Sweet Communion: Trajectories of Spirituality from the Middle Ages through the Further Reformation (review)

Sweetness is a word that abounds in our culture today. While its contemporary coinage is more likely to be found among conversations of teenagers and twenty-somethings, the deeper theological meaning is not that dissimilar. Readers of medieval or Reformation texts, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, will be familiar with this important spiritual term of delight. More specifically, the terminology "sweet communion" was employed in the Netherlands in an eighteenth-century Psalm versification. The author recognizes the anachronistic nature of this but chooses to employ it because it accurately captures "the interchange between God and humanity that is called 'hidden' or 'sweet' because it takes place in heart-to-heart intimacy. This fellowship is also called 'hidden' because of its mysterious quality that never fully relinquishes it secrets" (15). Thus begins the brief but helpful orienting introduction to this valuable resource. The Nadere Reformatie a seventeenth century spiritual movement in Netherlands frames this research. While in the past it has often been translated as the Second Reformation, a more nuanced rendering is the Further Reformation. The theological architects of this movement of the heart recognized that the efforts of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century had not included the critical need for reforming devotional intimacy with God. Therefore, the Nadere Reformatie or Dutch Pietism reflected many of the same themes as the parallel seventeenth-century movements of Pietism in Germany, and to an even greater extent Puritanism in England.

De Reuver who teaches systematic and historical theology at the University of Utrecht establishes his agenda by inquiring about the degree of continuity and discontinuity between the spirituality of the Dutch Further Reformation and the late medieval church (19). Before launching into his study the author first considers the important methodological question of definition and grapples with the meaning of mysticism. Readers of this journal would readily agree with his assessment that this "term is both diffuse and loaded" (20). After examining the etymological background of mysticism, de Reuver rejects the understanding of mysticism as a blurring of the distinctive nature between humanity and God. Instead he posits that mysticism "is the faith-knowledge that comes over a person by the Word and the Spirit and includes an intimate communion with God himself" (22). Therefore he rejects the previous misguided Protestant critiques of mysticism by Ritschl, Barth, and Brunner. More significantly he contends that the Reformed leaders of the sixteenth century did not totally reject mysticism outright but only those expressions that dissolved the boundary between God and humanity, restricted it to meritorious approach that ignored grace, and elevated the monastic setting to the marginalization of all of God's people (22). He concludes this section by asserting, "Whoever emphasizes the idea of mystery in the term 'mysticism' in any case, is in step with an honorable tradition" (23).

The first two chapters are devoted to Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas à Kempis respectively. Each chapter begins with a biographical sketch that situates the individual within his context. Rather than create a fixed template that requires the themes of each writer to conform to a common structure de Reuver wisely allows the organic nature of these spiritual writings to shape each chapter. For Bernard those topics include his monastic context, the influence of his writings, and a very helpful summary of his treatment of God's love, meditation on Christ, bridal mysticism, and union with God. For à Kempis the obvious focus is upon the Imitation of Christ, which further is divided into an examination of discipleship, cross-bearing, humility, the inner life, loving God, and heavenly matters. The reader immediately notices that this is a highly researched and carefully written document. The pages are brimming with footnotes that both validate sources as well as broaden the scope of this expansive research. For example, when the influence of Bernard's writings is discussed it is generously traced through both Calvin and...