Religion in the Twenty-First Century

What did Lossky expect his readers to understand by ‘mystical theology’? For when his Mystical Theology was published (in 1944), ‘mysticism’, or la mystique was very much in the air. Von Hügel had begun a trend, picked up by Heiler and Otto, and in Catholic circles by Bremond, Poulain, and Saudreau; Baruzi’s influential book on St John of the Cross discussed the problem of ‘mystical experience’. The ‘mystical’ was a category used by Balthasar and Daniélou; and then, just after Lossky’s book, Stolz, Gilson, and Bouyer wrote about it (Bouyer exploring its patristic origins). All this time Lossky was engaging with the mystical in his thesis on Eckhart, seeing in something beyond conceptualization, grasped by experience. In his Mystical Theology, Lossky expects such a pre-understanding of the mystical, but sees it as the deeper meaning of Church dogma, and associates it with sacramental experience.

Mystical theology is a theology of love which is rooted in “in Christ’s life”. The center of mystical experience is Christ himself especially his death on the cross and his resurrection. Mystical theology then will take someone into unity with Christ who was crucified, died and resurrected. This paper intends to dig the meaning of mystical theology which is based on mystical experience of Paul in II Corinthians (12:1-10) and to actualize its understanding to the Indonesian context. I try to make a comparison between Christian experience and the mystical experience of Bima in the tale of Dewa Ruci. Mystical theology is a theology that invites people to “get into life” through the path of suffering. It is not a picture about life that loves suffering, but that of a “love road”. By following the path of suffering, someone is brought to life.

<p class="07AbstrakInggris">This study delves into the intriguing world of "To Pembuni," a revered and enigmatic figure in the beliefs of the Nosu people. "To Pembuni" is known for its hidden nature and mystical traits. Using a nuanced approach through phenomenological research, the goal is to deeply understand the rich experiences and beliefs of the vibrant Nosu community about "To Pembuni." The findings reveal a dual existence of "To Pembuni" in both the real world of Nosu and a unique ethereal realm. This enigmatic presence is believed to occasionally take human form or inhabit dwellings. Its origin stems from regular community members seeking solace from heavy taxation by retreating into the forest. A key highlight is the deep respect and warm connection the Nosu people share with "To Pembuni," showcasing their profound rapport. An interesting theme is the intricate relationship between safeguarding the environment and the mystical bond between the Nosu and "To Pembuni," highlighting the interconnectivity of all life. Additionally, the study introduces the depths of mystical theology through the lens of William Johnston, an erudite Irish Jesuit scholar. Johnston's perspective portrays mystical theology as a discipline revealing esoteric wisdom gained through divine communion, with love as the guiding force. In conclusion, this research offers insights into mystical experiences and their impact on beliefs, underscoring the need for environmental preservation. It invites further exploration of mysticism as a path to harmoniously connect with the divine, championing love and compassion for all creation, echoing William Johnston's mystical theology.</p>

Współcześnie pojęcie „duchowość” jest bardzo popularne i przez to wieloznaczne. Obfita literatura przedmiotu prezentuje różne koncepcje duchowości, które można określić jako „nowa duchowość”. Wśród nich najbardziej wyróżnia się duchowość ateistyczna (duchowość bez Boga) i psychologia duchowości. Ich wspólną cechą jest opieranie się na wpisanej w ludzką naturę zdolności do transcendowania. Także kard. Karol Wojtyła w zdolności do autotranscendencji upatruje istoty duchowości, która przejawia się w szeroko rozumianej kulturze i cywilizacji. Autor artykułu proponuje, aby tę podstawową formę duchowości, która ma źródło w ludzkiej naturze, nazwać duchowością antropogeniczną. Jeżeli zdolność do autotranscendencji ma ukierunkowanie soteryjne, wówczas staje się ona duchowością religijną. Jej szczególną formą, ze względu na czynnik nadprzyrodzony, jest duchowość chrześcijańska. Ponieważ ma charakter „odgórny”, jest nieredukowalna do żadnej innej formy duchowości. Zawarta w ostatniej części artykułu propozycja metodologiczna zdaje się rozwiązywać − z jednej strony − możliwe napięcie między różnymi przejawami „nowej duchowości”, zwłaszcza duchowości bez Boga, a duchowością chrześcijańską. Z drugiej zaś strony − nie pozwala na stawianie znaku równości między nimi. Na tle różnych przejawów „nowej duchowości” i psychologii duchowości, duchowość chrześcijańska jawi się jako szczególnie godna uwagi propozycja transcendowania i spełniania się ducha ludzkiego.

