Thomas Merton and the Monastic Vision - Paperback

by Lawrence S. Cunningham (Author), Abbot Timothy Kelly (Foreword by)

Taking up where Merton's own Seven Storey Mountain ends, this penetrating biography by Lawrence Cunningham explores Merton's monastic life and his subsequent growth into a modern-day spiritual master. Though the basic story of Thomas Merton's life may be well known, the details of his spiritual development are less familiar. Cunningham shows that Merton's prolific writings and his continuing influence can only be understood against the background of his contemplative experience as a Trappist monk. "If one does not understand Merton as a monk," writes Cunningham, "one does not understand Merton at all." Merton emerges from this balanced and reliable account as an extraordinary Christian seeker and pioneer whose faith in the power of the contemplative life remains highly relevant today.

Author Biography

Lawrence S. Cunningham is John A. O'Brien Professor Emeritus of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. An acknowledged expert on St. Francis and Christian Spirituality, he is also the author of The Catholic Faith: An Introduction and the editor and translator of Brother Francis: Writings By and About Saint Francis of Assisi.