Christian mysticism
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Christian mysticism is the tradition of
Contemplative practices range from simple prayerful meditation of Holy Scripture (i.e.
Contemplative practices have a prominent place in the
Etymology
Theoria
The Greek theoria (θεωρία) meant "contemplation, speculation, a looking at, things looked at", from theorein (θεωρεῖν) "to consider, speculate, look at", from theoros (θεωρός) "spectator", from thea (θέα) "a view" + horan (ὁρᾶν) "to see".[9] It expressed the state of being a spectator. Both Greek θεωρία and Latin contemplatio primarily meant looking at things, whether with the eyes or with the mind.[10]
According to William Johnston, until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term contemplatio, c.q. theoria.[4] According to Johnston, "[b]oth contemplation and mysticism speak of the eye of love which is looking at, gazing at, aware of divine realities."[4]
Several scholars have demonstrated similarities between the Greek idea of theoria and the
Mysticism
"Mysticism" is derived from the
In early Christianity the term mystikos referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative.[16] The biblical dimension refers to "hidden" or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures.[14][16] The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist.[14][16] The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.[16]
Definition of mysticism
Transformative presence of God
Bernard McGinn defines Christian mysticism as:
[T]hat part, or element, of Christian belief and practice that concerns the preparation for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of God.[1]
McGinn argues that "presence" is more accurate than "union," since not all mystics spoke of union with God, and since many visions and miracles were not necessarily related to union.[1]
Presence versus experience
McGinn also argues that we should speak of "consciousness" of God's presence, rather than of "experience", since mystical activity is not simply about the sensation of God as an external object, but more broadly about
...new ways of knowing and loving based on states of awareness in which God becomes present in our inner acts.[1]
William James popularized the use of the term "religious experience" in his 1902 book The Varieties of Religious Experience.[17] It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge.[14]
Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of religious experience further back to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of religious experience was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.[18]
Interpersonal transformation
McGinn's emphasis on the transformation that occurs through mystical activity relates to this idea of "presence" instead of "experience":
This is why the only test that Christianity has known for determining the authenticity of a mystic and her or his message has been that of personal transformation, both on the mystic's part and—especially—on the part of those whom the mystic has affected.[1]
Parsons points out that the stress on "experience" is accompanied by favoring the atomic individual, instead of the shared life on the community. It also fails to distinguish between episodic experience, and mysticism as a process that is embedded in a total religious matrix of liturgy, scripture, worship, virtues, theology, rituals and practices.[19]
Richard King also points to disjunction between "mystical experience" and social justice:[20]
The privatisation of mysticism – that is, the increasing tendency to locate the mystical in the psychological realm of personal experiences – serves to exclude it from political issues as social justice. Mysticism thus becomes seen as a personal matter of cultivating inner states of tranquility and equanimity, which, rather than seeking to transform the world, serve to accommodate the individual to the status quo through the alleviation of anxiety and stress.[20]
Social construction
Mystical experience is not simply a matter between the mystic and God, but is often shaped by cultural issues. For instance,
Origins
The idea of mystical realities has been widely held in Christianity since the second century AD, referring not simply to spiritual practices, but also to the belief that their rituals and even their scriptures have hidden ("mystical") meanings.[1]
The link between mysticism and the vision of the Divine was introduced by the early Church Fathers, who used the term as an adjective, as in mystical theology and mystical contemplation.[15]
In subsequent centuries, especially as Christian apologetics began to use Greek philosophy to explain Christian ideas, Neoplatonism became an influence on Christian mystical thought and practice via such authors as Augustine of Hippo and Origen.[22]
Jewish antecedents
Jewish spirituality in the period before Jesus was highly corporate and public, based mostly on the worship services of the synagogues, which included the reading and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures and the recitation of prayers, and on the major festivals. Thus, private spirituality was strongly influenced by the liturgies and by the scriptures (e.g., the use of the Psalms for prayer), and individual prayers often recalled historical events just as much as they recalled their own immediate needs.[23]
Of special importance are the following concepts:
- Binah (understanding), and Chokhmah (wisdom), which come from years of reading, praying and meditating the scriptures;
- Shekhinah, the presence of God in our daily lives, the superiority of that presence to earthly wealth, the pain and longing that come when God is absent; and the nurturing, feminine aspect of God;
- the hiddenness of God, which comes from our inability to survive the full revelation of God's glory and which forces us to seek to know God through faith and obedience;
- "Torah-mysticism", a view of God's laws as the central expression of God's will and therefore as worthy object not only of obedience but also of loving meditation and Torah study; and
- poverty, an ascetic value, based on the apocalypticexpectation of God's impending arrival, that characterized the Jewish people's reaction to being oppressed by a series of foreign empires.
In Christian mysticism, Shekhinah became
Greek influences
The term theoria was used by the ancient Greeks to refer to the act of experiencing or observing, and then comprehending through nous.
The influences of Greek thought are apparent in the earliest Christian mystics and their writings.
