addresses many of the key concepts and enigmas of these two branches of Semitic monotheism. In the section on Christianity, the crucial question of the two natures of Christ is expounded in terms of the relationship between Absoluteness and relativity. <P>The chapter on the nature of Protestant Evangelicalism is a seminal work upholding the role of intrinsic orthodoxy in reconciling the exigencies of spiritual idealism with those of the everyday human world. In a sense, what is at issue here is the same problem - but on a different plane - as the enigma of diverse subjectivities. The section on Islam includes fascinating explanations of the various confessional divergences within its orthodox framework and their necessity. Both religions are here viewed as providential and integral manifestations of "divine subjectivity," each including three spheres or levels: the apostolic, the theological and the political. In setting forth and contrasting the key-notions of both faiths,the author illuminates the reasons for their differences as well as the underlying unity and universality of their metaphysical truths. While always pointing to the Divine Origin of authentic spirituality, Schuon's explication of the elements of "intrinsic orthodoxy" - in contrast to its particular manifestations within a religion - restores a sense of degrees in the Divine Order as well as a sense of proportions on the human plane. It is a perspective that transcends the polemics of conflicting confessional viewpoints and affirms the liberating divine content of diverse religious forms. Professional bookseller for twenty years. Orders shipped daily in cardboard bookfolds.