Mystical Theology

Mystical Theology 23July 2014

Review of Last Class • Mysticism and Scholasticism • Saint Thomas Aquinas • essence/existence • Augustinian on grace, (acquired/infused) • the use of the best human knowledge • co-naturality

Review (continued) • Eastern Christianity • Hesychastic prayer • Gregory Palamas and Mount Athos • Divine energies and essence (2 Pt. 1:4) • Reconciling Aquinas and Palamas

Still more review… • Spanish Carmelites and the renewal of mystical prayer • Teresa of Jesus (prayer of quiet, the nuptial mystery, evangelical counsels) • John of the Cross (secret wisdom that comes through love, the Dark Night, the fire of love) • Faith and science

Sharing on homework • Hesychastic prayerfor 30 to 60 minutes • Are there any experiences that students would like to share? • Can we formulate theological reflections on these experiences? • Are there any questions for the upcoming week?

Difficulties with pre-conciliar spirituality • Too focused on cataphatic knowledge • A negative view of the body • Too focused on sin, not focused enough on grace • “Real spirituality” was for celibates. • There was a lack of focus on the social element of religion.

Points of contact between Zen and Christian spirituality • The center of energy around the navel. • Relativity of head knowledge when measured against heart wisdom • Mindfulness of breathing • Use of a mantra • Nirvana and apophaticknowledge • Importance of silence

What would Far Eastern inculturation look like? • Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) provides a tantalizing vision of it. • Ricci sought to present a Chinese Christianity, much like the Fathers of the Church presented a Hellenized Christianity • He condemned what needed to be condemned (e.g., widespread practice of prostitution). • But he tried to baptize whatever could be, including veneration of ancestors. Dominicans and Franciscans got this practice condemned. • The result was that the Chinese Emperor banished Catholic missionaries. • Pius XII vindicated Ricci’s position in 1939.

Mysticism and Vital Energy • In Christianity, we recognize the reality that spiritual energy manifests itself physically. • The sacraments are a great example. • We also recognize the existence of an evil spirit that can do something similar. • Things like a the placebo effect or certain marital arts also give witness to a kind of innate human vital energy • Certain Far Eastern religions focus on the body as a way of rebalancing imbalanced vital energies.

Extraordinary Spiritual phenomena • The state we know as ecstasy is thought to be a consequence of the body’s inability to process the fullness of the divine presence. • The action of grace on the body can be likened to the action of fire on wood. • There is great interest in these things in the world in which we live (Satanism, New Age, occult, etc.) • We stress that extraordinary spiritual phenomena are the by-product of mystical experience, not the experience itself.

Discernment • 1 Jn 4:2, “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” • Mt 7:16, “By their fruits you will know them.” • Not everything spiritual is from the good spirit (e.g. Disraeli) • “An evil and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but no sign will be given it expect the sign of Jonah.” (Mt 16:4) • The brothers of Dives (Lk 16:31)

Far Eastern Religion and Christianity in Dialogue • Christian starting points • Sanjuanist emptiness (nada), all created things are nothing as compared to God • John saw the infinity of the circle as evocative of God • The abandonment of Christ (Last Supper, Gethsemani, on the Cross, in death)

Phil. 2:5-11, A scripture to consider • Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [kenosis] • And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. • Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In dialogue with Buddhism • Gautama Buddha (90 B.C. – 290 A.D., the enlightened one) a monastic founder from Hindu roots • A fundamental insight in the Far Eastern worldview is samsaraor the circle of life (transmigration of soul) • The Buddhist insight is that through gaining enlightenment, one can escape samsarathrough nirvana (extinguishment of desire, nothingness)

PrajnaParamita(100 B.C.-600 A.D.) • The perfection of (transcendent) wisdom • “form does not differ from emptiness” • “emptiness does not differ from form” • “form is emptiness” • “emptiness is form” • “the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impluses, consciousness.”

Points of Dialogue • Nada and nirvana • Detachment from afflicting emotions • The circle (God “is represented by the circular and spherical figure because He has no beginning or end.”) • The Cross • The Trinity

The Journey of Faith today • Abraham as the paradigm of faith • Rom 4:3 “What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” “ • Rom 4:19 “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.”

What is Faith? • We are called to the “obedience of faith.” • Rom 16:25-27 • “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, • according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long agesbut has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, • to bring about the obedience of faith • —to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Types of Faith (part 1) • Fides quae and fides qua/Notional versus real • Natural revelation • Rom. 1:20a, “For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,inthe things that have been made...” • Ps. 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Types of faith (part 2) • Particular revelation (Heb. 1:1-2) • “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, • “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” • Credo utintellegas, I believe that I might understand.(Is. 7:9)

The Purgative Way • “when the divine light strikes a soul not yet entirely illumined, it causes spiritual darkness...” • “the great supernatural light overwhelms the intellect and deprives it of its natural vigor” • Here we speak of a movement from focus on conceptual knowledge to co-natural knowledge

More on the Purgative way • “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies…” (John 12:24) • The Eucharistic words as embracing death • In the Zen tradition, the practioner of Zen has to be willing to undergo the “great death” • The abandonment of the ego’s projects opens up the possibility of enlightenment—deeper initiation into the Incarnation and Redemption

Why do we need the purgative way? • Distinction between sin and concupiscence • Sin is a deliberative choice • Concupiscence refers to the tendency to act in a way that is contrary to God’s will and the authentic good. • Purgation focuses both on sin and concupiscence.

Sin and Redemption • The starting point for the Christian in the mystical path is always the imitation of Christ. • Mt. 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” • Saint Francis of Assisi provides a great starting point in the imitation of Christ.

An excerpt from the prayer of Saint Francis • O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek • To be consoled as to console; • To be understood as to understand; • To be loved as to love. • For it is in giving that we receive;It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; • And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Challenges inherent in the Purgative Way • It seems terribly pessimistic • It is helpful to prepare ourselves for the alternative • The nuptial dynamic of the process helps us see the positive nature of the process.

Mystical Theology