Plato
For
Plotinus
In the Enneads of Plotinus (c.204/5–270 CE), a founder of Neoplatonism, everything is contemplation (theoria)[27] and everything is derived from contemplation.[28] The first hypostasis, the One, is contemplation[29][30] (by the nous, or second hypostasis)[failed verification] in that "it turns to itself in the simplest regard, implying no complexity or need"; this reflecting back on itself emanated (not created)[failed verification] the second hypostasis, Intellect (in Greek Νοῦς, Nous), Plotinus describes as "living contemplation", being "self-reflective and contemplative activity par excellence", and the third hypostatic level has theoria.[31] Knowledge of The One is achieved through experience of its power, an experience that is contemplation (theoria) of the source of all things.[32]
Plotinus agreed with Aristotle's systematic distinction between contemplation (theoria) and practice (praxis): dedication to the superior life of theoria requires abstention from practical, active life. Plotinus explained: "The point of action is contemplation. ... Contemplation is therefore the end of action" and "Such is the life of the divinity and of divine and blessed men: detachments from all things here below, scorn of all earthly pleasures, the flight of the lone to the Alone."[33]
Early church
New Testament writings
The Christian scriptures, insofar as they are the founding narrative of the Christian church, provide many key stories and concepts that become important for Christian mystics in all later generations: practices such as the
But different writers present different images and ideas. The Synoptic Gospels (in spite of their many differences) introduce several important ideas, two of which are related to Greco-Judaic notions of knowledge/gnosis by virtue of being mental acts: purity of heart, in which we will to see in God's light; and repentance, which involves allowing God to judge and then transform us. Another key idea presented by the Synoptics is the desert, which is used as a metaphor for the place where we meet God in the poverty of our spirit.[35]
The Gospel of John focuses on God's glory in his use of light imagery and in his presentation of the Cross as a moment of exaltation; he also sees the Cross as the example of agape love, a love which is not so much an emotion as a willingness to serve and care for others. But in stressing love, John shifts the goal of spiritual growth away from knowledge/gnosis, which he presents more in terms of Stoic ideas about the role of reason as being the underlying principle of the universe and as the spiritual principle within all people. Although John does not follow up on the Stoic notion that this principle makes union with the divine possible for humanity, it is an idea that later Christian writers develop. Later generations will also shift back and forth between whether to follow the Synoptics in stressing knowledge or John in stressing love.[36]
In his letters,
Apostolic Fathers
The texts attributed to the
Theoria enabled the Fathers to perceive depths of meaning in the biblical writings that escape a purely scientific or empirical approach to interpretation.[45] The Antiochene Fathers, in particular, saw in every passage of Scripture a double meaning, both literal and spiritual.[46][note 1] As Frances Margaret Young notes, "Best translated in this context as a type of "insight", theoria was the act of perceiving in the wording and "story" of Scripture a moral and spiritual meaning,"[48] and may be regarded as a form of allegory.[49]
Alexandrian mysticism
The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centers on
Monasticism
Desert Fathers
Inspired by Christ's teaching and example,
Early monasticism
The Eastern church then saw the development of
Monasticism eventually made its way to the West and was established by the work of John Cassian and Benedict of Nursia. Meanwhile, Western spiritual writing was deeply influenced by the works of such men as Jerome and Augustine of Hippo.[56]
Neo-Platonism
Neo-Platonism has had a profound influence on Christian contemplative traditions. Neoplatonic ideas were adopted by Christianity,[note 2] among them the idea of theoria or contemplation, taken over by Gregory of Nyssa for example.[note 3] The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa remarks that contemplation in Gregory is described as a "loving contemplation",[59] and, according to Thomas Keating, the Greek Fathers of the Church, in taking over from the Neoplatonists the word theoria, attached to it the idea expressed by the Hebrew word da'ath, which, though usually translated as "knowledge", is a much stronger term, since it indicates the experiential knowledge that comes with love and that involves the whole person, not merely the mind.[60] Among the Greek Fathers, Christian theoria was not contemplation of Platonic Ideas nor of the astronomical heavens of Pontic Heraclitus, but "studying the Scriptures", with an emphasis on the spiritual sense.[10]
Later, contemplation came to be distinguished from intellectual life, leading to the identification of θεωρία or contemplatio with a
Mystical theology
In early Christianity the term "mystikos" referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative.[64] The biblical dimension refers to "hidden" or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures.[65][64] The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist.[65][64] The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.[64]
The 9th century saw the development of mystical theology through the introduction of the works of sixth-century theologian Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, such as On Mystical Theology. His discussion of the via negativa was especially influential.[66]
Under the influence of
Practice
Cataphatic and apophatic mysticism
Within theistic mysticism two broad tendencies can be identified. One is a tendency to understand God by asserting what He is and the other by asserting what He is not. The former leads to what is called cataphatic theology and the latter to apophatic theology.
- Cataphatic (imaging God, imagination or words) – e.g., The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi; and
- Apophatic (imageless, stillness, and wordlessness) – inspired by the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, which forms the basis of Eastern Orthodox mysticism and hesychasm, and became influential in western Catholic mysticism from the 12th century AD onward, as in The Cloud of Unknowing and Meister Eckhart.[69]
Urban T. Holmes III categorized mystical theology in terms of whether it focuses on illuminating the mind, which Holmes refers to as speculative practice, or the heart/emotions, which he calls affective practice. Combining the speculative/affective scale with the apophatic/cataphatic scale allows for a range of categories:[70]
- Rationalism = Cataphatic and speculative
- Pietism = Cataphatic and affective
- Encratism = Apophatic and speculative
- Quietism= Apophatic and affective
Meditation and contemplation
In discursive meditation, such as Lectio Divina, mind and imagination and other faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand our relationship with God.[71][72] In contemplative prayer, this activity is curtailed, so that contemplation has been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love".[note 4] There is no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation and Christian contemplation, and they sometimes overlap. Meditation serves as a foundation on which the contemplative life stands, the practice by which someone begins the state of contemplation.[73]
John of the Cross described the difference between discursive meditation and contemplation by saying:
The difference between these two conditions of the soul is like the difference between working, and enjoyment of the fruit of our work; between receiving a gift, and profiting by it; between the toil of travelling and the rest of our journey's end".[74][75]
Mattá al-Miskīn, an
Meditation is an activity of one's spirit by reading or otherwise, while contemplation is a spontaneous activity of that spirit. In meditation, man's imaginative and thinking power exert some effort. Contemplation then follows to relieve man of all effort. Contemplation is the soul's inward vision and the heart's simple repose in God.[73]
Threefold path
According to the standard formulation of the process of
- Katharsis or purification;
- Theoriaor illumination, also called "natural" or "acquired contemplation;"
- Union or Theosis; also called "infused" or "higher contemplation"; indwelling in God; vision of God; deification; union with God
The three aspects later became purgative, illuminative, and unitive in the western churches and prayer of the lips, the mind, the heart in the eastern churches.[76]
Purification and illumination of the noetic faculty are preparations for the vision of God. Without these preparations it is impossible for man's selfish love to be transformed into selfless love. This transformation takes place during the higher level of the stage of illumination called theoria, literally meaning vision, in this case vision by means of unceasing and uninterrupted memory of God. Those who remain selfish and self-centered with a hardened heart, closed to God's love, will not see the glory of God in this life. However, they will see God's glory eventually, but as an eternal and consuming fire and outer darkness.[80]
Catharsis (purification)
In the Orthodox Churches, theosis results from leading a pure life, practicing restraint and adhering to the commandments, putting the love of God before all else. This metamorphosis (transfiguration) or transformation results from a deep love of God. Saint
Purification constitutes a turning away from all that is unclean and unwholesome. This is a purification of mind and body. As preparation for theoria, however, the concept of purification in this three-part scheme refers most importantly to the purification of consciousness (nous), the faculty of discernment and knowledge (wisdom), whose awakening is essential to coming out of the state of delusion that is characteristic of the worldly-minded. After the nous has been cleansed, the faculty of wisdom may then begin to operate more consistently. With a purified nous, clear vision and understanding become possible, making one fit for contemplative prayer.
