GEORGE MATHESON AND MYSTICISM : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY Scott McKenna A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2018 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15589 This item is protected by original copyright George Matheson and Mysticism: A Biographical Study Scott McKenna This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of St Andrews February 2018 Candidate's declaration I, Scott McKenna, do hereby certify that this thesis, submitted for the degree of PhD, which is approximately 81,500 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for any degree. I was admitted as a research student at the University of St Andrews in September 2013. I received funding from an organisation or institution and have acknowledged the funder(s) in the full text of my thesis. Date Signature of candidate Supervisor's declaration I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date Signature of supervisor Permission for publication In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand, unless exempt by an award of an embargo as requested below, that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that this thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use and that the library has the right to migrate this thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I, Scott McKenna, confirm that my thesis does not contain any third-party material that requires copyright clearance. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: Printed copy No embargo on print copy. Electronic copy No embargo on electronic copy. Date Signature of candidate Date Signature of supervisor Underpinning Research Data or Digital Outputs Candidate's declaration I, Scott McKenna, hereby certify that no requirements to deposit original research data or digital outputs apply to this thesis and that, where appropriate, secondary data used have been referenced in the full text of my thesis. Date Signature of candidate Candidate's declaration I, Scott McKenna, do hereby certify that this thesis, submitted for the degree of PhD, which is approximately 81,500 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for any degree. I was admitted as a research student at the University of St Andrews in September 2013. I received funding from an organisation or institution and have acknowledged the funder(s) in the full text of my thesis. Date Signature of candidate Supervisor's declaration I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date Signature of supervisor Permission for publication In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand, unless exempt by an award of an embargo as requested below, that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that this thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use and that the library has the right to migrate this thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I, Scott McKenna, confirm that my thesis does not contain any third-party material that requires copyright clearance. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: Printed copy No embargo on print copy. Electronic copy No embargo on electronic copy. Date Signature of candidate Date Signature of supervisor Underpinning Research Data or Digital Outputs Candidate's declaration I, Scott McKenna, hereby certify that no requirements to deposit original research data or digital outputs apply to this thesis and that, where appropriate, secondary data used have been referenced in the full text of my thesis. Date Signature of candidate General acknowledgements I would like to thank the Very Revd Professor Ian Bradley for his encouragement, support, teaching, sharing of wisdom and good humour throughout the period of my research. It would not have been possible otherwise. Funding This work was supported by the University of St Andrews (School of Divinity). 1 Introduction George Matheson, a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Church of Scotland in the late Victorian period, was a mystic. While many see mysticism as ‘the hidden core at the heart of all religions’,1 it is not commonly associated with Scottish Presbyterian ministers who stand in the Calvinist branch of the Reformed tradition. From at least the late second century CE Christians have sought the mystical or hidden meaning of the Bible, that is, ‘the inner message about attaining God that may be found beneath the literal sense of the scriptural texts and stories’.2 From the sixth century CE Christians have spoken of mystical theology and contemplation, that is, knowledge of God which is rooted not so much in rational effort or dialectical reasoning but ‘by the soul’s direct reception’ of the Divine.3 In this thesis I shall discuss the extent to which Mathesonian theology reflects mystical theology, generally understood, and more specifically Hegelian mysticism. Drawing on a significant number of Matheson’s appropriate writings, I have created a succession of foci which, taken together, encapsulate Matheson’s mystical thought: union with God, the inner life, immortality of the soul, and self-forgetfulness. While a man of his time and indebted to his university teacher, John Caird, Matheson’s insight into Scripture and overwhelming sense of the Divine dwelling in the human soul were mystical in nature and nurtured by his blindness, imagination and exceptional memory. A Definition of Mysticism ‘Mysticism’ is a broad term. Within the Christian tradition, it has meant different things at different times. For some, it is a matter of emphasis, for example, focusing attention on the inner life. For others, it is regarded with suspicion or, worse, to be avoided as wholly disreputable, being the heretical beliefs of a sect which threatens orthodoxy. At the heart of mysticism is mystery. ‘Mystery’ is 1 Bernard McGinn, The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism (New York: The Modern Library, 2006), xiii. 2 Ibid., xiv 3 ibid. 1 2 derived from the Greek word ‘mysterion’, a word and concept which the Church has appropriated from the mystery religions of the classical world in order to speak meaningfully of its sacraments.4 Mysticism is often ‘portrayed as a path to knowledge of the divine or Absolute that begins with an initial stage of purification or initiation.’5 Generally understood, mysticism is a paradox: it stresses that God is unknown and unintelligible, yet God cannot remain completely unknown or unintelligible, otherwise we could know nothing of God. The mystery of God cannot be examined by the natural sciences but calls for ‘deep meditation or contemplation on some of our human experiences.’6 At its root, ‘mysterion’ is derived from ‘muo’, which means ‘to remain silent’ or ‘to close the lips and eyes.’7 Literally and metaphorically, this is the practice Matheson lived out. Macquarrie describes the ‘cognitive claims’ of mysticism as being ‘intersubjective’, that is, they are ‘tested and supported by a very large number of people…..not just the opinion of a few individuals.’8 Bernard McGinn states that within the Christian tradition the ‘Father’ or ‘Prince of Mystics’ is Augustine. Augustine was: a doctrinal and speculative theologian, as educational theorist, a church leader, a monastic founder, a preacher and polemicist – but he was also an author who gave considerable attention to the mystical element in Christianity and to whom almost all later Western mystics appealed. It is in this sense that we can justify calling him not only a mystic, but ‘the Prince of Mystics’ (to use Abbot Butler’s term) or ‘the Father of Christian Mysticism’ (to use John Burnaby’s).9 Using quasi physical synesthesia, Augustine wrote of ‘the eye of the mind’ or ‘the ear of the heart’.10 The inner or inward eye is a spiritual perspective and 4 John Macquarrie, Two Worlds are Ours (London: SCM Press, 2004), 4. 5 Glenn Alexander McGee, ‘Hegel and Mysticism’ in The Cambridge Companion to Hegel and Nineteenth Century Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 265.