Cape Pietism is a hybrid, transnational and transconfessional form of spirituality, emanating from the Pietistic movement in Germany, with its emphasis on medieval mysticism, piety and spiritual devotion to Christ, and Dutch Second Reformation influences. Feminine Pietists in South African frontier communities were the practitioners of this form of spirituality, analogous to similar trends in the mystical cultures in German and Dutch Medieval mysticism. In addition to the influence of religious literature of German and Dutch Pietists, the marginalisation and isolation of feminine believers on the South African frontier cultivated tendencies similar to those in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Pietism in Europe. Lay feminine spirituality in Cape frontier communities reflects forms of Pietistic mysticism parallel to the Beguines, the Dominican penitent women and female mystics elsewhere in Europe. Common to the diverse mystical cultures in Europe and the Cape frontier communities, is the expression of numinous experiences through mystical love metaphors—a legacy of Dionysius the Areopagite and other Neoplatonic Christian believers. Dorothea Magdalena Goosen is an exponent of Cape Pietistic tendencies with a strong undercurrent of melancholy and a feeling of spiritual abandonment. Her autobiographical ego-text and self-composed verses testify to her finding consolation in the grace of God through the inpouring of Christ’s love in her heart. Typical to female exponents of Cape Pietism, she longs for the heavenly rejoicing with Christ and the sweet elation of the heart following the embrace of the Bridegroom and restored consolation. Her numinous mystical experiences are recorded in Pietistic outpourings of love and bridal metaphors—mostly in an erotic form. A study of her mystical spirituality adds to broaden the corpus of knowledge of Cape Pietistic mysticism by tracing the roots of her love mysticism to the Neoplatonic legacy of German and Dutch female spirituality. The conclusion provides a clearer view of the mystical profile of feminine members of the petit bourgeoisie and their efforts at spiritual self-empowerment in their isolated living conditions in South African pioneering communities.