In the Eastern Orthodox ascetic tradition called
Some Eastern Orthodox theologians object to what they consider an overly speculative, rationalistic, and insufficiently experiential nature of
Theoria (illumination) – contemplative prayer
An exercise long used among Christians for acquiring contemplation, one that is "available to everyone, whether he be of the clergy or of any secular occupation",[85] is that of focusing the mind by constant repetition of a phrase or word. Saint John Cassian recommended using the phrase "O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me".[86][87] Another formula for repetition is the name of Jesus,[88][89] or the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner," which has been called "the mantra of the Orthodox Church",[87] although the term "Jesus Prayer" is not found in the writings of the Fathers of the Church.[90] The author of The Cloud of Unknowing recommended use of a monosyllabic word, such as "God" or "Love".[91]
Contemplative prayer in the Eastern Church
In the Eastern Church, noetic prayer is the first stage of theoria,[92][note 9] the vision of God, which is beyond conceptual knowledge,[93] like the difference between reading about the experience of another, and reading about one's own experience.[81] Noetic prayer is the first stage of the Jesus Prayer, a short formulaic prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."[citation needed] The second stage of the Jesus Prayer is the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή), in which the prayer is internalized into 'the heart'.[94]
The Jesus Prayer, which, for the early Fathers, was just a training for repose,
Contemplative prayer in the Roman Catholic Church
Methods of prayer in the Roman Catholic Church include recitation of the
Unification
The third phase, starting with infused or higher contemplation (or Mystical Contemplative Prayer
In the Orthodox Churches, the highest theoria, the highest consciousness that can be experienced by the whole person, is the vision of God.
A nous in a state of ecstasy or ekstasis, called the eighth day, is not internal or external to the world, outside of time and space; it experiences the
Alternate models
Augustine
In the advance to contemplation Augustine spoke of seven stages:[113]
- the first three are merely natural preliminary stages, corresponding to the vegetative, sensitive and rational levels of human life;
- the fourth stage is that of virtue or purification;
- the fifth is that of the tranquillity attained by control of the passions;
- the sixth is entrance into the divine light (the illuminative stage);
- the seventh is the indwelling or unitive stage that is truly mystical contemplation.
Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart did not articulate clear-cut stages,[114] yet a number of divisions can be found in his works.[115]
Teresa of Avila
According to Jordan Aumann, Saint Teresa of Ávila distinguishes nine grades of prayer:
- vocal prayer,
- mental prayer or prayer of meditation,
- affective prayer,
- prayer of simplicity, or acquired contemplation or recollection,
- infused contemplation or recollection,
- prayer of quiet,
- prayer of union,
- prayer of conforming union, and
- prayer of transforming union.
According to Aumann, "The first four grades belong to the predominantly ascetical stage of spiritual life; the remaining five grades are infused prayer and belong to the mystical phase of spiritual life."[116] According to Augustin Pulain, for Teresa, ordinary prayer "comprises these four degrees: first, vocal prayer; second, meditation, also called methodical prayer, or prayer of reflection, in which may be included meditative reading; third, affective prayer; fourth, prayer of simplicity, or of simple gaze."[62]
Prayer of simplicity – natural or acquired contemplation
For Teresa, in natural or acquired contemplation, also called the prayer of simplicity[note 11] there is one dominant thought or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although with little or no development) amid many other thoughts, beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object, leading one to think chiefly of God and of his presence, but in a confused manner.[62] Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a simple gaze on God and divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and Saint Francis de Sales ("a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things").[117]
In the words of Saint
Natural or acquired contemplation has been compared to the attitude of a mother watching over the cradle of her child: she thinks lovingly of the child without reflection and amid interruptions. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: 'Contemplative [sic][note 16] prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.' Contemplative prayer seeks him 'whom my soul loves'. It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.[122]
Infused or higher contemplation
In the mystical experience of Teresa of Avila, infused or higher contemplation, also called intuitive, passive or extraordinary, is a supernatural gift by which a person's mind will become totally centered on God.[123] It is a form of mystical union with God, a union characterized by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests himself.[62] Under this influence of God, which assumes the free cooperation of the human will, the intellect receives special insights into things of the spirit, and the affections are extraordinarily animated with divine love.[123] This union that it entails may be linked with manifestations of a created object, as, for example, visions of the humanity of Christ or an angel or revelations of a future event, etc. They include miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in ecstatics.[62]
In Teresa's mysticism, infused contemplation is described as a "divinely originated, general, non-conceptual, loving awareness of God".[124] According to Dubay:
It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves cannot initiate or prolong. The beginnings of this contemplation are brief and frequently interrupted by distractions. The reality is so unimposing that one who lacks instruction can fail to appreciate what exactly is taking place. Initial infused prayer is so ordinary and unspectacular in the early stages that many fail to recognize it for what it is. Yet with generous people, that is, with those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life, it is common.[124]
According to
Mystical union
According to Charles G. Herbermann, in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), Teresa of Avila described four degrees or stages of mystical union:
- incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quietor supernatural recollection, when the action of God is not strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination still retains a certain liberty;
- full or semi-ecstatic union, when the strength of the divine action keeps the person fully occupied but the senses continue to act, so that by making an effort, the person can cease from prayer;
- ecstatic union, or ecstasy, when communications with the external world are severed or nearly so, and one can no longer at will move from that state; and
- transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God.
The first three are weak, medium, and the energetic states of the same grace.
The Prayer of Quiet
For Teresa of Avila, the Prayer of Quiet is a state in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating God as present.[128][129][130][131][132] The Prayer of Quiet is also discussed in the writings of Francis de Sales, Thomas Merton and others.[133][134]
Evelyn Underhill
Author and mystic
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
According to
Theosis or unity with God is obtained by engaging in
Theoria is the main aim of
According to John Romanides, following
False spiritual knowledge
In the Orthodox Churches, theoria is regarded to lead to true spiritual knowledge, in contrast to the false or incomplete knowledge of rational thought, c.q.
The most common false spiritual knowledge is derived not from an experience of God, but from reading another person's experience of God and subsequently arriving at one's own conclusions, believing those conclusions to be indistinguishable from the actual experienced knowledge.
False spiritual knowledge can also be
Spiritual somnolence
In the orthodox Churches, false spiritual knowledge is regarded as leading to spiritual delusion (Russian prelest, Greek plani), which is the opposite of sobriety. Sobriety (called nepsis) means full consciousness and self-realization (enstasis), giving true spiritual knowledge (called true gnosis).[155] Prelest or plani is the estrangement of the person to existence or objective reality, an alienation called amartía. This includes damaging or vilifying the nous, or simply having a non-functioning noetic and neptic faculty.[note 26]
Evil is, by definition, the act of turning humanity against its creator and existence. Misotheism, a hatred of God, is a catalyst that separates humanity from nature, or vilifies the realities of ontology, the spiritual world and the natural or material world. Reconciliation between God (the uncreated) and man is reached through submission in faith to God the eternal, i.e. transcendence rather than transgression[note 27] (magic).
