Mysticism — whether Christian mysticism, or comparative (world) mysticism — is a vast subject, one to which you could easily devote your life without any fear of ever mastering (or exhausting) the literature associated with it. Recently two books have crossed my desk that should prove to be invaluable for anyone seeking to study mysticism [...]
Pick up any edition of The Cloud of Unknowing, and you are likely to find the following language a bit intimidating: Whoever you are possessing this book, know that I charge you with a serious responsibility, to which I attach the sternest sanctions that the bonds of love can bear. It does not matter whether [...]
Last night I joined the good folks at Countryside Church in Omaha, NE for their weekly webcast, Darkwood Brew. Needless to say, our topic was Christian mysticism. The host, Dr. Eric Elnes, invited me to comment on what he described as three “myths” related to Christian mysticism — three common misconceptions that many Christians might [...]
In the Classics of Western Spirituality edition of the Selected Works of Bernard of Clairvaux, Benedictine scholar Jean Leclercq, OSB offers the follow definition of “mystical experience”: …those rare occasions when a handful of Christians may enjoy sublime states of prayer and union with God. What do you think? I have problems with the idea [...]
A friend of mine suggested I read Wayne Simsic’s Seeking the Beloved: A Prayer Journey with St. John of the Cross, offering the book pretty high praise: “I never ‘got’ John of the Cross until I read this book,” she said. That alone made me think it was worth checking out. And I would agree [...]
I’ll be teaching Introduction to Christian Mysticism through Emory University’s Continuing Education Program. Classes meet on Monday evenings from November 5 through December 3. I hope I’ll see you there… and please tell your friends, share on Facebook, Twitter, etc.! Thank you. To register: https://register.ece.emory.edu/modules/shop/index.html?action=section&OfferingID=3827&SectionID=17304 Course Description: The renowned twentieth century German theologian Karl Rahner said, “The [...]
Mystical spirituality is concerned with one basic question: how can we truly know God? One way of knowing involves learning information about God; it is doctrinal. Another way of knowing leads to union with God; it is mystical. Mystical writing often seems impenetrable and incomprehensible, eluding precise definition, as if it were an unknown and [...]