Silent Music: The Life, Work, and Thought of St. John of the Cross

Herrera, a professor emeritus of philosophy at Seton Hall University, examines the mystical writings of the 16th-century Spanish Saint John of the Cross. This is an academic study that draws upon (and argues with) the findings of other scholars of mysticism and assumes a working knowledge of the field. It will be appreciated by readers who are already at least somewhat familiar with Saint John's writings. The mystic, Herrera clarifies, is not""a dreamer or a self-inflated psychopath,"" but one who conducts a""hard-nosed appraisal of the human condition"" and prescribes""some type of moral or spiritual purification to rectify its failings."" As a mystic, St. John of the Cross embodied those characteristics, seeking not just to lose himself in union with the Beloved but to stipulate the conditions by which others might follow the same rigorous path. After several introductory chapters (on mysticism, 16th-century Spain and John's life), Herrera carefully analyzes some of the saint's writing and poetry.