What is a Christian Mystic

[Desi]

What is Mysticism?
To many modern Christians, words like "meditation," "mystic," and
"mysticism" bring to mind Eastern religions, not Christianity.
Certainly Eastern religions are known for their mysticism; however,
mysticism is not only a vital part of the Christian heritage as well,
but it is actually the core of Christian spirituality. Mysticism
simply means the spirituality of the direct experience of God. It is
the adventure of "the wild things of God."
The direct experience of God is a kind of knowing, which goes beyond
intellectual understanding. It is not a matter of "belief." It is
marked by love and joy, but it is not "emotional experience." In many
ways, it is better described by what it is not. To describe what it
is, we must use metaphors—the marriage of the soul to Christ, the
death of the "old man" and birth of the "new man," being the "body of
Christ."
Jesus proclaimed "I and the Father are one," (Jn. 10.30) showing the
world what the union of God and man can be. Christian mysticism is
about nothing else but this transforming union.
Christ is the sole end of Christian mysticism. Whereas all Christians
have Christ, call on Christ, and can (or should) know Christ, the goal
for the Christian mystic is to become Christ—to become as fully
permeated with God as Christ is, thus becoming like him, fully human,
and by the grace of God, also fully divine. In Christian teaching this
doctrine is known by various names—theosis, divinization, deification,
and transforming union.
A common misconception about mysticism is that it's about "mystical
experiences," and there are many volumes on such experiences in
religious literature. But true mysticism is not focussed on
"experiences" (which come and go) but with the lasting experience of
God, leading to the transformation of the believer into union with
God.
A very, very, very short mystical apologetic.
To know God directly shows that mysticism is different from any
passive or legalistic kind of Christianity. It means:
· That while we honor the Scriptures, we want to know God directly,
not just through Scripture.
· While we respect our heritage of teachings about God, we want to
know God directly, not through doctrines and teachings.
· While we gather in communal worship, we want to know God directly,
not just through the Church.
Some readers may find this unsettling. Maybe you believe it doesn't
apply to you, because you "know" that your church is purer and more
correct than others. Even if that were true, is it a substitute for
knowing God directly? Or, you might also feel that trusting the Bible
alone gives you knowledge of God directly from the Source. But it was
written by mystics, listening to God speaking his Word in their
hearts. Is it possible for you to read it directly, without the
conceptions of your language, time, culture, and personal history? Are
you sure you wouldn't understand it very differently if you were
reading it, say, in third-century Damascus?
The religion we call "Christianity" changes, but God is eternal.
Mystical faith wants to know this unchanging God to whom Christianity
leads us, the One behind the beliefs and the words, the One whom
beliefs and words cannot describe. We want to follow Jesus' example
more closely, and go beyond the religion about Jesus, and take the
religion of Jesus: the knowledge of the Father and unconditional love
he had, and urged us to have.
What is a mystic?
I believe that everyone who wants to love unconditionally is a mystic.
All children are born mystics, and if you were once a child, you were
once a mystic. Christian mysticism is following the example of Christ
as he followed the Father. And mysticism is not by any means
restricted to Christianity: the Bible says, “everyone who loves is
begotten of God, and knows God.” (1 Jn. 4.7) God speaks in various
ways, in every time and every place to "whosoever will." Other pages
on this site treat non-Christian mysticism.
Mystics range the gamut of walks of life, from intellectual priests
such as Frs. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Matthew Fox, to laywomen
like Bernadette Roberts and Katherine Nelson. The mystic way is old,
but timeless—it is alive, and ever-new for each one who chooses it. It
may be inviting you to begin this adventure of divine transformation
and discovery.
A very, very, very short history of mysticism
The term mysticism derives from The Mystical Theology, a tiny treatise
written by the greatest Christian writer of the sixth century,
Dionysius the Areopagite, a.k.a. Pseudo-Dionysius or St. Denys [the
Areopagite]. But Dionysius is in no way the "founder" of Christian
mysticism. That honor belongs to none but Jesus the Christ himself.
But there was mysticism long before Jesus was born. God "strolled in
the Garden" with man (Heb. 'adam). Jacob saw heaven opened. God spoke
to Joseph through dreams. Moses communed with God on Sinai. David lost
himself in dancing for the Lord.
But when Jesus declared "I and the Father are one," (Jn. 10.30) he
proclaimed in himself the union of God and humankind, and he offers it
to all who follow him (he gave the power to become sons of God to all
who believe. (Jn. 1.12).
From there, the mystic heart is seen in the letters of the apostles:
Paul reached the divinized state of losing his "self": I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me! (Gal. 2.20) James wrote that every good
and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no
variation nor shadow of turning. (Jas. 1.17) Peter proclaimed that
Christ even descended to hell to liberate imprisoned souls, (1 Pet.
3.19) and John understood the most sublime truth of God's essence: God
is Love! (1 Jn. 4.8,16). This is only the beginning. Every century has
been influenced by Christian mystics—from apostles and martyrs, Church
Fathers and Desert Mothers, to monks and nuns of religious orders, to
the lay mystics—men and women and boys and girls in every century, in
every denomination, in every walk of life.

[alec]

Most religious people today irrespective of the religion
they claim to profess are only interested in the outer form or the
externals of their religion. This is what the church leaders want.
They want religion to be organized and people to belong to churches
and so the importance of the externals is stressed. The true
teachings of Jesus have always been misintepreted by the clergy as
they are more concerned about the letter than the spirit of his
teachings much like the jews in Jesus time.

alakeshwar

[Peter VanGee]

Hi Alec:

 

Given my earlier posts, I've had more than my fair share my run ins with bad clergy.  If you want, I can discuss my personal experience with the down rite bizarre.  But that doesn't mean church leaders don't want us to be contemplatives.  In the orthodox tradition, most church leaders regard contemplative monks as the base of the faith.  And I have to think that those leaders as well as other traditions would agree that prayer is the basis for all Christian life.

 

It is the religious leader's job to focus on externals - this doesn't make him or her a Pharisee.  The Pharisees were like Cain, in that both resented the works of another.  We're all stuck in shadow and pattern.  The question is which pattern to follow - Cain or Abel?  If only for the fact that so many clergy are bad:  We, as Christians, have a responsibility to move away from shadow and pattern and take charge of our own prayer life.

 

Pete

[Paul Kiler]

Mystics range the gamut of walks of life, from intellectual priests
such as Frs. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Matthew Fox,

In my opinion, Matthew Fox has lost it.

Paul Kiler