Elements of a Methodical Understanding of Eastern Christian Mysticism
Jeremy W. Blackwood
Irish Theological Quarterly September 29, 2011 DOI: 10.1177/0021140011416284 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that the Macarian Homilies symbolically express Lonergan's 'differentiations of consciousness' and proposes a theory of the divinely enraptured subject as revelatory, suggesting this offers a systematic theoretic account of the symbolic grasp of conscious experience in that mystical literature. |
Abstract
Christian mystical writing expresses symbolically the complexities of conscious experience identified by Bernard Lonergan as ‘differentiations of consciousness.’ In order for the insights of such literature to penetrate theoretic systematic theology, there must be effected a theoretic account of conscious experience that is of sufficient depth to account for the differentiations witnessed to by mystical writing. This article attempts a preliminary step in this direction by taking key elements of the Macarian Homilies as pointers to further areas requiring systematic theoretic development. Building on the suggestions of three scholars working within a Lonergan-grounded horizon, this article articulates a theory of the divinely enraptured subject as revelatory and suggests that such a position is a theoretic account of the symbolically-expressed grasp of conscious experience articulated in the Macarian Homilies.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |