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Christian Mysticism

Foundational Premise:
Every human person has the capacity to know God

Natural Theology.
The truth about God has been made quite plain to all people. For since the beginning of the world the invisible attributes of God, e.g. his eternal power and divinity, have been plainly discernible through things which he has made and which are commonly seen and known. Romans 1:19-20

Dogmatic Theology
God, who gave our forefathers many different glimpses of the truth in the words of the prophets, has now, at the end of the present age, given us the truth in the Son
This Son, a radiance of the glory of God, is the flawless expression of the nature of God. Hebrews 1:1-2

Mystical Theology
A direct experience with God

Rufus Jones, 1920s


Mysticism places emphasis on immediate awareness of God, on direct and intimate experience of the Divine Presence.
(Studies in Mystical Religion)

What Christian Mystics Know


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A Christian mystic has moved from knowing about God to knowing God God and Christ are not merely objects of belief, icons, or ethical principles, but living persons whom are known on a first-hand basis A Christian mystic has moved from brain-deep knowledge of God to heart-deep knowledge of God

Jones on Experiencing God


God does not begin in our consciousness as an abstract idea: He is first of all a real presence, not an inference.
He is an experience, the ground and basics of all our other knowledge and of all the values which attract us.
from The Testimony of the Soul, 1937

Job, ancient Jewish text


Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, Who is this that questions my
wisdom with such ignorance?

It is Iand I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for meI had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

Moses, 1800 BC
It was Moses practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the campWhenever Moses went out to the Tent of Arrest that man for Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of mocking my their own tents. As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would glorious beard! come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Exodus 33:7-11

Isaiah, 700 BC
It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heavens Armies!
Isaiah 6:1-8

Jesus, circa 30 AD
Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. John 15:4-7

Paul, circa 35-40 A.D.


As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, [Paul], why do you persecute me?
Who are you, Lord? [Paul] asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. The men traveling with Paul stood there speechless. Acts 9:3-7

John, circa 90 A.D.


On the Lords Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said, Write on a scroll what you see I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw someone like a son of man.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Revelation 1:9-17

Augustine, 4th century


When first I knew Thee, you took hold of me, so that I could see that there was something to be seen, though I was not yet fit to see it. And you beat back my weak sight, dazzling me with Thy splendor, and I was thrilled with love.
The Confessions

Thomas Aquinas, 13th century


I have seen that which made the writing of books a small and insignificant thing.

Sister Teresa of Avila, 16th century


Just as God has a private place in heaven, so does he have a dwelling place in the soul. It is here that a kind of spiritual marriage takes place between God and his spouse, the soul. In this union, God removes the blinding scales from our spiritual eyes and we see God.
In the deepest interior place there is firsthand recognition. Interior Castle

Brother Lawrence, 17th century


I have a friend who these forty years past has been practicing the Presence of God. It is what he calls the actual PresenceThen it is he feels that only God and he are in the world, with Him he holds unbroken converse, asking from Him the supply of all his needs, and finding in His Presence fullness of joy In the depth of his being is where the soul speaks to God, heart to heart, and over the soul there steals a great and profound peace.
The Practice of the Presence of God

George Fox, 1647


Then I heard a Voice which said, There is one Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition; and when I heard it my heart leapt for joy.
And this I knew experimentally And [it] did let me see his Love, which was endless and eternal and surpasseth all the knowledge that people have.
The Journal of George Fox

Marmaduke Stevenson, 1655

I was at the plough in the east parts of Yorkshire in Old England, near the place where by outward being was, and as I walked after the plough, I was filled with the love and presence of the Living God, which did ravish my heart when I felt it.

It did increase and abound in me like a living stream, so did the love and life of God run through me like precious ointment, giving a pleasant smell, which made me to stand still.

John Rowntree, 1880s


Just as he was entering young manhood and was beginning to feel the dawning sense of a great mission before him, he discovered that he was slowly losing his sight and hearing. He was told that before middle life he would become totally blind. Dazed and overwhelmed he staggered from the doctors office into the streets and stood there in silence. Suddenly he felt the love of God wrap him about as though a visible presence enfolded him, and a joy filled him, such as he had never known before. From that time until this joy was deepened into the new life of to-day, he was a gloriously joyous and happy man. Eulogy for John Rowntree in The American Friend

Rufus Jones, 1920s


In the same way, when the inward weather is just right; when selfish ambition is hushed; when the clouds and shadows, which sin makes, are swept away and genuine love makes the whole inner atmosphere pure and free from haze, then I know that I find a beyond which before was nowhere in sight and might easily not have been suspected. I cannot decide whether this extended range of sight is due to alterations in myself, or whether it is due to some sudden increase of spiritual visibility in the great reality itself. I only know the fact. Before, I was occupied with things; now, I commune with God and am as sure of him as I am of the mountains beyond my lake.
Spiritual Energies in Daily Life

Thomas Kelly, 1940s


Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our timeworn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself.
It is the Presence in the midst. Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action.
A Testament of Devotion

Howard Thurman, 1940s


There would come a moment when there was a Sense of Presence which seemed always to speak to me. My response to this Sense of Presence always had the quality of personal communion. There was no voice.There was no image.There was no vision.There was God.

Important sources
The Bible
Studies in Mystical Religion,
Rufus Jones

A Testament of Devotion,
Thomas Kelly

The Practice of the Presence of God,


Brother Lawrence

The Trustworthiness of Religious Experience, Elton Trueblood

Core Practices
Prayer
Silence/Solitude Contemplation

Simultaneity

Validating Process
Are there many reports of first-hand experience of God by many people of many types in all ages of history?
Are those who report first-hand experience generally trustworthy on other matters? Is there substantial agreement in what is told us about God? Are the lives of those who experience God changed?

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