Oxford Scholarship Online: the Origins of the Christian Mysti

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Louth, Andrew , Professor of Patristic and Byzantine Studies, University of Durham The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition From Plato to Denys Second Edition Publication date 2007 (print edition) Print ISBN: 978-0-19-929140-3 doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291403.001.0001 Abstract: Scholars of the patristic era have paid more attention to the dogmatic tradition in their period than to the development of Christian mystical theology. This book aims to redress the balance. Recognizing that the intellectual form of this tradition was decisively influenced by Platonic ideas of the soul’s relationship to God, the book begins with an examination of Plato and Platonism. The discussion of the Fathers which follows shows how the mystical tradition is at the heart of their thought and how the dogmatic tradition both moulds and is the reflection of mystical insights and concerns. This new edition of a classic study of the diverse influences upon Christian spirituality includes a new Epilogue which brings the text completely up to date. Keywords: Platonism, God, soul, Christian spirituality, mystical theology, dogmatic theology Table of Contents Preface I. Plato Mystical theology, or perhaps better, a doctrine of contemplation, is not simply an element in Plato’s philosophy, but something that penetrates and informs his whole understanding of the world. Plato sees the world in which we live — a world of change and conjecture and opinion — as a world in which knowledge is impossible. Knowledge must be certain, and the object of knowledge must be immutable, eternal, and nothing in this world satisfies those requirements. The recovery of true knowledge of Truth and Beauty, of what alone is Real, is the object of philosophy. Such knowledge in its perfection is impossible in this life, so philosophy is a preparation for dying and being dead. II. Philo Philo was a devout Jew who defended the traditional customs of his faith. The bulk of his writings consist of commentaries on parts of the Pentateuch in the Septuagint version. He is important for two reasons. First, as a representative of Middle Platonism — the Stoicized form Platonism had taken from the beginning of the first century BC — which provides the intellectual background of many of the Fathers, and is the form in which the idea of the soul’s ascent to God is understood. Secondly, Philo is important in himself, for there is no doubt that his writings had a very considerable influence on the Alexandrian tradition in Greek patristic theology. III. Plotinus Plotinus is the supreme exponent of an abiding element in what may be called ‘mystical philosophy’. He represents man’s inherent desire to return to heaven at its purest and most ineffable. Plotinus’ philosophy or system can be approached in two ways. It can either be seen as a great hierarchical structure, a great chain of being, or it can be seen as an exercise in introspective understanding of the self. Plotinus’ hierarchy is expressed in terms of three principles, or hypostases, or gods. Beginning with the highest, these are the One or the Good; Intelligence,nous; and Soul,psyche. IV. Origen Origen was deeply indebted to Platonism. His theology is permeated by Platonic ways of thought. 1 of 3 Origen’s real concern was with the interpretation of Scripture. This was the repository of all wisdom and all truth, and the interpretation of Scripture lies at the very heart of his mystical theology. It was certainly the heart of his life’s work: most of his writings consist of exposition of Scripture. V. Nicene Orthodoxy The Council of Nicaea, held in 325, marks a watershed in the history of Christian theology. The precise nature of the difference between the Orthodox and the Arians, between Alexander and Athanasius, on the one hand, and Arius, on the other, has been the subject of much scholarly debate. The point of difference is clear: for the Orthodox the Word or the Son was of one substance (homoousios) with the Father, for the Arians he was a creature, albeit a very exalted one. VI. The Monastic Contribution Monasticism — a life devoted above all to prayer — makes a special contribution to mystical theology in the patristic period. However, it is also in the monastic tradition itself that a pronounced anti-mystical strand is found: an insistence that man is utterly remote from God, and in this world must live a life of repentance and ceaseless struggle against the powers of evil. The life of contemplation, the search for a sense of kinship with God, continues to call men, and so the two strands — mystical and anti-mystical — are woven together in the history