Eschatology
The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology February 25, 2020 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198722380.013.33 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that mystical experience is a foretaste of heaven, and that five historical examples illustrate the relationship between mysticism and eschatology, elucidated by Lacoste's phenomenology of prayer. |
Abstract
Mystical experience is a foretaste of heaven and so eschatology and mysticism are related. Five examples of this relationship are Gregory the Great’s account of Benedict’s final vision of the world in the light of God, the twelfth-century Victorines’ explanation of how mystical union leads to configuration with Christ and so to compassionate care for others, Bernard of Clairvaux’s theory that the souls of the blessed do not have full union with God until they are reunited with their bodies and their fellow Christians at the final resurrection, Julian of Norwich’s struggle to understand how all can be well when there is sin, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s vision of the divine presence in matter and of the responsibility of humanity to evolve toward the fullness of Christ. These intersections of mysticism and eschatology are elucidated by Jean-Yves Lacoste’s phenomenology of prayer.