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St John Henry Newman Research Centre
for Catholic Theology Presents:

What is Mystical Theology?
by Dr Eddie Howells

Online Academic Forum:
Wednesday 19th October 2022, 6.00pm (London time)
All Welcome

Join us online on Wednesday 19th October 2022 at 6.00pm (London time) for the St John Henry Newman Research Centre for Catholic Theology's Online Academic Forum, the latest in a series of occasional, public seminars by Maryvale academics. This time, Dr Eddie Howells, will be asking What is Mystical Theology?

Dr Howells teaches on Maryvale's MA in Catholic Applied Theology programme and lectures specifically on Learning from Monasticism. In addition to his involvement with Maryvale, he also teaches at Ripon College Cuddesdon (Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford) and St Mary's University, Twickenham, as well as being an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton, London. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer at Heythrop College, University of London. His main teaching is in the area of Christian Spirituality and he's particularly interested in bringing academic study together with the life of faith, retrieving the spiritual writings of the Christian tradition for growth in faith and understanding today, especially on questions of experience and personal transformation.

Furthermore, Dr Howells is a trained spiritual director, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a member of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

Dr Howells' research focuses upon mystical theology, particularly in the late medieval period. His PhD was on the anthropology of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. He has recently co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology (2020). He has also written on the mystical theology of Augustine, Meister Eckhart, and Pierre de Bérulle.

Other recent works published by Dr Howells include:

• Edward Howells, ‘Mystical Theology and Human Experience’, in Edward Howells and Mark McIntosh (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology (Oxford University Press, 2020), pp. 45-64.
• Edward Howells and Mark McIntosh (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology (Oxford University Press, 2020).
• Edward Howells, ‘Suffering and the Desire for God in John of the Cross’, in Karen Kilby and Rachel Davies (ed.), Suffering and the Christian Life (London: T&T Clark/Bloomsbury, 2020), pp. 87-94.
• Edward Howells, ‘From human desire to divine desire in John of the Cross’, Religious Studies 55 (2019), pp. 405-417.
• Edward Howells, ‘Understanding the Experience of God with St Augustine’, The Way 58 (2019), pp. 33-42.

Attendance of the Zoom seminar is free and open to all, including non-students, by registering below.

If you have any questions about the forum or the Research Centre, please contact the Postgraduate Administrator, Melissa Pearce: