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Mysticism simply means the spirituality of the direct experience of God. It is the adventure of "the wild things of God."

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Jesus proclaimed "I and the father are one," showing the world what the union of God and man can be. Christian mysticism is about nothing else but this transforming union of God and man.

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"Our only business is to love and take delight in God." Brother Lawrence

"To come into union with the wisdom of God the soul has to embrace not-knowing, rather than knowing." John of the Cross.

To love with all our heart is to burn up, totally consume, all that is "I" and "mine." J. Boehme

"I am" can be spoken by no creature but God...our truest "I" is God. Meister Echkart

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ORIGINAL: DaveW

So I guess that is why I do not see the need for "christian mysticism." I do understand that it relegates forms of christianity where there is no supernaturalism,

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ORIGINAL: schtumpy

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ORIGINAL: DaveW

So I guess that is why I do not see the need for "christian mysticism." I do understand that it relegates forms of christianity where there is no supernaturalism,

Sorry Dave, but isn't Christianity (and in fact, all theistic beliefs) about a belief in some supernatural being or beings?

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ORIGINAL: Doghouse

I think that all the "mystics" within any Church have to be wary of is the tendency to start down the slippery slope of gnosticism. I believe there is a mystic side of faith, and I believe that tends to be a very personal facet and experience of an individual in a relationship with God.

The minute one tries to apply authority to the personal mystic experience, and dictate a practice of others, based on such a personal experience, one is slipping down the slope, and needs to reach out and grab a rope..

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ORIGINAL: schtumpy

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ORIGINAL: DaveW

So I guess that is why I do not see the need for "christian mysticism." I do understand that it relegates forms of christianity where there is no supernaturalism,

Sorry Dave, but isn't Christianity (and in fact, all theistic beliefs) about a belief in some supernatural being or beings?

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ORIGINAL: AndyBern

Mysticism has multiple definitions according to Webster. If you go by the definition "obscurity of doctrine", then it is wrong. But if you go by the definition that has to do with knowledge gained by an actual experiential relationship with God, then it may be right, depending on the means of that knowledge.

Christianity is not just believing in doctrine, or living a godly life, but having a real living relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Our knowledge of God should go beyond just a head-knowledge of what the scriptures say about Him. We are also to trust and obey. When we do, He will reveal Himself to us. Jesus said in John 14:21-23:

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

This is the only kind of mysticism that I would agree with: the experiential knowledge that comes when God reveals Himself as He said He would. True experiential knowledge of God will not contradict how He has already revealed Himself in the scriptures, otherwise it is a false experience.

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In the Old Testament era this verse really explains the necessity of Mysticism;

(1Co 2:9) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Since no one knew what God had for us; the guessing (mysticm, rabbinical writings, etc) were seemingly necessary.

But with Christians it is not necessary, and would be denying the faith for we do know;

(1Co 2:10) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

(1Co 2:11) For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

(1Co 2:12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

(1Co 2:13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Thank you God for the knowledge so that we no longer need to guess or go into mysticism to find the truth.

Thanks
RC

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We must strain our focus looking for the SPIRIT of their words, doing so out of love and fellowship for the other but also out of our won desire to deepen our intmacy with Christ.

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ORIGINAL: agapist

gloryandgrace, I know you were trying to be helpful but perhaps you do not know enough about the subject: the site you picked is, in my opinion, terrible. It liberally mixes the author's opinions in with Christian mysticism and the broad spectrum of the mystical tradition. Almost any of the others you will find with the search "Christian Mystics" is good.

I visited that site earlier this year and it has gotten worse.

The "two ways" you posted did not include a comparison of mysticism to traditional Christianity but describes the two bents: legalism and license, or law and love.

