204; A. Lesson, Meister Eckart der Mystiksr, Berlin, 1888 (still important); W. Preger, Meister Eckart and die Inquisition, Munich, 1868; A. Jundt, Easai our to myatieisme ap_culatif de Maitre Eckhart, Strasburg, 1871 (to be consulted with Laseon); W. Preger, Geaehichte der deutachen Myatik im Miftedalter, i. 309-458. Leipsic. 1874 (to be used with caution); A. Jundt, Hiataire du pantleeieme populaire au moyen dge, pp. 57-93, Paris, 1875; M. Rider, in W. Waekernagel'a Altdeutache Prediptan and Gebete. PP. 398-429. Basel, 1878; R. Ullmann, Reformers be/ore the Reformation, ii. 23-31, Edinburgh, 1877; R. C. Eucken, Geachiehte der Philoaophiachen Term4nolopie, pp. 118-122, Leipeie, 1879; H. Denifle, Meister Eckarta lateinische 3chritten and die Grundanachauunp seiner Lehre in ALFCG, ii (1888), 41715, and supplement, 81840; idem, Des cuaaniache Exemplar Tateinischer Schri/ten Eckarta, ib. 67378; idem, Die Heimat Meister art@, ib. v (1889), 349-384; R. A. Vaughan, Hours oath the Mystics, pp. 188-213, 8th ed., London, n.d.; Neander, limn Church, v. 393-39i.

ECLECTICISM (from Gk. eklegein, "together"): A term applied to a system of philosophy or theology that strives to incorporate the truth of all systems, or to the method by which such a synthesis is made. In philosophy the best example of eclecticism is found in the Neoplatoniam of the Alexandrine School, while among modern eclectics Leibnitz and Cousin may be mentioned. Since an eclectic system is necessarily a loose piece of mosaic work, rather than an organized body of original thought, the term in philosophy has come to be one of reproach. In theology eclecticism first appeared at Alexandria,. Typical examples of eclectics are Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Synesius, who drew from classical and pagan, as well as from Christian sources.

ECSTASY: A state of mental exaltation in

which the patient is supposed to be in intimate

communion with the divine. The term connotes a

large variety of phenomena., real or pretended,

natural or evoked, which occur in connection with

religious practises. The external phenomena may

take either of two characters, intense vigor of

physical action in which more than normal en

durance or strength is shown, or a passivity which

may reach the extreme of catalepsy. Not infre

quently the second condition succeeds the first.

During both stages the patient is insensible to pain,

and often maims or wounds himself or performs

feats -at other times impossible to him. The con

dition includes the prophetic frenzy

General (mania, see DIVINATION) of the Greek

Character- Pythia and of the early Hebrew and

istics. heathen seers, the exaltation of the

Mohammedan dervishes, the absorbed

condition of Hindu devotees, and in its extreme

development takes the form of catalepsy. It may

be an unpremeditated result of strong emotion, or it

may be induced. In the latter case, among both

primitive and developed peoples, it is sought with

out intent to deceive or defraud, being prized as an

especial mark of Deity's favor. It is affected by the

shamans, medicine men, and wizards of such tribes

as the Tasmanians, Karens, Zulus, Patagoniana,

Hawaiians and North American Indians, especially

when engaged in divination; and also by the lay

members of such tribes during their religious exer

cises. One of the six systems of Hindu philosophy

has as its direct object the attainment of this condition. In Christian lands it is often an accompaniment of the religious excitement attending revivals and camp-meetings. When induced by direct effort, t ke chief means are the religious dance or music, or the two combined; but among more advanced peoples solitary contemplation or physical discipline are also used.

The phenomena of ecstasy have left marked traces upon Old and New Testament conceptions, especially in connection with prophecy, and its manifestations are often indicated by the use of the phrase " and the spirit of the Lord [Yahweh] came upon him." In the Old Testament the passage which best describes the condition is Num. xxiv., in which the staring eye (cf. verses 3, 15 R. V. maegin) and the epileptic or cataleptic fall (verse 16) tally closely with the manifestations elsewhere observed. Balsam's oracles are pictured as delivered while

he was in the ecstatic state, in accordBiblical ante with the usual phase of prophecy

sented as coming into this condition (Judges vi. 34), so also Jephthah (Judges xi. 29) and Samson (Judges xiv. 6, 19, xv. 14), in all these cases the results being much like those of the " berserker rage " of the early Norsemen. The ecstatic condition appears to have been normal to the prophetic gilds of the period of the Judges and the early kingdom, and for the first time in I Sam. x. 510, xix. 20-24 the contagiousness of the condition comes to light, in the case of Saul. Not to be overlooked here is the accompaniment of music and dancing which, with the character of the ensuing phenomena, makes the diagnosis certain. The Baal-prophets in I Kings xviii. 26-28, exhibit characteristic features of the frenzy of ecstasy. The prophecy of Elisha recorded in II Kings iii. 1419 was given under conditions like that of Balsam, induced by music. That " madness " was ascribed to the prophets as a class (II Kings ix. 11) shows what were the characteristic methods of prophecy at that time. Possibly the " chirping and muttering " of Isa. viii. 19 refers to the utterances of ecstasy. The phenomena, of the New Testament at Pentecost (Acts ii. 4), the case of Stephen (Acts vii. 55-58), and of Paul (Acts ix. 3 aqq.; II Cor. xii. 1-4) are psyc~h~ologically explicable as caste of ecstasy. See INSPIRATION, § 1.

In post-Biblical times the high estimate of the value of the ecstatic state continued. The Neoplatonic school of philosophy, following Plato himself, placed a high value upon the condition, and Plotinus and Porphyry laid emphasis upon its worth. The Montanistic theory of prophecy necessitated the entire passivity of the prophet in ecstasy.

Mohammed's visions are to be exPost- plained from this standpoint, and it is Biblical to be noted in his case that epileptic