spirituality - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Walking the Way of Harriet Tubman: Public Mystic & Freedom Fighter

By Scott J. Pearson | March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Christian and Islamic mysticisms make as their goal to achieve greater union with God. These forms of spirituality tend towards an individualistic interpretation of this goal. An individual privately seeks a mystic union with God. In contrast, African mysticism has traditionally been rooted in benefiting the community. Union with God is seen as benefitting the entire group. Contemporary African-American religion combines both of these approaches in an approach Therese Taylor-Stinson calls “public mysticism.” She explores…

Religion-Philosophy

Gravity & Grace by Simone Weil

By Scott J. Pearson | January 8, 2023January 8, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Simone Weil, a twentieth-century French philosopher and political activist, possessed excellent academic training and worked in the Spanish leftist political movements. Around the advent of World War II, however, she became disillusioned with the totalitarian politics of Europe and made a reflective move inward. She began to convert to a Roman Catholic form of Christianity. Unfortunately, she died in obscurity before the war’s end as a result of a longstanding struggle with anorexia. She had…