The Trinity as Nous, Word and Spirit (
False asceticism or cults
In the Orthodox practice, once the stage of true discernment (diakrisis) is reached (called
Wisdom is cultivated by humility (
But let him not remain in this condition. If he wishes to see Christ, then let him do what Zacchaeus did. Let him receive the Word in his home, after having previously climbed up into the sycamore tree, 'mortifying his limbs on the earth and raising up the body of humility'.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (1996), Life after Death
Practicing
God is beyond knowledge and the fallen human mind, and, as such, can only be experienced in his hypostases through faith (noetically). False ascetism leads not to reconciliation with God and existence, but toward a false existence based on rebellion to existence.[note 27]
Latin Catholic mysticism
Contemplatio
In the
Middle ages
The
The
The
Reformation
The
As part of the
Counter-reformation
But the Reformation brought about the Counter-Reformation and, with it, a new flowering of mystical literature, often grouped by nationality.[168]
Spanish mysticism
The Spanish had
Italy
Lorenzo Scupoli, from Otranto in Apulia, was an Italian mystic best known for authoring The Spiritual Combat, a key work in Catholic mysticism.[173]
France
French mystics included Francis de Sales, Jeanne Guyon, François Fénelon, Brother Lawrence and Blaise Pascal.[174]
England
The English had a denominational mix, from Catholic Augustine Baker and Julian of Norwich (the first woman to write in English), to Anglicans William Law, John Donne, and Lancelot Andrewes, to Puritans Richard Baxter and John Bunyan (The Pilgrim's Progress), to the first "Quaker", George Fox and the first "Methodist", John Wesley, who was well-versed in the continental mystics.[citation needed]
An example of "scientific reason lit up by mysticism in the Church of England"[175]is seen in the work of Sir Thomas Browne, a Norwich physician and scientist whose thought often meanders into mystical realms, as in his self-portrait, Religio Medici, and in the "mystical mathematics" of The Garden of Cyrus, whose full running title reads, Or, The Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the ancients, Naturally, Artificially, Mystically considered. Browne's highly original and dense symbolism frequently involves scientific, medical, or optical imagery to illustrate a religious or spiritual truth, often to striking effect, notably in Religio Medici, but also in his posthumous advisory Christian Morals.[176]
Browne's latitudinarian Anglicanism, hermetic inclinations, and Montaigne-like self-analysis on the enigmas, idiosyncrasies, and devoutness of his own personality and soul, along with his observations upon the relationship between science and faith, are on display in Religio Medici. His spiritual testament and psychological self-portrait thematically structured upon the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, also reveal him as "one of the immortal spirits waiting to introduce the reader to his own unique and intense experience of reality".[177] Though his work is difficult and rarely read, he remains, paradoxically, one of England's perennial, yet first, "scientific" mystics.[citation needed]
Germany
Similarly, well-versed in the mystic tradition was the German
Pietism
This sentimental, anti-intellectual form of pietism is seen in the thought and teaching of Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravians; but more intellectually rigorous forms of pietism are seen in the teachings of John Wesley, which were themselves influenced by Zinzendorf, and in the teachings of American preachers Jonathan Edwards, who restored to pietism Gerson's focus on obedience and borrowed from early church teachers Origen and Gregory of Nyssa the notion that humans yearn for God,[180] and John Woolman, who combined a mystical view of the world with a deep concern for social issues; like Wesley, Woolman was influenced by Jakob Böhme, William Law and The Imitation of Christ.[181] The combination of pietistic devotion and mystical experiences that are found in Woolman and Wesley are also found in their Dutch contemporary Tersteegen, who brings back the notion of the nous ("mind") as the site of God's interaction with our souls; through the work of the Spirit, our mind is able to intuitively recognize the immediate presence of God in our midst.[182]
Scientific research
Fifteen
Modern philosophy
In modern times theoria is sometimes treated as distinct from the meaning given to it in Christianity, linking the word not with contemplation but with speculation. Boethius (c. 480–524 or 525) translated the Greek word theoria into Latin, not as contemplatio but as speculatio, and theoria is taken to mean speculative philosophy.[184] A distinction is made, more radical than in ancient philosophy, between theoria and praxis, theory and practice.[185]
Influential Christian mystics and texts
Early Christians
- Justin Martyr (c. 105 – c. 165) used Greek philosophy as the stepping-stone to Christian theology. The mystical conclusions at which some Greeks arrived pointed to Christ. He was influenced by Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as by Stoicism.
- Origen (c. 185–254) wrote On the First Principles and Against Celsus. Studied under Clement of Alexandria, and probably also Ammonius Saccus (Plotinus' teacher). He Christianized and theologized Neoplatonism.
- Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296/8–373) wrote The Life of Antony (c. 360).[186]
- Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–after 394) focused on the stages of spiritual growth, the need for constant progress, and the "divine darkness" as seen in the story of Moses.
- Augustine (354–430) wrote On the Trinity and Confessions. Important source for much mediaeval mysticism. He brings Platonism and Christianity together. Influenced by: Plato and Plotinus.
- Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 500) wrote Mystical Theology.
- Abba Or (c. 400 – c. 490) was an early Egyptian Christian ascetic and mystic. See also Anoub of Scetis.
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
- Philokalia, a collection of texts on prayer and solitary mental ascesis written from the 4th to the 15th centuries, which exists in a number of independent redactions;
- the Ladder of Divine Ascent;
- the collected works of St. Symeon the New Theologian(949–1022);
- the works of St. Isaac the Syrian (7th century), as they were selected and translated into Greek at the Monastery of St. Savas near Jerusalemabout the 10th century.
Western European Middle Ages and Renaissance
- John Scotus Eriugena (c. 810 – c. 877): Periphyseon. Eriugena translated Pseudo-Dionysius from Greek into Latin. Influenced by: Plotinus, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius.
- Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153): Cistercian theologian, author of The Steps of Humility and Pride, On Loving God, and Sermons on the Song of Songs; strong blend of scripture and personal experience.
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179): Benedictine abbess and reformist preacher, known for her visions, recorded in such works as Scivias (Know the Ways) and Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works). Influenced by: Pseudo-Dionysius, Gregory the Great, Rhabanus Maurus, John Scotus Eriugena.
- Victorines: fl. 11th century; stressed meditation and contemplation; helped popularize Pseudo-Dionysius; influenced by Augustine
- Hugh of Saint Victor (d. 1141): The Mysteries of the Christian Faith, Noah's Mystical Ark, etc.
- Richard of Saint Victor (d. 1173): The Twelve Patriarchs and The Mystical Ark (e.g. Benjamin Minor and Benjamin Major). Influenced Dante, Bonaventure, Cloud of Unknowing.
- Franciscans:
- Francis of Assisi (c.1182 – 1226): founder of the order, stressed simplicity and penitence; first documented case of stigmata
- Anthony of Padua (1195–1231): priest, Franciscan friar and theologian; visions; sermons
- Bonaventure (c. 1217 – 1274): The Soul's Journey into God, The Triple Way, The Tree of Life and others. Influenced by: Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Bernard, Victorines.
