Christian Mystics

Recommended Books

• Awareness By: Anthony De Mello. This book is great for the beginner and those further along as well. Awareness is written in a conversational style and broken up into many short topics that are quick to read. Tony De Mello was a Jesuit Priest/Mystic and speaks very plainly about mystic practices and understanding.


• Thomas Merton: No Man Is an Island Here, in one of his most popular of his more than thirty books, Thomas Merton provides further meditations on the spiritual life in sixteen thoughtful essays, beginning with his classic treatise "Love Can Be Kept Only by Being Given Away." Download the audio version at Audible.com


• De Anima: Books II and III (With Passages From Book I) Aristotle's De Anima has a claim to be the first systematic treatment of issues in the philosophy of mind, and also to be one of the greatest works on the subject.


• The Philokalia: The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts--selections A collection of writings by monks from the fourth to fifteenth centuries, the Philokalia more than any other text reflects the Eastern Church's interpretation of the Bible's meaning.


• Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Tradition While the institutional church has frequently set boundaries limiting what ideas, beliefs, and practices could be considered Christian, Smoley, a former editor of Gnosis magazine, reminds readers that adventurous seekers have always borrowed freely from many sources to enhance their inner spiritual knowledge. Download the audio version at Audible.com


• Teresa of Avila: Interior Castle (Classics of Western Spirituality). For those of you who have more time to listen than read, I suggest downloading the audio version at: Audible.com, they have a great selection of Christian Mysticism audio books including The Interior Castle.


• On Loving God By: Bernard of Clairvaux download the audio version at Audible.com or purchase a printed copy for your personal library at On Loving God…


• On Christian Doctrine (Dover Philosophical Classics) Download the audio version at Audible.com


• American Dictionary of the English Language (1828 Facsimile Edition) This 1828 facsimile reprint of the first American Dictionary documents the quality of Biblical education which raised up American statesmen capable of forming our Constitutional Republic.


• The story of Christopher Johnson McCandless was made into the 2007 film "Into the Wild" (DVD) based on John Krakauer’s 1996 book "Into the Wild" (BOOK) The adventure takes place as Chris graduates from college, relinquishes all ties to family, money, and even personal identification.


• Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West




For New Christians

If you are new to Christianity or perhaps only begging to understand the spiritual tradition of Christian mysticism, rather than jump head long into mysticism I would suggest the following books. They can serve as bridge between fundamentalism and mysticism without the added confusion of learning the spiritual language of mystics or straying into the occult and/or other non Christian traditions in search of understanding.

• The Screwtape Letters: With Screwtape Proposes a Toast
  Download the audio version at Audible.com



Eugene H. Peterson (Spiritual Theology, 5 volumes)

• Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology
  Download the audio version at Audible.com


• Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
  Download the audio version at Audible.com


• The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way
  Download the audio version at Audible.com


• Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers
  Download the audio version at Audible.com


• Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ
  Download the audio version at Audible.com