Mateus Soares de Azevedo
Encyclopedia
Mateus Soares de Azevedo (born 1959) is a Brazilian historian of religions
, Islamologist, and journalist
.
from George Washington University
and holds a Masters degree in History of religions
from the University of São Paulo
, with a thesis on the present relevance of the Perennial philosophy
.
He is the author of seven books on the esoteric and mystical dimensions of Christianity
and Islam
, and of more than 60 articles and essays dealing with the importance of traditional religion and spirituality in the contemporary world, several of them translated into English, French, and Spanish.
His most recent book, in English, is Men of a Single Book: Fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity, and Modern Thought (United States, World Wisdom, 2010), a critique both of religious and anti-religious fundamentalism; the later represented specially by polemicists such as Richard Dawkins
and Christopher Hitchens
.
In Portuguese, his latest book is Ocultism and Religion: in Freud, Jung, and Mircea Eliade, co-authored with the Australian author and university professor Harry Oldmeadow
.
Soares de Azevedo lived in London
, England, in the 1980s, where he experienced the intellectual impact of the work of French metaphysician René Guénon
. The Crisis of the Modern World, The Reign of Quantity and Symbols of Sacred Science, three of Guénon's classics, transformed his way of seeing reality, as they expound a profound critique of modern materialism and relativism from a purely metaphysical perspective.
In the 1990s he lived in Washington, D.C.
, where he was overwhelmed by the message of the German-Swiss metaphysician and guide of souls Frithjof Schuon
. Schuon went even further in the critique of modern mentality, and added to Guénon's rigorously theoretical approach, a "practical" alternative to modern scepticism, teaching how to think and to live spiritually in the cold and dry hopelessness of modern secularist societies. He absorbed elements both from Guénon and Schuon in his works such as Men of a Single Book and Iniciación al Islam y al Sufism.
Soares de Azevedo is the editor of two anthologies published in the United States. The first is Ye Shall Know The Truth: Christianity And The Perennial Philosophy, featuring works by Frithjof Schuon
, René Guénon
, Titus Burckhardt
and other perennialists. The second is Remembering in a World of Forgetting: Thoughts on Tradition and Postmodernism, a collection of the most important essays by the British perennialist author William Stoddart
.
History of religions
The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious experiences and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,000 years ago in the Near East. The prehistory of religion relates to a study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the...
, Islamologist, and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
Biography
Mateus Soares de Azevedo has a graduate degree in international relationsInternational relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
and holds a Masters degree in History of religions
History of religions
The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious experiences and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,000 years ago in the Near East. The prehistory of religion relates to a study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the...
from the University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
, with a thesis on the present relevance of the Perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy is the notion of the universal recurrence of philosophical insight independent of epoch or culture, including universal truths on the nature of reality, humanity or consciousness .-History:The idea of a perennial philosophy has great...
.
He is the author of seven books on the esoteric and mystical dimensions of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and of more than 60 articles and essays dealing with the importance of traditional religion and spirituality in the contemporary world, several of them translated into English, French, and Spanish.
His most recent book, in English, is Men of a Single Book: Fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity, and Modern Thought (United States, World Wisdom, 2010), a critique both of religious and anti-religious fundamentalism; the later represented specially by polemicists such as Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
and Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
.
In Portuguese, his latest book is Ocultism and Religion: in Freud, Jung, and Mircea Eliade, co-authored with the Australian author and university professor Harry Oldmeadow
Harry Oldmeadow
Kenneth "Harry" Oldmeadow is an Australian author, editor and educator whose works focus on Eastern religion and philosophy.-Biography:Qualifications: BA Hons , Dip Ed , MA Hons , PhD...
.
Soares de Azevedo lived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, in the 1980s, where he experienced the intellectual impact of the work of French metaphysician René Guénon
René Guénon
René Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
. The Crisis of the Modern World, The Reign of Quantity and Symbols of Sacred Science, three of Guénon's classics, transformed his way of seeing reality, as they expound a profound critique of modern materialism and relativism from a purely metaphysical perspective.
In the 1990s he lived in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he was overwhelmed by the message of the German-Swiss metaphysician and guide of souls Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
. Schuon went even further in the critique of modern mentality, and added to Guénon's rigorously theoretical approach, a "practical" alternative to modern scepticism, teaching how to think and to live spiritually in the cold and dry hopelessness of modern secularist societies. He absorbed elements both from Guénon and Schuon in his works such as Men of a Single Book and Iniciación al Islam y al Sufism.
Soares de Azevedo is the editor of two anthologies published in the United States. The first is Ye Shall Know The Truth: Christianity And The Perennial Philosophy, featuring works by Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
, René Guénon
René Guénon
René Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
, Titus Burckhardt
Titus Burckhardt
Titus Burckhardt , a German Swiss, was born in Florence, Italy in 1908 and died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984. He devoted all his life to the study and exposition of the different aspects of Wisdom and Tradition.He was an eminent member of the "traditionalist school" of twentieth-century authors...
and other perennialists. The second is Remembering in a World of Forgetting: Thoughts on Tradition and Postmodernism, a collection of the most important essays by the British perennialist author William Stoddart
William Stoddart
William Stoddart is a Scottish physician, author and "spiritual traveller", who has written several books on the philosophy of religions. He has been called a “master of synthesis” and is one of the important writers on the Perennial Philosophy in the present day. For many years he was assistant...
.