- Jacopone da Todi (c. 1230 – 1306): Franciscan friar; prominent member of "The Spirituals"; The Lauds
- Angela of Foligno (c. 1248 – 1309): tertiary anchoress; focused on Christ's Passion; Memorial and Instructions.
- Amadeus of Portugal (c. 1420 – 1482): Franciscan friar; revelations; Apocalypsis nova
- Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274): priest, Dominican friar and theologian.
- Beguines(fl. 13th century):
- Mechthild of Magdeburg (c. 1212 – c. 1297): visions, bridal mysticism, reformist; The Flowing Light of the Godhead
- Hadewijch of Antwerp(13th century): visions, bridal mysticism, essence mysticism; writings are mostly letters and poems. Influenced John of Ruysbroeck.
- Rhineland mystics(fl. 14th century): sharp move towards speculation and apophasis; mostly Dominicans
- Meister Eckhart (1260–1327): sermons
- Johannes Tauler (d. 1361): sermons
- Henry Suso (c. 1295 – 1366): Life of the Servant, Little Book of Eternal Wisdom
- Theologia Germanica (anon.). Influenced: Martin Luther
- John of Ruysbroeck(1293–1381): Flemish, Augustinian; The Spiritual Espousals and many others. Similar themes as the Rhineland Mystics. Influenced by: Beguines, Cistercians. Influenced: Geert Groote and the Devotio Moderna.
- Catherine of Siena (1347–1380): Letters
- The English Mystics (fl. 14th century):
- Anonymous – The Cloud of the Unknowing (c. 1375)—Intended by ascetic author as a means of instruction in the practice of mystic and contemplative prayer.
- Richard Rolle (c. 1300 – 1349): The Fire of Love, Mending of Life, Meditations on the Passion
- Walter Hilton (c. 1340 – 1396): The Ladder of Perfection (a.k.a., The Scale of Perfection) – suggesting familiarity with the works of Pseudo-Dionysius (see above), the author provides an early English language seminal work for the beginner.
- Julian of Norwich (1342 – c. 1416): Revelations of Divine Love (a.k.a. Showing of Love)
- Margery Kempe (1373 - c. 1438): The Book of Margery Kempe
Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation
- The Spanish Mystics (fl. 16th century):
- Society of Jesus.[187]
- The Way of Perfection, were intended as instruction in (profoundly mystic) prayer based upon her experiences. Influenced by: Augustine.
- John of the Cross (Juan de Yepes) (1542–1591): Wrote three related instructional works, with Ascent of Mount Carmel as a systematic approach to mystic prayer; together with the Spiritual Canticle and the Dark Night of the Soul, these provided poetic and literary language for the Christian Mystical practice and experience. Influenced by and collaborated with Teresa of Ávila.
- levitation and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping.[188]
- Jakob Böhme (1575–1624): German theosopher; author of The Way to Christ.
- Thomas Browne (1605–1682): English physician and philosopher, author of Religio Medici.
- Brother Lawrence (1614–1691): Author of The Practice of the Presence of God.
- Puritan, author of Looking Unto Jesus.
- Angelus Silesius (1624–1677): German Catholic priest, physician, and religious poet.
- Religious Society of Friends.
- Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648–1717): Visionary and Writer.
- William Law (1686–1761): English mystic interested in Jakob Böhme who wrote several mystical treatises.
- Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772): Influential and controversial Swedish writer and visionary.
- Rosa Egipcíaca (1719–1771): Afro-Brazilian mystic who wrote Sagrada Teologia do Amor Divino das Almas Peregrinas – the first religious text (or indeed any book) to be written by a black woman in colonial Brazil.
Modern era
- Domenico da Cese (1905–1978): Stigmatist Capuchin friar.
- Maria Valtorta (1898–1963): Visionary and writer.
- Mary of Saint Peter (1816–1848): Carmelite nun.
- Marie Lataste (1822–1899): Visionary, nun and writer.
- Andrew Murray (1828–1917): Evangelical Missionary and Writer, Author of over 240 books.
- Marie Martha Chambon(1841–1907): Nun and visionary.
- Marie Julie Jahenny (1850–1941): Stigmatist.
- Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering (1863–1899): Sister of the Good Shepherd.
- neo-Thomist theologian. His magnum opus The Three Ages of the Interior Life (Les trois âges de la vie intérieure) is a synthesis of previous theological thought of Catholic saints and Church Fathers.
- Frank Laubach (1884–1970): Evangelical missionary, author of Letters by a Modern Mystic.
- Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968): Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatic.
- Sadhu Sundar Singh(1889–1929): Evangelical Indian missionary, ascetic.
- Maria Pierina De Micheli (1890–1945): Italian nun and visionary.
- Quaker.
- Alexandrina of Balazar (1904–1955): Visionary and writer.
- Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961): Swedish diplomat (Second Secretary General of the United Nations). His posthumously published spiritual diary "Vägmärken" (Markings) gave him the reputation of having been one of the few mystics in the political arena.
- Mary Faustina Kowalska(1905–1938): Polish nun and visionary.
- Eugenia Ravasio (1907–1990): Italian nun and visionary of God the Father.
- Simone Weil (1909–1943): French writer, political activist and ecstatic visionary.
- Flower A. Newhouse (1909–1994): American clairvoyant.
- Carmela Carabelli (1910–1978): Italian writer.
- Pierina Gilli (1911–1991): Italian visionary.
- Christian and Missionary Alliance; author of The Pursuit of God.
- Trappistmonk and writer.
- Watchman Nee (1903–1972): visionary and writer.
- Local ChurchesVisionary and writer, author of over 400 books.
- Sister Lúcia (1907–2005): Portuguese participant in the 1917 Fátima apparitions, nun, and prophetess.
- no-selfstates.
- Richard J. Foster (b. 1942): Quakertheologian; author of Celebration of Discipline and Prayer.
- Richard Rohr (b. 1943): Franciscan priest, writer and prophet; author of "Falling upward" and "Universal Christ".
- Anneliese Michel (1952–1976): young German Catholic who claims she was possessed to convert sinners; claimed to receive religious visions and bring the stigmata.[191]
- charismaticwriter and prophet; author of Wasted on Jesus and The Seer.
See also
- Anchorite
- Ambrose of Optina
- Apodicticity
- Apotheosis
- Argument from beauty
- Aseity
- Beatific vision
- Bridal theology
- Chaplet in Honour of the Holy Spirit and His Seven Gifts
- Christian theosophy
- List of Christian mystics
- Christian mythology
- Christian views on astrology
- Christian views on magic
- Desert Fathers
- Diodorus of Tarsus
- Divine illumination
- Esoteric Christianity
- H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.
