One River, Many Wells

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 480 pages
• Published by: Tarcher June 17, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1585423262
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1585423262
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 1.1 pounds

Product Review
Who but Matthew Fox--former Dominican priest, author of countless influential books such as Original Blessing and The Reinvention of Work, silenced by the Vatican for his controversial statements about creation spirituality, and now an Episcopal priest--would combine rave dances with a religious mass? And who else would now attempt such a distillation of the world's religions as this book brings us? Combining writings from a multitude of spiritual traditions, Fox here puts into practice the idea of deep ecumenism that he has been exploring in a series of books going back to The Coming of the Cosmic Christ in 1989. To accomplish this task, Fox focuses on four categories of spiritual inquiry that he sees running like a river through all spiritual traditions: how we relate to creation, to divinity, to ourselves (this includes topics such as meditation, art, ritual, sexuality), and, finally, how we relate to the future, a section that explores issues of service and compassion, justice and spiritual warriorhood. He then concludes with "18 New Myths and Visions" that summarize his central message.

Simplicity and clarity are the goals of this book. To achieve this Fox weaves his own brief commentary through a series of quotations drawn from a myriad of traditions. While it may be faulted by some for this method of making easy connections between traditions, the book serves its purpose as a kind of primer for deep ecumenism. It will be especially useful for those new to such ideas, and to those who might otherwise never meet Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich, Hafiz, and the Sufi Ibn Arabi--not to mention Thomas Aquinas, physicist Werner Heisenberg, and geologian Thomas Berry--all sharing each other's company. --Doug Thorpe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Fox, who broke from his Roman Catholic roots with his earlier books The Coming of the Cosmic Christ and Creation Spirituality, presents quotations from various faith traditions to introduce what he believes are the universals of every faith. The title comes from Fox's metaphor that every religious tradition is a different well that descends to a single subterranean river of spirituality. This is scarcely an original idea, but Fox has been one of its greatest popularizers, in the company of such illuminati as John Dominic Crossan and the scholars of the Jesus Seminar. Using the approach he has named "Deep Ecumenism," Fox writes about four universal areas of spirituality (relating to creation, relating to the divine, relating to ourselves and relating to the future), integrating quotations from the sacred writings and stories of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, folk religions and other traditions. Many of the selected quotations are set off by special margins, while others occur in boldface type in Fox's own running text. Concluding with "Eighteen Myths for Remythologizing our Species"Aranging from the unsurprising insight that all traditions can learn from each other to the intriguing idea that sexuality is sacredAFox continues to be an articulate presenter of the trends that he helped put in motion. If his ideas no longer seem innovative, that only credit his success as an apostle of self-made spirituality. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths (Hardcover) Matthew Fox has outdone himself with this work, taking similar themes from the works of mystics spanning diverse traditions. To those who are regular consumers of Fox's writings, this compellation provides a "Bible" for his idea of "Deep Ecumenism". It is as complete a tome of humanity's spiritual knowledge that I have seen on the bookshelf. The best part- Fox has included sources not just from typical religious sources, but from science and literature as well.