Books
- Men of a Single Book: Fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity, and Modern Thought (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2010) ISBN 9781933316468
- Ye Shall Know the Truth: Christianity and the Perennial Philosophy (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2005) ISBN 0941532690
- Ocultismo e Religião: em Freud, Jung e Mircea Eliade (São Paulo: Ibrasa, 2011. With Harry OldmeadowHarry OldmeadowKenneth "Harry" Oldmeadow is an Australian author, editor and educator whose works focus on Eastern religion and philosophy.-Biography:Qualifications: BA Hons , Dip Ed , MA Hons , PhD...
) ISBN 9788534803366 - A Inteligência da Fé: Cristianismo, Islã e Judaísmo (Rio de Janeiro: Nova Era, 2006) ISBN 8577010457
- Iniciación al Islam y Sufismo (Barcelona: Ediciones 29, 2004) ISBN 8471755327
- Mística Islâmica: convergência com a espiritualidade cristã (Petrópolis: Vozes, 2001) ISBN 8532623573
Contributions and prefaces
- Remembering in a World of Forgetting (by William Stoddart. World Wisdom, 2008) ISBN 9781933316468
- Para Compreender o Islã (by Frithjof Schuon. Rio de Janeiro, 2006) ISBN 8577010465
- Dossier H - Frithjof Schuon (by P. Laude e J-B Aymard. Lausanne, 2002)
- Sophia Perennis (by J-M Prats and Esteve Serra. Palma de Mallorca, 2004)
- O Estudo das Religiões; desafios contemporâneos (by Silas Guerriero. São Paulo, 2003)
- O Homem no Universo (by Frithjof Schuon. São Paulo, 2001)
- O Sentido das Raças (by Frithjof Schuon. São Paulo, 2002)
- O Budismo ao seu alcance (by William StoddartWilliam StoddartWilliam Stoddart is a Scottish physician, author and "spiritual traveller", who has written several books on the philosophy of religions. He has been called a “master of synthesis” and is one of the important writers on the Perennial Philosophy in the present day. For many years he was assistant...
. Rio de Janeiro, 2004) - Sabedoria Tradicional & Superstições Modernas" (by Martin LingsMartin LingsMartin Lings was an English Muslim writer and scholar, a student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and Shakespearean scholar...
. São Paulo, 1998) - Ensaios sobre a Destruição da Tradição Cristã (by Rama P. Coomaraswamy. São Paulo, 1990)
Articles
- Frithjof Schuon and Sri Ramana Maharshi: A survey of the spiritual masters of the 20th century
- Biography of William Stoddart
- Islã Cristianizado
- Judaísmo, Anti-Semitismo, Sionismo
- Opus Dei
See also
- Perennial PhilosophyPerennial philosophyPerennial philosophy is the notion of the universal recurrence of philosophical insight independent of epoch or culture, including universal truths on the nature of reality, humanity or consciousness .-History:The idea of a perennial philosophy has great...
- Traditionalist SchoolTraditionalist SchoolThe term Traditionalist School is used by Mark Sedgwick and other authors to denote a school of thought, also known as Integral Traditionalism or Perennialism to denote an esoteric movement developed by authors such as French metaphysician René Guénon, German-Swiss...
- Traditional Catholicism
- SufismSufismSufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
- Frithjof SchuonFrithjof SchuonFrithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
- René GuénonRené GuénonRené Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
- Titus BurckhardtTitus BurckhardtTitus Burckhardt , a German Swiss, was born in Florence, Italy in 1908 and died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984. He devoted all his life to the study and exposition of the different aspects of Wisdom and Tradition.He was an eminent member of the "traditionalist school" of twentieth-century authors...
- Ananda CoomaraswamyAnanda CoomaraswamyAnanda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West...
- Martin LingsMartin LingsMartin Lings was an English Muslim writer and scholar, a student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and Shakespearean scholar...
- Tage LindbomTage LindbomTage Leonard Lindbom, who later in his life took the name Sidi Zayd, , PhD in Political science, who was early in his life the party theoretician and director of the archives of the Swedish Social Democratic Party 1938-1965, but later in his life he converted to Islam...
- William StoddartWilliam StoddartWilliam Stoddart is a Scottish physician, author and "spiritual traveller", who has written several books on the philosophy of religions. He has been called a “master of synthesis” and is one of the important writers on the Perennial Philosophy in the present day. For many years he was assistant...
- Rama Coomaraswamy
- Angus MacnabAngus MacnabJohn Angus Macnab was a British fascist politician who was a close associate of William Joyce who later became noted as a Perennialist writer on Medieval Spain and translator of Latin and Greek poetry.-Early life:...
- Bernard Philip KellyBernard Philip Kelly-Works:Kelly's inspiration was scholastic philosophy and, in particular, the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. He was a regular contributor to Catholic periodicals, from the 1930s to the 1950s....
- Whitall PerryWhitall PerryWhitall Nicholson Perry was born of old New England stock in Belmont, Massachusetts , on January 19, 1920. A quest for wisdom led him, as a young man, to travel out to the Far East...
- Harry OldmeadowHarry OldmeadowKenneth "Harry" Oldmeadow is an Australian author, editor and educator whose works focus on Eastern religion and philosophy.-Biography:Qualifications: BA Hons , Dip Ed , MA Hons , PhD...
- Patrick LaudePatrick LaudePatrick Laude is a scholar, author and teacher. His works deal with the relationship between mysticism, symbolism and poetry, as well as focusing on contemporary spiritual figures such as Simone Weil, Louis Massignon and Frithjof Schuon.-Biography:...
External links
- Soares de Azevedo, Mateus at World Wisdom: short biography and photo.
- Soares de Azevedo, Mateus at Brazilian publisher Sapientia: biography and photo.