- Entire sanctification
- Gnosiology
- Kenosis
- Thomas Merton
- John Meyendorff
- Mind's eye
- Michael Pomazansky
- Open theism
- Participation in Christ
- Pentecostalism
- Sacred mysteries
- Sobornost
- Sophrony
- Soteriology
- Soul flight
- Tacit knowledge
- Watchfulness (Christian)
- World Community for Christian Meditation
Notes
- ^ In their biblical exegesis, whether of Alexandrian or Antiochene tradition, the Fathers, "with little or no understanding of the progressive nature of revelation, where the literal sense would not suffice, [...] resorted to allegory or to theoria (Chrysostom and the Antiochenes)."[47]
- ^ "From the point of view of the historian, the presence of Neoplatonic ideas in Christian thought is undeniable" [57]
- ^ "The analogy between (Gregory's) terminology and thought and that of the ancient initiators of the philosophic ideal of life is a perfect one. The ascetics themselves are called by him 'philosophers' or 'the philosophic chorus'. Their activity is called 'contemplation' (θεωρία), and to the present day this word, even when we use it to designate the θεωρητικός βίος of the ancient Greek philosophers, has preserved the overtone which transformation into a technical term of Christian asceticism has added to it"[58]
- ^ "Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2724).
- ^ a b Ecstasy comes when, in prayer, the nous abandons every connection with created things: first "with everything evil and bad, then with neutral things" (2, 3, 35; CWS p.65). Ecstasy is mainly withdrawal from the opinion of the world and the flesh. With sincere prayer the nous "abandons all created things" (2, 3, 35; CWS p.65). This ecstasy is higher than abstract theology, that is, than rational theology, and it belongs only to those who have attained dispassion. It is not yet union; the ecstasy which is unceasing prayer of the nous, in which one's nous has continuous remembrance of God and has no relation with the `world of sin', is not yet union with God. This union comes about when the Paraclete "...illuminates from on high the man who attains in prayer the stage which is superior to the highest natural possibilities and who is awaiting the promise of the Father, and by His revelation ravishes him to the contemplation of the light" (2, 3, 35; CWS p.65). Illumination by God is what shows His union with man. (Greek: ἀπάθεια, romanized: apatheia) and clarity of vision. Vision here refers to the vision of the nous that has been purified by ascetic practice.[81]
- ^ There was an anchorite (hermit) who was able to banish demons; and he asked them: Hermit: What make you go away? Is it fasting? The demons: We do not eat or drink. Hermit: Is it vigils? The demons: We do not sleep. Hermit: Is it separation from the world? The demons: We live in the deserts. Hermit: What power sends you away then? The demons: Nothing can overcome us, but only humility. Do you see how humility is victorious over the demons?[82]
- ^ A basic characteristic of the Frankish scholastic method, mislead by Augustinian Platonism and Thomistic Aristotelianism, had been its naive confidence in the objective existence of things rationally speculated about. By following Augustine, the Franks substituted the patristic concern for spiritual observation, (which they had found firmly established in Gaul when they first conquered the area) with a fascination for metaphysics. They did not suspect that such speculations had foundations neither in created nor in spiritual reality. No one would today accept as true what is not empirically observable, or at least verifiable by inference, from an attested effect. So it is with patristic theology. Dialectical speculation about God and the Incarnation as such are rejected. Only those things which can be tested by the experience of the grace of God in the heart are to be accepted. "Be not carried about by divers and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart be confirmed by grace," a passage from Hebrews 13.9, quoted by the Fathers to this effect.[83]
- ^ In the present case, Roman Catholic theologians are either confusing two dogmas — that is, the dogma of the personal existence of the Hypostases and the dogma of the Oneness of Essence, and it is absolutely essential to distinguish this from another dogma — or else they are confusing the inner relations of the All Holy Trinity with the providential actions and manifestations of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which are directed towards the world and the human race. That the Holy Spirit is One in Essence with the Father and the Son, that therefore He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, is an indisputable Christian truth, for God is a Trinity One in Essence and Indivisible. [...] The expression, 'the Spirit of the Father and the Son", is likewise in itself quite Orthodox. But these expressions refer to the dogma of the Oneness of Essence, and it is absolutely essential to distinguish this from another dogma, the dogma of the begetting and the procession, in which, as the Holy Fathers express it, is shown the Cause of the existence of the Son and the Spirit. All of the Eastern Fathers acknowledge that the Father is monos aitios, the sole Cause” of the Son and the Spirit.[84]
- ^ a b Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "Noetic prayer is the first stage of theoria."[92]
- Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos: "If one wishes to be an Orthodox theologian one must begin from the state of Adam as it was before the Fall, what happened with the Fall and how we can be restored to our former state, even reach there where Adam did not. If a theology does not speak of man's fall; if it does not designate precisely what it is, and if it does not speak of man's resurrection, then what kind of theology is it? Surely, it is not Orthodox. In any case, we were saying earlier that Orthodoxy is a therapeutic treatment and science, and also that Theology is a therapeutic treatment. It cures man. Yet, if we do not examine where man's illness lies, how can we know what we should heal? If, regarding his body, man follows a wrong treatment he will never be cured. The same also happens with the soul. It must become clear to us that the darkness of nous is its illness and illumination is its cure. Mysteries and all the ascetic tradition of the Church are meant to lead us where Adam was before the Fall, that is, to the illumination of the nous, and from there to theosis, which is man's original destination. Therefore, it is very important for us to know exactly what the illness is. If we ignore our inner sickness our spiritual life ends up in an empty moralism, in a superficiality. Many people are against the social system. They blame society, family, the existing evil, etc. for their own problem. However the basic problem, man's real malady is the darkness of his nous. When one's nous is illumined one thus becomes free from slavery to everything in the environment, e.g. anxiety, insecurity, etc."[97]
- ^ a b c catholicculture.org: "Meditation replaced by a purer, more intimate prayer consisting in a simple regard or loving thought on God, or on one of his attributes, or on some mystery of the Christian faith. Reasoning is put aside and the soul peacefully attends to the operations of the Spirit with sentiments of love."[192]
- ^ "Over the centuries, this prayer has been called by various names such as the Prayer of Faith, Prayer of the Heart, Prayer of Simplicity, Prayer of Simple Regard, Active Recollection, Active Quiet and Acquired Contemplation"[103]
- ^ That is to say, the man who beholds the uncreated light sees it because he is united with God. He sees it with his inner eyes, and also with his bodily eyes, which, however, have been altered by God's action. Consequently, theoria is union with God. And this union is knowledge of God. At this time one is granted knowledge of God, which is above human knowledge and above the senses.[81]
- ^ a b Vladimir Lossky: "It is necessary to renounce both sense and all the workings of reason, everything which may be known by the senses or the understanding, both that which is and all that is not, in order to be able to attain in perfect ignorance to union with Him who transcends all being and all knowledge. It is already evident that this is not simply a question of a process of dialectic but of something else: a purification, a katharis, is necessary. One must abandon all that is impure and even all that is pure. One must then scale the most sublime heights of sanctity leaving behind one all the divine luminaries, all the heavenly sounds and words. It is only thus that one may penetrate to the darkness wherein He who is beyond all created things makes His dwelling."[107]
- NRSV But what is the noetic function? In the Holy Scriptures there is, already, the distinction between the spirit of man (his nous) and the intellect (the logos or mind). The spirit of man in patristics is called nous to distinguish it from the Holy Spirit. The spirit, the nous, is the eye of the soul (see Matt. 6:226).[108]
- ^ Mental prayer, "oración mental," is not contemplative prayer.[119][120][121]
- ^ Literally, "God became man so that man might become god." Here, man is understood as human and no debate exists within the Church concerning a contrary interpretation.
