Individualization, Mysticism, and the Life of the Church
Ted A. Smith
Interpretation-a Journal of Bible and Theology October 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1177/00209643251349535 (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 declining church affiliation reflects individualization rather than secularization, and that an ecclesiology centered on mysticism fits this pattern. Contends that Troeltsch's mysticism treats the individualized individual as natural, while de Certeau's emphasis on the contingent, unstable subject offers greater critical potential, with mystical speech arising as yearning from the gap between the world and our concepts of it. |
Abstract
Christians trust that the church is present in every age not because its social forms are right, but because God is faithful. That confidence leads us to think theologically about changing patterns of church life. Theological reflection on the church needs to take sociological accounts seriously without reducing itself to them. The best accounts of changing patterns of church life today see declining rates of affiliation not as secularization, but as individualization. Individualization fits closely with an ecclesiology centered on mysticism, as Ernst Troeltsch saw. But Troeltsch’s mysticism assumes the individualized individual of this age as natural, even ontological. Michel de Certeau’s understanding of mysticism, on the other hand, stresses the contingency and instability of the subject and contains more potential for critique of this present moment. De Certeau describes the ways changing social realities press us to experience the gap between the world and our concepts of the world. Mystical speech flows from that gap as a kind of yearning. In that yearning, God renews the church.
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 |