Christian Mysticism

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Recommended: Origin of eastern religions and their characteristics

Mysticism is a word we find in many books that relate to religious experiences. Mysticism is interpreted as searching for spiritual truth and wisdom through the unification with the Divine. Many Christians today believe that the words associated with mysticism like meditation and mystic are not coherently related with Christianity, but more with many Eastern religions. Eastern religions are definitely known for their mysticism, but it is believed to not be a part of Christianity. Mysticism is actually a vital part of Christianity in ways that are more spiritual rather than only being engaged with Christian rituals. Mysticism is the faith that spiritual reality is believed to be from human knowledge and their senses. It searches for truth inside the actual person, weighing feelings, perception, and other internal feelings more heavily than most peoples every day thoughts. It is the idea that directs knowledge of God or ultimate reality is achieved through personal, skewed intuition or experience apart from or even contrary to historical fact or objective divine revelation. (MacArthur 1991)
To think about Christian mysticism as a whole, only one thing comes to mind, the direct experience of God. It represents an experience that is marked by love and joy, but is perceived to not be so emotional, but more intimate. It is not a religion, but an important component in all-practicing religions. It represents a level of consciousness that results in a need for one to have a direct relationship with God. The mystic rarely questions the goodness and value of his experience. Consequently, if he or she receives new information, it is not to be questioned because it is believed to come directly from God. This is the reason that many religious...

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...y resulted in a positive way. Believing in God and in the Bible could help people in their daily lives. Although they might not have connected with God in an intimate way, the ways they connect with God have could have been emotional.

Works Cited

MacArthur, John. The Quest for Something More from Our Sufficiency in Christ, 1991,
Wheaton, Illinois.: Crossway Books.

Underhill, Evelyn. The Mystics of the Church. Wilton Connecticut: Morehouse-Barlow,
1988.

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist. London: Routledge, 2002

Johnson, Elliot. “Gender and Mysticism in Hindu Studies: Hindu and Christian Religious
Women Recovered – Agency and Power as Resistance?” The Journal of Hindu
Studies 3.3 (2010): 273-278. Print

Makhlouf, Avril. “Three Christian Women of the Arab Orient: Rafqa, Mariam,
Hindiyya.” One in Christ 44.2 (2010): 3-28. Print

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