- ^ (Greek for "making divine",[137] "deification",[138][139] "to become gods by Grace",[139] and for "divinization", "reconciliation, union with God."[140] and "glorification")[141] According to John Ramonides, theosis is "the selfless love of glorification (theosis) dedicated to the common good." — John Romanides[90]
- ^ Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "Theosis-Divinisation is the participation in the Uncreated grace of God. Theosis is identified and connected with the theoria (vision) of the Uncreated Light (see note above). It is called theosis in grace because it is attained through the energy, of the divine grace. It is a co-operation of God with man, since God is He Who operates and man is he who co-operates."[142]
- ^ Theophan the Recluse: "The contemplative mind sees God, in so far as this is possible for man."[143]
- ^ Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "This is what Saint Symeon the New Theologian teaches. In his poems, proclaims over and over that, while beholding the uncreated Light, the deified man acquires the Revelation of God the Trinity. Being in "theoria" (vision of God), the saints do not confuse the hypostatic attributes. The fact that the Latin tradition came to the point of confusing these hypostatic attributes and teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son also, shows the non-existence of empirical theology for them. Latin tradition speaks also of created grace, a fact which suggests that there is no experience of the grace of God. For, when man obtains the experience of God, then he comes to understand well that this grace is uncreated. Without this experience there can be no genuine "therapeutic tradition.""[92]
- ^ A basic characteristic of the Frankish scholastic method, mislead by Augustinian Platonism and Thomistic Aristotelianism, had been its naive confidence in the objective existence of things rationally speculated about. By following Augustine, the Franks substituted the patristic concern for spiritual observation, (which they had found firmly established in Gaul when they first conquered the area) with a fascination for metaphysics. They did not suspect that such speculations had foundations neither in created nor in spiritual reality. No one would today accept as true what is not empirically observable, or at least verifiable by inference, from an attested effect. so it is with patristic theology. Dialectical speculation about God and the Incarnation as such are rejected. Only those things which can be tested by the experience of the grace of God in the heart are to be accepted. "Be not carried about by divers and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart by confirmed by grace," a passage from Hebrews 13.9, quoted by the Fathers to this effect.[83]
- ^ www.monachos.net: "At the heart of Barlaam's teaching is the idea that God cannot truly be perceived by man; that God the Transcendent can never be wholly known by man, who is created and finite."[149]
- ^ Romanides: "And, indeed, the Franks believed that the prophets and apostles did not see God himself, except possibly with the exception of Moses and Paul. What the prophets and apostles allegedly did see and hear were phantasmic symbols of God, whose purpose was to pass on concepts about God to human reason. Whereas these symbols passed into and out of existence, the human nature of Christ is a permanent reality and the best conveyor of concepts about God.[150]
- George D. Metallinos[subnote 1] Nikolaos Loudovikos, Dumitru Stăniloae, Stanley S. Harakas and Archimandrite George, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios of Mount Athos.[141]
- ^ Man has a malfunctioning or non-functioning noetic faculty in the heart, and it is the task especially of the clergy to apply the cure of unceasing memory of God, otherwise called unceasing prayer or illumination. "Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God in light – divine light, while the selfish and impure see God the judge as fire – darkness".[156]
- ^ N. O. Lossky's philosophy p. 262: "There is another kind of selfishness which violates the hierarchy of values much more: some agents who strive for perfection and the absolute fullness of being and even for the good of the whole world are determined to do it in their own way, so that they should occupy the first place and stand higher than all other beings and even the Lord God himself. Pride is the ruling passion of such beings. They enter into rivalry with God, thinking that they are capable of ordering the world better than its Creator. Pursuing an impossible aim, they suffer defeat at every step and begin to hate God. This is what Satan does. Selfishness separates us from God in so far as we put before us purposes incompatible with God's will that the world should be perfect. In the same way selfishness separates an agent in a greater or lesser degree from other agents: his aims and actions cannot be harmonized with the actions of other beings and often lead to hostility and mutual opposition.[193]
Subnotes
- ^ "We have a culture that creates saints, holy people. Our people's ideal is not to create wisemen. Nor was this the ideal of ancient Hellenic culture and civilization. Hellenic anthropocentric (human-centered) Humanism is transformed into Theanthropism (God-humanism) and its ideal is now the creation of Saints, Holy people who have reached the state of theosis (deification)."[153]
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- on January 5, 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
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- ^ Faith And Science In Orthodox Gnosiology and Methodology by George Metallinos [2]
- ^ Saint Symeon the New Theologian On Faith Palmer, G.E.H; Sherrard, Philip; Ware, Kallistos (Timothy). The Philokalia, Vol. 4
- Nikitas Stithatos(Nikitas Stethatos) On the Practice of the Virtues: One Hundred Texts
- ^ Nikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On the Inner Nature of Things and on the Purification of the Intellect: One Hundred Texts
- ^ Nikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On Spiritual Knowledge, Love and the Perfection of Living: One Hundred Texts
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- ^ James Clark, as cited in Forman (1987), Eckhart's Stages of Mystical Progression
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- ^ "St". www.catholic-church.org.
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- ^ Hollenback (1996), p. 535.
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- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2709". Archived from the original on August 1, 2016.
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- ^ Aumann, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition, p. 248
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- ^ Greene 1987, pp. 22–38.
- ^ Lossky 1976.
- ^ "The ARTFL Project | The ARTFL Project". artfl-project.uchicago.edu.
- ^ "Theosis - Deification As The Purpose Of Man's Life greekorthodoxchrch.org". greekorthodoxchurch.org.
- ^ a b "On Union With God and Life of Theoria by Kallistos Katafygiotis (Kallistos Angelikoudis) greekorthodoxchrch.org". www.greekorthodoxchurch.org.
