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CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM
Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The attributes and means by which Christian mysticism is studied and practiced are varied and range from ecstatic visions of the soul’s mystical union with
God to simple prayerful contemplation of
Holy :bible1: Scripture (i.e., Lectio Divina). This article addresses the practice of the inner, spiritual life within the Christian tradition. …
Old :bible1: Testament
Genesis 15 begins,
"After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:" but even the reference to Adam and Eve walking with
God**** in the Garden of Eden is subject to an interpretation which includes the mystical encounter between flesh and blood and
God: between
God and his spoken word, between
God and
His wisdom, teachings,
Self-revelation, and of
His relation to us as
His creatures.
Number 12:6 includes the
Lord speaking from a pillar of fire which had come down, “And
he said,
'Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you,
I the
LORD make
myself known to him in a vision;
I speak with him in a dream.’” The
Lord then goes on to state that with Moses,
He speaks mouth to mouth, not in figures as with others who are present. This with many other examples expresses the various means by which
God may be encountered by
His creatures—not as an overwhelming union of absorption, but in a relationship which preserves the identity of each, while focusing upon the intimacy possible.
The Christian mystical practices are rooted in the experiences of the Jewish patriarchs, prophets and other encounters found in the Jewish Canon of Scripture: Visions, dreams, angelic messengers, divine inspiration, miraculous events, and wisdom all are of the more profound examples. Just as Old Testament prophets seem rooted in a direct consciousness of the Divine Presence (e.g. Ezekiel), the less profound such as are to be found in several psalms (e.g.
Psalm 73:23-26), none-the-less, suggest a similar mystical awareness.
**New :bible1: Testament **
2 Peter 1:4 says that God enables Christians to be “partakers of the divine nature.”
**John 17:21 **records
Jesus’ prayer for his followers during the last supper: “**You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; * that they also may be one in Us.” ***
The mystical experience of the apostles, Peter, John, and James, at the Transfiguration of
Jesus, is confirmed in each of the Synoptic Gospels. See, e.g.,
Mark 9:2-8.
Jesus led the three to the top of Mount Tabor. Before the eye of the disciples,
he was transformed.
His face shone like the sun, and
his cloths became brilliant white. Elijah and Moses appeared to them. Then
“A cloud came, overshadowing them and a voice came out of the cloud, and said “This is my beloved
Son. Listen to
him.""[43]
In
II Corinthians 12:2-6, St. Paul refers to what tradition says was his own mystical experience, when he speaks of a man who was “caught up to the third heaven.” [44]
In
Galatians 2:20, Paul says “It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me.”
In
Ephesians 4:6, Paul writes "[There is] one
God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all.
1 John 4:16: “He who abides in love abides in
God, and
God in him.”
1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the
Holy Spirit,
who is in you,
whom you have received from
God?”
**
2 Timothy 1:14:** “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the
Holy Spirit who lives in us.”
*** - Wikipedia***
:compcoff: Link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Mysticism
. . . all for Jesus+
