The Three Degrees; A Study of Christian Mysticism
St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1957. First edition. 12 mo. (7 1/2 inches tall), original black cloth, original dust jacket. Minor wear to lower edges of the boards, short closed tear to upper front panel, gentle toning to spine of dust jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #933
'WHEN A MAN IS GRANTED A VISION HE IS ALWAYS, AT LEAST AT FIRST, WORTH LISTENING TO"
First American edition of the English Dominican's meditations on the three aspects of "true Christian mysticism." The founder and editor of The Life of the Spirit magazine, Conrad was the son of the convert (and Dominican lay tertiary) Hilary Pepler. The senior Pepler was the founder, with Eric Gill, of the Ditchling Community and the publisher of St. Dominic's Press. The Three Degrees is a continuation of Riches Despised: A Study of the Roots of Religion (1957). Composed of a brief Preface and two main sections: Part I. The Foundations and, Part II. The Structure. Pepler explores the states of Purgation, Illumination, and Union. Pepler acknowledges and seems to seek to reconcile the tensions between the private revelation of the mystic and the suspicion and resistance of the institutional Church: "There is a pattern in the history of all mystical phenomena in the Catholic Church. When an experience occurs it is met with scepticism, if not by some type of persecution from ecclesiastical authority." Published in the same year as the first British edition (Blackfriars). Printed in Great Britain by The Ditchling Press (Ditchling) and bound by Kemp Hall Bindery (Oxford) for distribution in the United States. Approbations.
Price: $65.00