- ^ Fellow Workers With God: Orthodox Thinking on Theosis (Foundations) by Normal Russell p.
- ^ a b Kapsanēs 2006.
- ^ The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Traditions by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos [3]
- ^ Theophan the Recluse, What Is prayer?. Cited in The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, p.73, compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo, trans, E. Kadloubovsky and E.M. Palmer, ed. Timothy Ware, 1966, Faber & Faber, London.
- ISBN 0-913836-19-2)
- ^ "Andrew Louth, Theology, Contemplation and the University (abstract)".
- ^ Ware (1995), p. 5.
- ^ a b deCatanzaro 1980, pp. 9–10.
- ^ The mystical theology of the Eastern Church By Vladimir Lossky pp. 237–238 [4]
- ^ monachos.net, Gregory Palma Archived 2009-11-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Romanides 1981a.
- ^ The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Traditions by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos [5]
- ^ "St. Nicholas Orthodox Church » Mysticism, Women and the Christian Orient". Stnicholaspdx.org. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
- ^ George D. Metallinos (1995), Orthodox and European Civilization: The struggle between Hellenism and Frankism, [Excerpts from the speech of Fr. Georgios Metallinos, Professor at the University of Athens, during the February 1995 Theological Conference in Pirgos, Greece.] – via www.romanity.org
- ^ "Those who speak from their own thoughts, before having acquired purity, are seduced by the spirit of self-esteem." St. Gregory of Sinai
- ISBN 978-0-8236-8074-0 sponsored by Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
- ^ a b Vlachos 1996.
- ^ Vlachos 2005.
- ^ Hall 1998, p. 158.
- ISBN 978-0-80913948-4), p. 63
- ^ "Saint John Cassian | Biography, Theology, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 21 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-80910484-0), p. 47
- ISBN 978-1-40398296-4), pp. 257–274;
- Thomas Bénatouïl, Mauro Bonazzi, Theoria, Praxis, and the Contemplative Life after Plato and Aristotle (Brill 2012) ISBN 978-9-00422532-9;
- Frans Jozef van Beeck, God Encountered: A Contemporary Catholic Systematic Theology (Liturgical Press 2001) ISBN 978-0-81465877-2; and in books dealing with Antiochene exegesis
- Thomas Bénatouïl, Mauro Bonazzi, Theoria, Praxis, and the Contemplative Life after Plato and Aristotle (Brill 2012)
- S2CID 152099684. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 125–127.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 127–128.
- ^ Cornuz 2003, p. 149.
- ^ Fremantle 1964.
- ^ "Counter-Reformation | Definition, Summary, Outcomes, Jesuits, Facts, & Significance". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 94–97.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 99–102.
- ^ "Christian Mystics Full Library Part Two Revelations of Divine Love in..." 1 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ Gardner 1910.
- ^ "A medieval mystic untimely born? | Christian History Magazine". Christian History Institute. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ Sencourt 1925, p. 126.
- PMID 20229138.
- ^ Huxley 1929.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 136–138.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 138–139.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 139–140.
- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 143–144.
- ^ S2CID 13563460.
- ISBN 978-0-74861987-0), pp. 34, 79
- ISBN 978-0-73913661-4), p. 15
- ^ Schaff 1892, p. 194.
- ^ "Life of St. Ignatius – Founder of the Society of Jesus". Loyola Jesuit College. Archived from the original on 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ Pastrovicchi 1918.
- ^ Chasle 1906.
- ^ Kelly 2009, pp. 79, 86.
- ^ Anneliese Michel—A unrecognized and misunderstood victim soul. A closer look at her possession, exorcism and death
- ^ catholicculture.org, Catholic Dictionary: Prayer of simplicity
- ISBN 978-0-8236-8074-0.
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Further reading
General
- ISBN 0-8245-1404-1
- ISBN 0-8245-1628-1
Eastern Orthodox
- ISBN 0-913836-19-2
- ISBN 0191608777.
- Mattá al-Miskīn, Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003 ISBN 0-88141-250-3
- ISBN 0-268-03830-9)
- ISBN 0-19-926779-0)
- ISBN 0-87907-879-0)
- ISBN 0-917651-70-7)
- ISBN 1-885652-41-0)
- ISBN 978-960-7070-18-0(Hierotheos Vlachos)
Catholicism
- Aumann, Jordan. Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition. Sheed & Ward, 1985; p. 247. ISBN 0-89870-068-X.
- ISBN 0-89870-263-1.
Centering prayer
- ISBN 0-8264-1061-8.
- ISBN 0-8264-1397-8.
- ISBN 0-8264-1420-6.
- ISBN 0-385-09219-9.
- ISBN 1406796328.
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a subsection on contemplative prayer within its section on prayer in the Christian life.
Other
- Yungen, Ray. A Time of Departing: How Ancient Mystical Practices Are Uniting Christians with the World's Religions. Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2006, 2nd edition. ISBN 978-0-9721512-7-6.
Diverse
- Tito Colliander: Way of the Ascetics, 1981, ISBN 0-06-061526-5
- Samuel Fanous and Vincent Gillespie, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Mysticism, Cambridge University Press, 2011
- Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, 1978, ISBN 0-06-062831-6
- ISBN 0333287983
- Patrick Grant. ed, A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0088-2
- Kathleen Lyons: Mysticism and Narcissism. Cabbridge Scholars, 2016, ISBN 978-1-4438-8043-5
- Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright and Edward Yarnold, eds.: The Study of Spirituality, Oxford University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-19-504170-4
- Tarjei Park, The English Mystics, SPCK, 1998, ISBN 0-281-05110-0
- Thomas E. Powers: Invitation to a Great Experiment: Exploring the Possibility that God can be Known, 1979, ISBN 0-385-14187-4
- Ryan Stark, "Some Aspects of Christian Mystical Rhetoric, Philosophy, and Poetry," Philosophy & Rhetoric 41 (2008): 260–77.
- William Thiele: "Monks in the World: Seeking God in a Frantic Culture", 2014, ISBN 978-1-62564-540-1
- Evelyn Underhill: The Spiritual Life: Four Broadcast Talks, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937, x, 141 p.
External links
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Christian mysticism
- Evelyn Underhill: Christian Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness
- Christian Mystics: An online library of Christian Mysticism: Current Topics and Public Books
- Christian Mysticism Post on the Realization and Consciousness of Christian Enlightenment
Ancient Greek
- Aristotle: Why the Contemplative Life is the Happiest (Nicomachean Ethics 10.7). English and Greek.
Eastern Orthodox
- Differences between Orthodoxy and other religions
- Eastern Orthodoxy – GOA
- Eastern Orthodoxy – OCA
- Gregory Palamas' fight for the Vision of God
- Theoria, Tabor Light as Vision
- What is the Human Nous? by John Romanides
Catholic
- Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola.