197 John Ruusbroec, TheSpiritualEspousals, the Sparkling Stone and other Works. Introduction and translation by James A. Wiseman, O.S.B. Preface by Louis Dupre. (New York: Paulist Press, 1985) xviii = 286 pp. $13.95, ISBN 0-8091-0364-8. Reviewed by Richard A. Muller* ‘ . Like the other volumes in the excellent series, The Classics of Western Spirituality, this volume of selected writings by the fourteenth century Flemish mystic John Ruusbroec provides its readers with a fine translation into good modern English, a noteworthy introduction to Ruusbroec’s work, and a substantial bibliography. It provides, in other words, a very good starting- point for the study of Ruusbroec and, by extension, of late medieval mysticism. It is worth noting, here, that the series, taken as a whole, is a major resource for the study of the middle ages: nowhere else do we find in English a resource that is as well-designed or as thorough in its coverage of these materials. And the series does, of course, cover not only the middle ages but also the patristic and modern eras. Ruusbroec’s importance lies, as the introduction well outlines, in his trinitarian thought and in his sense of the relationship between active and contemplative mysticism. Ruusbroec strongly opposed the fourteenth century heresy of the “Free Spirit,” according to which the contemplative became totally identified with the God- head and could adopt an utterly quietistic approach to life. Ruusbroec’s alternative was to recognize the necessity of the active life to all Christians and to construct a paradigm for mystical ascent resting upon the Augustinian concept of a trinitarian imago Dei in human beings. The imago provides the foundation for human relationship with God-and the existence of the divine Trinity as an eternally active and even “fertile” life assures that union with the divine not only brings about contemplation of the ultimate being of God as Father but also issues forth in a loving relationship, through the Son and the Spirit, with the world of God’s creatures. The active and the contemplative are thus united. The reader of this volume will be struck both by the beauty of Ruusbroec’s trinitarian vision and by the beauty of the translation. Wiseman’s translation is not only readable, it is also finely worded, with the result that the spirituality of Ruusbroec shines forth clearly and a way is opened for the twentieth century reader into the mind and heart of a profound and important spiritual master of the later middle ages. . 1
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