After presenting the controversies in interpreting Eckhart's work, McGinn (Divinity School of the University of Chicago) examines Eckhart's mystical theology and finds a unity among its various strands. Eckhart's mystic, scholastic, prophetic, and philosophic elements are connected by metaphors, chief among them the metaphor of the "ground." The metaphysics of flow and the eternal birth are also given special consideration. An appendix discusses Eckhart's sources. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)