Archbishop introduces Professor Bernard McGinn
The Archbishop and Bernard McGinnWednesday 20th February 2008
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams introduced the Emeritus Professor of Theology from Chicago University, Professor Bernard McGinn at a public lecture entitled "A Forgotten Classic of Western Spirituality: The Evangelical Pearl".Addressing the audience at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University, during his visit for the Cambridge Consultations, the Archbishop said, "It's a huge personal pleasure to be able to introduce professor McGinn - we've known each other for I think for about twenty-five years now. And I've learnt more than I can easily say from Bernie's writings, conversation and example. As you've heard, he has made particularly his own the field of Christian mysticism with also some very important primary reflection on this subject. In the field of late medieval mysticism in particular, not least the Ecartian legacy he has carved out of a particularly important place, and this evening we're going to hear about, well, you often hear the phrase "An unjustly neglected text". Sometimes it's truer than in the other. Readers of Kingsley Amis's 'Lucky Jim' may remember Jim's master's thesis on economic influence on ship-building techniques in the 14th Century in considering the strangely neglected topic! And he thinks to himself "this what neglected topic" but I think in this case you will find every reason to believe that is an unjustly neglected text there's a great deal we can hear about it, a great deal we shall learn from it".