Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Faithful Mysticism

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Matt Stone

2008-08-24

What’s your understanding of Christian mysticism and contemplative prayer? As an evangelical Christian I shy away from defining mysticism as “union with God” for I find the phrase too soteriologically loaded. If we are justified by faith then we are already united with God in our baptism. We are already one with God through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. To speak of a union beyond this risks marginalizing the importance of justifying faith in following Jesus, so we need to be very cautious here.

But is there no place to speak of mystical transformation? Well yes, I think there is, most definitely, but here is where we need to shift our focus to sanctifying faith. In Romans 1:5 the apostle Paul speaks of “the obedience that comes from faith” and in Romans 12:2 he urges us “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” So yes, the New Testament makes it quite clear we should expect tangible change in our awareness, our character and our lives. But this transformation comes from God’s initiative. We are sanctified as we are justified – through faith.

As Thomas Merton observes in the New Seeds of Contemplation, “True contemplation is not arrived at by an effort of the mind” (p147), “The first step to contemplation is faith” (p146), “Faith, then, is the only way of opening up the true depths of reality.” (p137) Quite simply, union with God is found in faith, from beginning to end.

Tags Mystery

6 responses to “Faithful Mysticism”

Yaholo

2008-08-25

Beautifully put.
In response to “I shy away from defining mysticism as “union with God”… If we are justified by faith then we are already united with God in our baptism.” I want to agree and expound by saying mysticism’s place in Christianity is one of intentional effort.
Like reading, it is one thing to be literate, but quite another to love reading. We are unified with God through our Baptism (Water and Spirit), but then it becomes a matter of how we take advantage of that Union.
Perhaps we could say that, in Christianity, a mystic is merely one who is making and intentional effort to understand and explore the wonder of our Union with God through contemplative prayer and the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love.

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Lucy J

2008-08-26

Rom 12 is one of my all-time favourite NT passages. I take a more holistic view of mysticism, especially in light of Paul’s thoughts therein expressed. He mentions presenting our total selves in worship i.e. body, soul and spirit (physical – body, rational – mind, spiritual – spirit) in the verse preceding the one on renewal of the mind. Maybe my interpretation is less palatable than some, but it appears to me that while we are in the act of worshipping with the TOTAL of the parts of our being, AND not conforming to the patterns of the world (as opposed to the patterns of God), our minds become transformed into minds that are capable of knowing the will of God in relational and personal circumstances… then he goes further in the chapter to talk about more harmonious ways Christians can live their lives of faith with each other… an exposition of God’s will active in our midst, so to speak. I guess, in my way of thinking about such things, mystical contemplations have a practical, relational outworking, as does LOVE, otherwise we become too dualistic and somewhat Gnostic in our thinking and subsequent actions. Lucy J 

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Matt Stone

2008-08-27

Yaholo, yes exactly, it is about exploring what we already have.
And I agree that intension and effort are involved. But I would again stress that, in an approach worthy of being called evangelical, the emphasis needs to be placed on the faith that inspires action rather than any talk of effort in isolation from faith. This is a very important point. I think we need to be conscious of avoiding any suggestion of sanctification by works. There seems to be an unfortunate tendancy amongst many evangelicals, including those engaging in contemplative prayer, to slip into sanctification by works thinking even as they affirm justification by faith. We need to weed that out and stress sanctification by faith as well. Works are the cart to the faith horse, not just in terms of our objective relationship with God, but very much in terms of our subjective experience of God as well. The dynamics of transformation are deeply related to the dynamics of trust.
This stress I am placing on faith and trust of course deeply conflicts with eastern methods that place more stress on formulas and techniques. But I think it is worth reflecting on the letter of James on this score and also draw attention to the words of John Piper in his book “Future Grace”. In it he observes “comparatively little attention is given to the spiritual dynamics of how faith sanctifies”. I think that is something evangelical mystics are very much called to give attention to.

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Matt Stone

2008-08-27

Well Lucy, another topic that I think very much needs exploration here is Christian anothropology, or to put it in other words, our doctrine of humanity. The resurrection narrative very much points us towards a hope of holistic transformation that includes the body, so yes I agree, not just the mind. The question I would pose is, is faith just a mental thing? As i understand it faith should engage our total orientation. An interesting avenue i have explored before (not without controversy) is where the unconscious fits into all of this. I think this goes way beyond our rational faculties and conscious awareness.

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Lucy J

2008-08-27

Gotta be amusing if you are talking to “the dancer” in me, hey? One thing that helps me in the exploration of FAITH, is contemplating the concepts of ‘faith’ (Greek: pistis/belief/ more intellectual in connotation) and ‘faithfulness’ (hebrew: emunah/active trust/more practical living connotation). Perhaps both have something to contribute to fuller appreciation and application? 🙂

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Matt Stone

2008-08-30

Yes, but I would say the hebrew concept is the one to pay more attention to. Even when using greek words the apostles frequently reframed them in a hebrew direction. Take the word ‘logos’ for instance, we all know what John did with that. I am inclined to say the apostles used ‘pistis’ in a similar way – and I think drawing people back to that ‘active trust’ understanding was what James was on about in his letter. It is not enough to ‘believe in’ God – we must ‘believe’ God. It is active faith which is transforming faith. While both interpretations of the word add to our understanding, its faith in the hebraic sense that has the soteriological value.

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