The term μυστήριον in early Christian texts and its role in the formation of Christian mysticism and mystical theology in the Ante-Nicene period
М. Филатов
Theological Herald October 15, 2018 DOI: 10.31802/2500-1450-2018-31-4-63-92 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that the concept of mysticism developed in pre-Nicene Christian theology around Greek terms such as μυστήριον and μυστικός, grounded in Scripture, and proposes two aspects of mystical theology: a mysticism of knowledge (understanding God's Wisdom, not always verbally expressible) and a mysticism of union (experiential participation in the fullness of the Godhead), with the Incarnation as the cornerstone of Orthodox mysticism. |
Abstract
Единство мистического опыта фиксируется в терминах μυστήριον, μύστης, μυστικός, μυσταγωγία и др. Богословское обоснование эта лексика получает в тексте Священного Писания: «Вам дано знать тайны Царствия Небесного»1. Автор показывает, что раннехристианские богословы стремились воплотить эти слова в жизнь. В соответствии с этим выделяются два аспекта развития мистического богословия. Первый связан с осмыслением Откровения Премудрости Божией, которое не всегда можно выразить словесно (мистика познания, гностический аспект); второй - с опытным постижением и приобщением полноте Божества (мистика единения, онтологический аспект). В основе мистического христианского опыта лежит событие Боговоплощения, или соединения Боже- ственной (нетварной) и человеческой (тварной) природ в Иисусе Христе - Сыне Божием и Сыне Человеческом, что является краеугольным камнем всей православной мистики. The article deals with the origin and development of the concept of “mysticism” in Christian theology in the pre-Nicene period. Author shows, in particular, that the unity of the mystical experience is fixed in terms of μυστήριον, μύστης, μυστικός, μυσταγωγία etc. The theolog- ical justification of this vocabulary gets in the text of the Scriptures (Mt. 13, 11; Mk. 4, 11; Lk. 8, 10). The author shows that early Christian theologians tried to translate these notions into practice. In accordance with this, two aspects of the development of mystical theology are distinguished: the first is connected with understanding the Revelation of the Wisdom of God, which cannot be expressed verbally; the second - with an experienced comprehension and familiarity with the fullness of the Godhead. At the heart of the mystical Christian experience lies the fact of the Incarnation, or the union of the divine (uncreated) and human (created) natures in Jesus Christ - the Son of God and the Son of Man, who is the edge-stone stoneof all Orthodox mysticism.
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 |