Reviewed by: Figure e motivi della contemplazione nelle teologie medievali Hugh Feiss, O.S.B. Figure e motivi della contemplazione nelle teologie medievali. By Barbara Faes de Mottoni. [Micrologus Library, 18.] (Florence: SISMEL, Edizioni del Galuzzo. 2007. Pp. 181. €37,00 paperback. ISBN 978-888-450215-5.) This volume collects six articles, two hitherto unpublished, about the writings of thirteenth-century theologians on contemplation. The author, a specialist in medieval theology, is as analytically skillful as are the writings she studies. The footnotes reproduce the Latin texts analyzed, making it easier to follow and evaluate her expositions. Access to the varied articles is facilitated by a helpful introduction; summary conclusions at the end of each one; general indices of names, biblical passages, and manuscripts cited; and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. In my discussion that follows, I have translated the article titles from Italian. The article "Moses and Paul: Examples of Contemplation and of Rapture in the Theology of the Thirteenth Century" examines various perspectives on mystical visions. Some medieval authors—Alexander of Hales, Albert the Great, and St. Bonaventure—influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius, assert that the mystical experiences of Moses (Exod. 19:18; 33:11–23) were not as lofty as Paul's when he was snatched (raptus) to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12: 2–4). Others—Thomas Aquinas (who distinguishes several levels of contemplation in the biblical statements about Moses) and Matthew of Aquasparta—drawing on Augustine, identify Moses as the lawgiver of the Old Testament and Paul as the apostle of the Gentiles, and think it therefore fitting that the two seers had equivalent contemplative experiences. Matthew of Aquasparta adds the argument that for our consolation God gave both the lawgiver and the apostle a taste of the beatific vision to which their teaching and commands are meant to lead us. The article "Active Life and Contemplative Life in William of Auxerre and Roland of Cremona" asserts the superiority of the contemplative life, with [End Page 811] some qualifications. Roland argues against William on several points and adds the argument that the higher reason, which is the power involved in contemplation, also governs the work of the lower reason, which is concerned with the active life. The article "Et audivit arcana verba quae non licet homini loqui. Arcana, Secrets, and Mysteries in Theology at the Beginning of the Thirteenth Century: Robert Grosseteste, William of Auxerre, and Roland of Cremona" focuses on the arcana seen by Paul. The author begins with a helpful survey of the meaning of the three terms in the title, then expounds the various thirteenth-century interpretations according to which the arcana were totally incommunicable, incommunicable only to the more advanced, or communicable in a mode other than the one in which they were seen. The article "Pleasure and Sorrow in Contemplation" considers pleasure and sorrow in Albert the Great's question on Paul's rapture and Thomas Aquinas's on pleasure in contemplation (Sum. Theo. 2–2, 10, 1.7), but concentrates on St. Bonaventure's richer treatment, especially in the Itinerarium. The article "Auditory Events and Mystical Experience in Some Theological Itineraries of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages" contrasts the strictly allegorical interpretation of the sound of the trumpets connected with Moses' meeting with God in Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Dionysius and his medieval commentators, with the role of bells and other sounds and sensations in visionary experiences of Margaret of Cortona and Gertrude of Helfta. The article "Aspects of the Doctrine of Contemplation in Hugh of Balma" studies the writings of a Carthusian strongly influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius's Mystical Theology as interpreted by Thomas Gallus of Vercelli, who gave it an affective emphasis, which Hugh accentuates. Hugh contrasts his understanding of contemplation with those of Augustine and Richard of St. Victor. The book impresses the reader with the deep interest of the scholastics (and of Faes de Mottoni) in contemplation and the states of consciousness associated with it, and their subtle analysis of Scripture and the varied sources—Augustinian, Pseudo-Dionysian, and Aristotelian—on which they drew. Hugh Feiss Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, Idaho Copyright © 2008 The Catholic University of America Press

Reflections on Leonard J. Arrington

In the article the author tries to analyze the vision of the path of spiritual formation in the philosophical and religious views of the Ukrainian Middle Ages and the early modernism representatives in the context of the doctrine of theosis. It is noted that the doctrine of deification is considered fundamental to the theology of holiness. Theosis, the idea of which is to renew the image and the likeness of God in a person, is the main goal of life from the standpoint of the Eastern Church. After all, the combination of the Divine and human natures opens the way to God for a person. As a state of subjective experience of a human person, theosis is considered in hesychasm, which interprets it as synergy - an interacting combination of energies of man and God. The path to the development of knowledge about God is connected with the ascetic rejection from the worldly life, and the path to the union with Him is connected with the union of the Divine and human natures in a person. Followers of hesychasm believe that theosis is the practice of the subjective experience of a human person; synergy is the interacting combination of the energy of man and God. The main task of austerity is the attainment of divine grace. It dissolves the will of man in the process of a human being transformation. The doctrine of theosis had an impact on the formation of the theocratic idea in the culture of Kiev Rus, in which love of wisdom played an important role in human understanding themselves as the image of God. Analyzing the views of the Ukrainian Middle Ages and early modernism representatives on the path of spiritual development of man, the author concludes that they were characterized by the vision of deification as a person’s approach to God through self-exploration and moral improvement. Theosis is the final result on the path of spiritual growth for the representatives of the Middle Ages and early modernism philosophical conception, who attached great importance to gaining inner mystical experience and sought to experience spiritual ecstasy as the ultimate goal in the mystical path to deification.

