Coming in February to St. Bernard’s School of “Theology”:

Dorothee Soelle and Meister Eckhart in Conversation
This talk explores the significant impact that the Rhineland Mystic Meister Eckhart had upon the political theology of the late Dorothee Soelle. His mystical theology not only assisted Soelle in her work on the theology of God, it also gave her a focus for activist lifestyle. She learned to “live without a why” and she passes on Eckhart’s wisdom to those of us living and working in our busy times.

Date: Friday, February 6, 2009
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (includes a buffet lunch)
Presenter: Dr. Nancy Hawkins, IHM

The National Catholic Reporter had this to say about Dorothy Soelle:

A fierce opponent of the war in Vietnam, Soelle became interested in Marxism–not so much for its ideology as for its analytical tools…Soelle sympathized profoundly with the liberation theology movement in Latin America. She also became aware of the insights of feminist theology and its liberation aspects. She traveled widely and continued to participate in peace movements and acts of civil disobedience.

The Anglican Theological Review says this about Soelle:

Soelle’s animus toward the church is just as implacable. Given the history of ecclesiastical malfeasance, Soelle has reason to be angry. But her indictment is limitless and encompasses orthodox faith as well as faithless practice…But rather than wrestle with orthodoxy, Soelle caricatures it as obedience to an omnipotent tyrant and to the male hierarchs who interpret his laws…And like all dualists, she attributes everything she opposes to a single source. For her it is patriarchy…Our civilization is not only troubled in her telling, it is the most brutal in history. This is a staggering accusation, but like other ideologues of a certain generation, Soelle sees little difference between totalitarianism and liberal capitalism.

And now on to Meister Eckhart. From the Medieval History website:

In 1329, Pope John XXII issued a bull condemning as heretical 28 of Eckhart’s propositions. The bull speaks of Eckhart as already dead and states that he had retracted the errors as charged. Eckhart’s followers tried in vain to get the decree set aside…Though long overlooked after the Reformation, Eckhart saw a resurgence in popularity in the last century, particularly among some Marxist theorists and Zen Buddhists.

Leave it to St. Bernard’s to feature a liberal Protestant theologian and a condemned heretic as its contribution to the DOR’s Spirit Alive campaign. What next, Aleister Crowley and The Charge of the Goddess? Heaven help us.