Meister Eckhart, the fourteenth-century German mystic and theologian, is one of the most enigmatic and controversial figures in the history of the Church, and few have played so diverse and fertile a role in the cultural imagination. He has been seen as both heretic and ‘the man from whom God nothing hid’; Christian mystic and Buddhist sage; Catholic and Protestant; feminist and ecologist; he is both medieval schoolman and inspirer of contemporary philosophers such as Heidegger, Bloch and Derrida.

Oliver Davies’ masterly evaluation of Eckhart is based on an unrivalled knowledge of the original texts, their historical and theological context, and their place in the Christian mystical tradition. The portrait of St Dominic on the cover of the book illustrates one of Davies’ main themes: Eckhart’s position in the mainstream Dominican tradition of grounding theology in spiritual experience. Both a stimulating scholarly study and an ideal introduction for the non-specialist, Meister Eckhart: Mystical Theologian explores the enduring fascination of Meister Eckhart, ‘a mystic for our age’.