Wilderness experiences were celebrated by the Great Romantics, and figures such as Wordsworth and Thoreau emphasized the need to seek direct contact with the non-human world. Later deep ecologists accentuated the way in which wilderness experiences can spark moral epiphanies and lead to action on behalf of the natural environment. In recent years, psychological studies have manifested how the observations made by the Romantics, nature authors and deep ecologists apply to laypeople: contact with the wilderness does tend to lead to epistemological, ontological and normative ‘epiphanies.’ This paper analyses four different umbrella terms with which to make sense of the content of wilderness experiences. First, mystical experience (William James), peak experience (Abraham Maslow) and elevation (Jonathan Haidt) are explored. Although all three offer promising models for explicating the nature of wilderness experiences, they also run the risk of reducing those experiences to sheer experiential hedonism. Second, attentiveness as emphasized in the tradition of mindfulness and in the philosophy of Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch will be mapped out. Attentiveness not only helps one to understand the nature of wilderness experiences, but also offers a model with which to approach non-human nature and thereby acts as a barrier against hedonism.

This article explores the dual mission of the Church in shaping citizens both for the earthly community, or Polis, and the Kingdom of Heaven. Emphasizing primarily on spiritual formation, the Church naturally influences societal structures by embedding Christian values such as love, justice, and responsibility. It contrasts these enduring values with the promises of utopian ideologies, which often reduce human nature to simplistic terms and promise unattainable earthly perfection. The article argues that true societal progress depends on personal transformation and moral elevation rather than revolutionary changes in social order. By examining the pitfalls of totalitarian regimes and the secularization of Christian ethics, the discussion underscores the Church's role in promoting a balanced, harmonious existence rooted in spiritual truth and divine guidance.

Este artigo busca discutir acerca da experiência místico-especulativa que Nicolau de Cusa (1401-1464) propõe aos monges de Tegernsee para os conduzir à “sagrada obscuridade” ou “teologia mística”. O autor estava motivado pela discussão do século XV, sobre se se deveria entender a visão contemplativa de forma meramente afetiva ou intelectual. Esse debate envolvia dois grandes partidários de ambas perspectivas, respectivamente, Vicente de Aggsbach e Gerson. Após troca de cartas, Nicolau de Cusa envia aos monges beneditinos o De visione dei (1453) e um quadro que representa “a figura de alguém que tudo vê” denominado por ele “Ícone de Deus”. Destarte, a partir da experiência de olhar um quadro, cuja pintura traz a peculiaridade de o olhar pintado acompanhar aquele que o olha, Nicolau os leva a especular sobre a experiência do olhar de Deus que não abandona e acompanha todos e cada um. Logo, o caminho proposto no De visione dei é uma verdadeira “condução pela mão” (Manuductio) para que os monges, segundo as suas capacidades, alcancem a experiência mística: do olhar finito do quadro ao olhar infinito que é o próprio olhar de Deus. O artigo, portanto, dentro do âmbito da filosofia de Nicolau de Cusa mostra a via reflexiva que parte da experiência da finitude até a mais alta e profunda especulação que o homem pode vir a fazer: contemplar o divino.

Adding to recent concerns about resonances between debt in Christian soteriologies and in capitalism, Hollis Phelps has argued that Anselm’s satisfaction theory provides subjective reinforcement for neoliberalism’s biopolitical use of debt, and thus calls for an abandonment of the idea that humans must be redeemed from debt to God. Without advocating mere retrieval of satisfaction theory, I submit that such a concept of debt can have the opposite effect by analyzing how it plays out in Catherine of Siena’s mystical theology and the way she articulates satisfaction in her writings. Catherine’s doctrine of creation casts humanity’s unremittable debt as an obligation to love God, self, and neighbor that is divinely designed to benefit all. This concept of debt determines what satisfaction signifies for Catherine, fostering an “indebted subjectivity” incompatible with that of neoliberalism. Her theology thereby suggests a productive way to leverage the language of a prominent Western atonement theory against the neoliberal concepts of debt that discipline Western society—namely, by rooting debt in a doctrine of creation that emphasizes relationships of mutuality and interdependence that benefit all.

