The Grand Option - (Gethsemani Studies in Psychological and Religious Anthropolo) by Beatrice Bruteau (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In The Grand Option, renowned author Beatrice Bruteau advances her healing vision for humankind. This collection of beautifully written essays encourages readers to seek personal transformation based on heightened consciousness and Christian spirituality. Bruteau contends that this transformation will produce a profound sense of personal freedom, thus enabling individuals to commune with the Divine and with each other.

Bruteau's Trinitarian anthropology brings with it the potential for transforming humanity from a collection of individuals in conflict to a community of wholly developed persons working toward a shared vision. Her message is as compelling as it is concrete. Using the disciplines of philosophy, theology, psychological anthropology, and feminist theory, she interprets New Testament texts in ways that speak to contemporary readers. Bruteau also explores the central Christian symbols of the Imago Dei, the Incarnation, and the Trinity, as well as issues such as global spirituality, transcendent freedom, and contemplative insight.

Review Quotes

"[Bruteau] updates and reweaves her unique synthesis of a progressive evolution, Eastern traditions, neo-feminism, which altogether achieve a consummate twenty-first century Christian vision. In a series of essays that course among these realms and others, Dr. Bruteau proceeds and builds toward a radically novel Earthwide Christianity." --Thailand Perspective

"The Grand Option sings from start to finish with passion and depth. Bruteau brilliantly evokes the cosmic dimension of evolution and morphs Christian theology into a razor-sharp and inspired theory of collective human transformation that will appeal to Christians and non-Christians alike." --What is Enlightenment?

"Every now and then there arises a prophet in our midst marked by a voice that is distinctly new and totally different than the familiar. The Jesuit scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was one such voice and Beatrice Bruteau, a disciple of Teilhard, is another. In this collection of essays written over a period of twenty years, Bruteau offers us a luminous vision of a new social order in an evolutionary world. This is a profound book, written by a scholar of wisdom. It is a book that can appeal to a wide variety of people-academics and nonacademics alike-because of its depth and breadth. [A]ll those who read The Grand Option will not only be lured by Bruteau's vision and insight but will return time and again to this book, for it is itself an evolution in thought." --Spiritual Life

"Written with clarity and elegance, Dr. Bruteau's book combines a rich legacy of intellectual wealth with her own valuable personal experience and mystical contemplation." --Prabuddha Bharata

About the Author

Beatrice Bruteau (1930-2014) was a pioneer in the integrated study of science, spirituality, philosophy, and religion. She was the founder of Schola Contemplationis and the Fellowship of the Holy Trinity, and an author of numerous books, including Radical Optimism, What We Can Learn from the East, The Easter Mysteries, and God's Ecstasy.