In this new work, Albert LaChance presents a complete reframing of Christianity as an experiential rather than dogmatic approach to the presence of Christ. It emphasizes the idea of Christ as the source and sustainer of the cosmos, the Earth, the life community, and global culture. As such, it takes a “unitive” approach, with Christianity understood as being in mystical union with global culture, and with the ecological realities of the Earth. In the author’s view, Christianity thus joins hands with Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism in a unitive oneness with all that is.

Consisting of twenty-eight short chapters, The Modern Christian Mystic focuses on the presence of God permeating and organizing the beginning of existence, in the form of consciousness giving birth to energy, and then the material reality of the universe. The author argues that just as St. Augustine introduced the “pagan” Plato to Christianity, and a millennium later St. Thomas Aquinas revitalized his faith with the “pagan” philosophy of Aristotle, so in the modern age the “non-theism” of Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism holds the key to a revivified mystical practice. The Modern Christian Mystic posits a nurturing new world based on commonality rather than conflict in the world of spirit....

While some scholars approach the Gospels from an historical point of view, analyzing John in the context of his own personal experience as a follower of Jesus, others focus on John’s roots in ancient Judaism. In this provocative book, Albert LaChance approaches the Gospel of John from the perspective of Eastern mysticism, drawing on indigenous beliefs and ancient global spiritual traditions originating in the Middle East, India, and China. Through this expansive approach, the book attempts to understand John’s Gospel in its richest sense—as a guide to achieving the direct experience of a universal God.

Throughout the book, LaChance returns to the Gospel’s Prologue and uses it as a framework for uncovering Jesus’s message about his own identity as the Son of God and his similarities to ancient Eastern mystics. The author also discusses themes woven throughout the Gospel of John that derive from Eastern religions and other indigenous spiritual practices: individual ego versus the essential self, separation versus union, and the earthly versus the heavenly. This important book delves into the mysteries of Christian understanding to unearth universal truths, defining the very essence of religious and spiritual experience....