ABSTRACT
In this concluding reflections, the authors would like to draw attention to some cross-cutting themes that emerge from the chapters of this book, and especially to its much maligned concern with 'experience'. Jean Gerson as stating that mystical theology is acquired through the 'school of the affect' and Kallistos Ware quoted Origen in support of his contention that affect & particularly the affect of human suffering – finds a place within the transcendent life of God. Brown suggests that the cathedral points beyond itself – to the God revealed in Jesus Christ – and in this sense it serves the purpose of mystical theology to which Louth refers – presenting to readers the love of God as something to which they must respond, and with which they will want to be assimilated. Brown emphasises Durham Cathedral as a place of prayer, and illustrates this with people's experiences of prayer, at least some of which were both surprising and unexpected.
