The Changing Shape of Late Medieval Mysticism
Church History June 1, 1996 DOI: 10.2307/3170288 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Citations | 64 |
| Key points | Argues that explicit Christian mysticism developed in accumulating, interactive layers of tradition, with a monastic layer dominant until the late twelfth century. This layer was biblical and liturgical, rooted in the monastic ideal of withdrawal for penance and prayer, and the author contends most monastic mystics were "objective," expressing mystical transformation through biblical exegesis and mystagogical exposition rather than personal experience accounts. |
Abstract
The historical development of explicit forms of Christian mysticism can be sketched according to a model of gradually accumulating and interactive layers of tradition. The monastic ideal of flight from the world in order to lead a specialized life of penance and prayer, either as a hermit or within a community, formed the institutional context for most forms of Christian mysticism down to the end of the twelfth century. This monastic layer of mysticism was primarily biblical and liturgical in the sense that it sought God in and through personal appropriation of the mystical understanding of the Bible as cultivated within the liturgical life of the monastic community. Most monastic mystics were also “objective” in the sense that they rarely talked about their own experiences of God, but rather sought to express their understanding of mystical transformation through biblical exegesis and theoretical expositions of a mystagogical character (that is, expositions designed to lead readers into the mystery of the consciousness of God's presence)
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 |