Mysticism, Scripture, Tradition and Reason

I have just now read yet another post from a blogger who attacks contemplative prayer. I’m going to have to give this up for Lent, and start two months early. It’s rather soul-numbing to slog through such writing devoted to the ideology of fear, particularly since I’m just not learning anything new. Again and again, it’s all the same old arguments:

• Contemplation/Meditation/Mysticism is gnostic;
• Contemplation/Meditation/Mysticism is eastern spirituality in disguise;
• Contemplation/Meditation/Mysticism leaves us vulnerable to the devil;
• Contemplation/Meditation/Mysticism lacks a scriptural basis.
• And real Christian contemplation, as opposed to its “new age” counterfeits, is only for the truly spiritually advanced.

Since I’ve pretty much answered these misunderstandings in my post Answers to Contemplation’s Objectors, I won’t repeat myself here. But as I read this most recent post, the argument about mysticism and contemplation supposedly lacking a scriptural foundation really came to bother me. As I’m continuing my research for the book I’m writing, I continually am struck by how rooted in the Bible the Christian mystics are. Meanwhile, we should note that the mystics themselves are at the heart of the tradition of the church — at least 40% of the officially recognized “Doctors of the Catholic Church” are mystics, including such luminaries as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Thérèse of Lisieux, Bernard of Clairvaux, Catherine of Siena, and Bonaventure. Numerous other mystics are canonized saints, while many others (such as Julian of Norwich and Thomas Merton) are broadly accepted as important and edifying voices of Christian spirituality.

It seems to me that the issue is not mysticism’s role in tradition; after all, Reformed Christians do not even recognize the authority of sacred tradition, and realistically, the rank and file Orthodox, Catholic or Anglican Christian is not about to start reading John of the Cross or Gregory of Nyssa any time soon. What is so sorely needed is an easy to understand explication of how mysticism is grounded in the Bible. The more that ordinary Christians are invited to see that the Bible is the headwaters of Christian mysticism, the more hope exists that people will begin to see just how fear-based the anti-contemplatives really are.