The definition and meaning of mysticism have been the subject of debate for decades within academia. While in a colloquial sense its referent may be readily apparent, there is no one existing definition of the term that adequately captures the multiple, diverse phenomena that have been termed “mystical.” Genealogical studies reveal its origin in the Greek mystery religions (muo; mystikos), later taken up by the early Christian Fathers (mystical theology; mystical contemplation) to denote the effects of God’s presence as granted through grace and accessed through participation in a total religious matrix. Starting in the 17th century, one finds the beginning of the modern uses of the term as it became deracinated from a total religious matrix. In its new incarnation as a noun (la mystique), “mysticism” was utilized in the service of multiple academic methods designed to analyze religious phenomena. The implications of this trend were numerous: the democratization of mysticism, its rendering as an “experience” (e.g., William James’ pivotal analysis in The Varieties of Religious Experience), and its “modern” form as nontraditional or “unchurched” (e.g., the “spiritual but not religious movement”; “psycho-spiritualities”). In this latter sense, mysticism became linked to a cousin term, spirituality, which followed a parallel historical trajectory. The Western origins of the term evoked consternation from comparativists who accept using “mysticism” as a “term of art” only after shearing it from its theological echoes and possible orientalist and colonialist uses, further qualifying it relative to similar terms (e.g., moksha, nirvana, fana) as they accrue specificity in their particular socio-historical and religious contexts. This new, modern rendering of the term also gave rise to additional, sometimes incommensurate academic adventures (e.g., historians, theologians, philosophers, and a wide range of social scientists) into the “what” of mysticism. Such investigations have had the advantage of obviating the idealizations that may blind one to the more problematic formulations and implications regarding, for example, gender, sexuality, and race that can be found in tradition-based forms of mysticism. In turn, they helped facilitate the move to nontraditional forms of spirituality and mysticism while ushering in a new series of debates that currently occupy the field.

Mystical Theology aims to be a ‘wisdom of experience’, not a ‘wisdom of doctrine’.1 It is not as theology that it is mystical, but in the fact that it brings mystical experience to expression in words. Mystical experience, however, cannot be communicated in doctrinal propositions. So the ‘theology of mystical experience’ always tells only of the way, the journey, the transition to that unutterable and incommunicable experience of God. So far as its doctrinal content is concerned, the theology of the mystics has up to the present seldom appeared particularly impressive. By tracing the history of ideas, one can easily enough recognise the augustinian, the neoplatonic and the gnostic motifs, and track them back to their roots. With this approach, however, one is not on the same path as the mystical theologians. It is therefore more appropriate to ask what experiences they were seeking to express with the help of those images and ideas. In order to share in their experience, it makes sense to join with them on the same journey, whether with Bernard of Clairvaux on the ‘ladder of love’, with Bonaventura on the ‘pilgrimage of the soul to God’, with Thomas à Kempis on the road of the Imitatio Christi or with Thomas Merton on the ‘seven-storey mountain’.

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and ReviewsVolume 16, Issue 2 p. 43-48 Crotchets & QuidditiesFree Access What big eyes you have, Grandma! Big eyes are to see with, but what about the unseen? The principle of parsimony in evolution. Kenneth M. Weiss, Kenneth M. Weiss Ken Weiss is Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology and Genetics at Pennsylvania State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Kenneth M. Weiss, Kenneth M. Weiss Ken Weiss is Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology and Genetics at Pennsylvania State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 24 April 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20127Citations: 1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL REFERENCES 1 Huxley TH. 1860. Collected essays, vol. II. Darwiniana: the origin of species. London: Macmillan 22– 79. 2 Gould SJ. 1997. Nonoverlapping magisteria. Nat Hist 106: 16– 22. 3 Pollack R. 2000. The faith of biology and the biology of faith: order, meaning, and free will in modern medical science. 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