Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity (both the Eastern Orthodoxand Oriental Orthodox traditions).
The attributes and means by which Christian mysticism is studied and practiced are varied. They range from ecstaticvisions of the soul’s mystical union with God to simple prayerful contemplation of Holy Scripture (i.e., Lectio Divina).
Etymology
Mystic marriage of Christ and the Church.
“Mysticism” is derived from the Greek μυω, meaning “to conceal”, and its derivative μυστικός, mystikos, meaning ‘an initiate’. In the Hellenistic world, a “mystikos” was an initiate of a mystery religion. “Mystical” referred to secret religious rituals and use of the word lacked any direct references to the transcendental.
In early Christianity the term mystikos referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative. The biblical dimension refers to “hidden” or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures. The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist. The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.
Definition
Life of Francis of Assisi by José Benlliure y Gil
Presence
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.
Presence versus experience
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. He 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.
William James popularized the use of the term “religious experience” in his 1902 book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge.
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.
Personal transformation
Resurrection of Jesus, Matthias Grünewald.
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.
Other critics point 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.
Richard King also points to disjunction between “mystical experience” and social justice:
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.
Transformation has particular importance in the theology of Origen.