of Christian monasticism and are the source of endless tensions. At the outset of this history, both were embodied in a state of perfect development in one man, Evagrius of Pontus. VII. Augustine This chapter discusses the thought of a Latin writer, Augustine. Augustine’s importance lies in the fact that his writings and interests stamp subsequent Western theology with a distinctive character. The West becomes Augustinian, either directly, when it seeks to develop the insights of the ‘Doctor of Grace’, or indirectly, when, trying to free itself from a dominant Augustinianism, it none the less concerns itself with the problems that engaged Augustine. VIII. Denys the Areopagite Denys represents the end of the development of Patristic mystical theology. Denys completes all the main lines of the mystical theology of the Fathers: the Origenist tradition has achieved its classical expression in the realm of mystical theology in Evagrius; the Augustinian vision has been articulated in the West; and in Denys, the tradition of apophatic theology, which has its roots in Philo and Gregory of Nyssa, is summed up in the tiny, but immensely influential,Mystical Theology. It is shown that apophatic theology and symbolic theology — or iconic theology — are two sides of the same coin. Nowhere was that implication of the radical transcendence of the God of the Christians, a God who creates out of nothing, so clearly recognized as in Byzantium. For all his deep and diverse importance in the West, it is there that Denys finds his true home. IX. Patristic Mysticism and St. John of the Cross It has been seen in some of the Fathers the doctrine that as the soul approaches God, it is plunged into the Divine Darkness where God dwells. This appears to bear some similarity to the doctrine of the Dark Night of the soul that is central to the mystical theology of St. John of the Cross. Opinions vary on how closely these two doctrines: the Patristic doctrine of the Divine Darkness and the sanjuanist doctrine of the Dark Night of the Soul, are related. It is, however, an indisputable fact that the medieval tradition which culminates in the Dark Night of St. John of the Cross was fertilized by the writings of Denys the Areopagite and especially his Mystical Theology. X. The Mystical Life and the Mystical Body In almost any discussion of Christian mysticism there arises the question as to its uniqueness: what is the relationship between Christian mysticism and other forms of mysticism? In the context of a discussion of Patristic mystical theology, the problem is effectively narrowed down to that of the influence on Patristic mysticism of the Platonic tradition, which is fundamentally mystical, especially in the form the Fathers encountered it. Platonism and mysticism are discussed. Bibliography 2 of 3 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Louth, Andrew , Professor of Patristic and Byzantine Studies, University of Durham The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition Print ISBN 9780199291403, 2007 pp. [v] Preface THE origin of this book was a series of lectures on ‘Mystical Theology in the Fathers’ given in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford. Shortly afterwards Mother Jane, SLG, very kindly asked me if I would repeat the course at the Convent of the Incarnation in Oxford for the benefit of those Sisters of the Love of God who wished to hear them. A gratifyingly large number did. Since then the lectures have been revised and rewritten and later stages of the book have been given as talks at the Convent of the Incarnation, and also to the Sisters of the Precious Blood, at Burnham Abbey. I owe a very great deal to these opportunities of sharing my thoughts with them and responding to their questions and criticisms. The circle of indebtedness extends much wider, but there are various particular debts of which I am especially conscious. In the chapter on Philo, I received help and encouragement from Dr C. T. R. Hayward, now at the University of Durham, and Robin Lane Fox, now at New College; Dr O. M. T. O'Donovan, now at Wycliffe College, Toronto, read an early version of the chapter on Augustine and made many acute and helpful observations; Sister Jocelyn Mary, SLG, gave me much help in understanding the doctrine of the Dark Night in St. John of the Cross. Naturally, none of them is responsible for the use I have made of their ideas. I was also greatly helped by being able to count on the accurate and intelligent typing of Mrs Anne Borg. But my greatest debt is to Sister Edmée, SLG, who has suffered all the stages of the fashioning of this book: I owe more than I can tell to her encouragement and criticisms, which have saved me from many asperities of style and obscurities of thought.

Load more