Contemplation and Contemplative Life
James Harrison
Life of the Spirit September 1, 1959 DOI: 10.1017/s0269359300002858 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that supernatural contemplation, or mysticism, is an immediate or experimental knowledge of God through union with him by charity, distinct from the mediate knowledge of God available through reason and faith. The author contends that natural reason can know God's existence and some attributes, while faith is required to know his inner nature, such as the threefold personality. |
Abstract
BY contemplation here I am not referring to any merely natural operation of the intellect, however sublime it may be, but to an operation much more elusive, namely, supernatural contemplation, called also mysticism. It may be defined as an immediate or experimental knowledge of God. Our ordinary knowledge of God, of his existence and. of his nature, comes to us not immediately but only mediately, that is through intellectual concepts or ideas in the mind derived from reason and faith. By our natural reason it is possible to know of God's existence and to some extent his attributes, but only by faith can “we know his inner nature, for example, his threefold personality. But mysticism, or mystical knowledge of God which is supernatural contemplation, is something quite different. This is immediate knowledge of God and experience of his presence through union with him by charity.