Home > Christian mysticism

1 Biblical foundations

The tradition of Christian Mysticism is as old as Christianity itself. Two texts from the New Testament set up themes that recur throughout the recorded thought of the Christian mystics. The first, Galatians 2:20, says that:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ( KJV)

The second important Scriptural text for Christian mysticism is 1 John 3:2:

Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

The two large themes of Christian mysticism are a total identification with, or imitation of Christ, to achieve a total unity of will between the spirit of God and the human soul; and of the perfect vision of God, in which the mystic seeks to understand Him "as he is," and no more "through a glass, darkly." ( 1 Corinthians 13:12)

2 Christian mystics

Some examples of Christian mystics:

St. John the Apostle (? -101)

St. Clement of Alexandria (? -216)

St. Augustine of HippoAurelius Augustinus Augustine of Hippo ( 354 430) is a saint and the pre-eminent Doctor of the Church according to Roman Catholicism; he was the eldest son of Saint Monica. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, which does not accept all of his teachings, he is (354-430)

St. Gregory ISaint Gregory I or Gregory the Great (called the Dialogist in Eastern Orthodoxy) (circa 540 March 12, 604) was pope of the Catholic Church from September 3, 590 until his death. He was born to a patrician Roman family (father, Gordianus, and mother, Silvi (590-604)

Saint AnselmSaint Anselm of Canterbury ( 1033 or 1034 April 21, 1109), a widely influential mediaeval philosopher and theologian, held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the founder of Scholasticism, he is famous as the inventor of the o (1033-1109)

Hugh of Saint Victor (10961141)

St. Hildegard of BingenHildegard von Bingen or Hildegard of Bingen ( 1098 September 17, 1179) was a German abbess, monastic leader, mystic, author, and composer of music. History Hildegard was born into a family of nobles in the service of the counts of Sponheim, close relative (1098-1179)

Mechtild of MagdeburgMechtild of Magdeburg ( 1210 ca. 1285) was a medieval mystic, a Beguine, and a Cistercian nun, whose book Das fliessende Licht der Gottheit described her supposed visions of God. Named for St. Mechtilde of Hackeborn, Mechtild was born to a noble Saxon fam (1210-1279)

Meister EckhartMeister Eckhart ( 1260- 1328) was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic and one of the most influential Christian Neoplatonists. Although technically a faithful Thomist (as a prominent member of the Dominican order), Eckhart wrote on metaphysics and (c. 1260 - 1327/8)

St. Gregory PalamasGregory Palamas ( 1296 1359) was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece, and later became Archbishop of Thessalonica. He was a preeminent theologian and a proponent of hesychasm; he is venerated as a Saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was initially asked b (1296 - 1359)

St. Bridget of Sweden (1302-1373)

St. Julian of Norwich (1342-c.1416)

St. Margery Kempe (c.1373-1438)

St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)

St. Jakob Boehme (1575-1624)

Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)

George Fox (1624-1691)

Sarah Wight (1632-?)

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)

John Woolman (1720-1772)

William Blake (1757-1827)

Anna Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824)

St. Jakob Lorber (1800 - 1864)

Max Heindel (1865 - 1919)

St. Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

St. Thomas Keating (1923-?)