Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 75 No. 1, 2005.
Original scientific paper
Mystical Experience - A Place of Encounter Amongst Christians
Milan Špehar
; Theology in Rijeka, Dislocated Studies of Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Contemporary man, satiated by the sciences (which have not brought the world promised wealth), yearns increasingly for the spiritual. Christianity believes that mysticism is the pinnacle of spirituality, which for the Christian is nothing more than a gift from God. Christian mysticism is to be observed with the other general »mystical trends« in the world, and not in an isolated sense. Nevertheless, today this is not possible since there exists a constant communication amongst people. Mystical experience is to be equally found in the Catholic and Orthodox Church, including the protestant churches (who have been negating and disdaining mysticism for a long time). Of the various experiences, the mystical experience in Christianity is one of the very important places of encounter amongst Christians. Mysticism should be understood as a Christian richness (without denying the same for non-Christians). Moving from the term mysticism, we conclude that there exists in man a »mystical desire«, that he is mystical by nature manifested either in mysticism or in a real spiritual mysticism.
Christian mysticism is natural and supernatural. The life of the Christian mystic is »the Eucharist following the Eucharist«. This is surely one of the reasons why Christian mystics and Catholics speak so little (many too little) of the Eucharist and mysticism. It remains to be noted that Christian mysticism is based on the Church, the dogmas, the sacraments and liturgy. Since these terms entail various meanings, there exist various mystical experiences in the Christian Churches, although there remains the Christian essence: the centre being Jesus Christ. We do not know nor is it important wether every Christian should be a mystic or not. However, it is necessary, that Christian mysticism be mediatory, that is, mystical experience is not only something private, it belongs to the community in which one lives. The Christian does not live only in his Church community, but in the wider Christian community. That is why every Christian mystic, irrelevant as to which Church or church community he belongs to, is a rich asset to the Churches. The mystic's aim is to revive the mystical experience, in other words, as the starting point adopt a Christian mystical experience in the liturgy, the sacraments and the Church. Indeed, today's interest in the mystics assists mysticism and mystical experience in becoming an indispensably rich asset for theology, while allowing theology to become an essential part of the Christian mystical experience. Otherwise, it shall not be possible to speak of the Christian mystical experience.
Keywords
mysticism; representation; encounter
Hrčak ID:
24689
URI
Publication date:
7.9.2005.
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