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Glenn, thanks for your message. I’m sorry but I’m not familiar with Vernon Howard’s book so I cannot comment on it (but you’ve gotten me interested in learning more about it!) Your question is not only about mystical experience, but also about how Christians should react to non-Christians who discuss mysticism in their writings or teachings. Many Christians are invested in the idea that “Christianity is the only way to God” and thus attack all non-Christian spiritual experience as either illusory or demonic. But not all Christians feel that way. A century ago an Englishwoman named Evelyn Underhill wrote a wonderful book about mysticism. She believed that Christianity is the best route to God, but not necessarily the only path. More recently, an American mystic named Thomas Merton became very involved in trying to foster dialogue and mutual understanding between Christians and members of other faiths, especially Buddhists: he worked very closely with Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama among others, but always remained a faithful Christian himself. Back to your question: if Vernon Howard is described as “occult” he is very likely not a Christian, but that doesn’t mean he is anti-Christian, nor does it mean that his writings might not contain some truth or some merit. If when you read Mr. Howard’s book you find ideas or descriptions that match up with your experience, to me this simply is evidence that there really is a universal, “natural law” of spirituality, just like there is a universal “natural law” of morality. Also, I cannot stress this enough: you are not crazy. Mystical experiences can be profoundly disorienting and can force us to re-think much of what we “know” (i.e., assume) to be true about God, life, the universe, etc. But true, Godly mysticism leads us to a heightened appreciation of the miracles of the universe, the beauty of the Spirit, and most of all, the all-pervasive love of God. As for what other Christians think of Vernon Howard, well, ask five different Christians and you’ll get five different opinions. Ultimately, you do have to trust your own experience. I know you didn’t ask me for advice, but I’m going to offer it anyway: use it or ignore it, as you prefer… my advice would be for you to try to learn more about Christian mysticism. A good place to start is Cynthia Bourgeault’s The Wisdom Way of Knowing or perhaps my own The Aspiring Mystic. For something more intellectual, try the writings of Evelyn Underhill or Thomas Merton, who I mentioned above. Most important of all: pray every day and get in the habit of giving thanks to God for all the little miracles in your life (as well as the big ones, like your experience). That focus on gratitude will take you farther than any book ever can.

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FOR CARL – I have read about the Christian mystics, the desert fathers, St John of the Cross, the Flying Monk, St Francis etc… I can’t say I aspire to be a modern day mystic (yet), because I am not exactly sure what that means, but I am interested in finding out more. Your site will help with that. At one point in my walk with God I spent about 2 months praying for him to reteach me everything, to throw out anything that was not true, no matter how ingrained it was in me and my experiences, and to only let me experience truth from then on. It has been a wild journey since then… But I told him, I had to have a reference point, that I could not float around the spiritual realms without an anchor, or I may be decieved, for my mind has not yet been fully renewed. That reference point is the Word. If there is anything in my experiences that goes against the truth found in the Word, I would have to deny it. Otherwise, I could end up ANYWHERE.

Therefore, before I go too much farther, I have to clarify something. You mention that some of the mystics suggest that Christianity is not the only way to truth. I understand that, truth is right there in front of us every day, Christian or not. But do you believe that truth will always lead us to Christ. And that Christ is the only way to the Father (and here I mean an understanding of forgiveness and the work done on the cross in order to bring us into unity with God). By that I am not suggesting that there is only one way to Christ – after all, God is pretty creative, so he can find all sorts of ways to bring us to Christ. But, before I delve into something that seeminly has no end (that deep part of the pool), I have to know if it lines up with my only reference point, and what I already know to be true – that Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. Is that a foundational belief of the creators of this site, and (though not really a fair question) is that the understanding of “the mystics” of Christian faith?

Thank you for your honesty and desire to seek the Lord.

In love,

Paul

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Carl said.....
I think that the older I get, the less concerned I become about which path is the “right” or “best” or “only” path to God, to Spirit, to enlightenment, to theosis, to salvation. For one thing, we each have our own unique path. On the other hand, as Krishnamurti so eloquently put it, “truth is a pathless land.” Right and wrong are useful categories when teaching a child that compassion is right and cruelty is wrong, but it seems to me that there are contexts where such either/or thinking stops being useful — and trying to judge one path in relation to another may very well be one of those places. Mysticism is all about paradox, and one of the mystical paradoxes is that there is such a thing as truth and there is a context where true and not-true lose all meaning relative to one another.

On a more prosaic level, even the Cathechism of the Catholic Church offers a limited positive view of other faiths. It seems to me that Christians who are really, joyously devoted to living the imitation of Christ, sooner or later just stop judging other religions and instead remain devoted to universal principles such as truth, kindness, generosity, hospitality, humility, love, compassion, forgiveness, non-judgment, peace and peacemaking, and so forth. I think this is why some of the most creative Christian mystics of the last century had profound engagement with non-Christian practices: Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths, Valentin Tomberg, Henri Le Saux. As we move deeper into that place of “judge not,” we are liberated to relate to other faiths with the heart and mind of a loving child, rather than a suspicious adult. Which ties in nicely with Jesus’ exhortation to “become as little children.”