In John Yungblut: Passing the Mystical Torch, Charlie Finn unveils the faith and vision of John Yungblut. At the heart of this story, readers will discover a spiritual “genealogy”: Rufus Jones, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Carl Jung, who influenced John Yungblut who became a spiritual guide and friend to Charlie Finn.

For John Yungblut, mysticism was the “heart and core of all true religion.” Yungblut’s gospel of evolutionary Christianity, underscoring the call for contemplatives in action, first caught Finn’s attention as he read, by chance one evening, Yungblut’s contributions to the book Speaking of Silence,a dialogue about contemplative life. Finn’s joy and enthusiasm for his subject permeates this biography.
(Pendle Hill website)

In this pamphlet, Charlie Finn unveils the faith and vision of John Yungblut. At the heart of this story, readers will discover a spiritual “genealogy”: Rufus Jones, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Carl Jung, who influenced John Yungblut, who became a spiritual guide and friend to Charlie Finn.

The author unveils the faith and vision of John Yungblut. At the heart of this story, Readers will discover a spiritual "genealogy:" Rufus Jones, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Carl Jung, who influenced John Yungblut. For John Yungblut, mysticism was the "heart and core of all true religion." Yungblut's gospel of evolutionary Christianity, underscores the call for contemplatives in action.

Finn's pamphlet summarizes John Yungblut's (1913-1995) contributions to Quaker thought and faith. They constitute a comprehensive vision that introduces the 20th century's continuing revelations from evolutionary thinking (a la Teilhard de Chardin), depth psychology (a la Jung), and respectful encounter with many world faiths into the older mystical and prophetic Quaker faith. Yungblut claimed a Christian faith and the great Christ myth, which he disengaged from the Jesus of history. He was passionately drawn to Jesus, however, as the human in whom the Christ spirit was revealed most fully, and to Jesus' teaching on forgiveness as the great release of love, the energy of creation and evolution. He emphasized the essentiality and complementarity of both the mystical and the prophetic to true religion. This pamphlet gives a coherent introduction to the many aspects of Yungblut's thinking.
Yungblut's vision may well be a valuable contribution to the ongoing project of Quaker renewal for the 21st century, or even for religious renewal generally. This pamphlet is an important resource for access to the remarkable work of John Yungblut. ( )

Synopsis

In John Yungblut: Passing the Mystical Torch, Charlie Finn unveils the faith and vision of John Yungblut. At the heart of this story, readers will discover a spiritual “genealogy”: Rufus Jones, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Carl Jung, who influenced John Yungblut who became a spiritual guide and friend to Charlie Finn.

For John Yungblut, mysticism was the “heart and core of all true religion.” Yungblut’s gospel of evolutionary Christianity, underscoring the call for contemplatives in action, first caught Finn’s attention as he read, by chance one evening, Yungblut’s contributions to the book Speaking of Silence,a dialogue about contemplative life. Finn’s joy and enthusiasm for his subject permeates this biography.