Journal of Religious Studies
Year:2012 | Volume:5 | Issue:10|Papers Count:8

By the advent of Christianity mysticism has started practicing in the Christian religious life and has been influenced by external and internal sources during its development and formation. This essay tries to survey the formative period of the Christian mysticism, and includes two parts: In the first part the influence of following factors on Christian mysticism have been dealt with: Jewish heritage-that is, the historical and environmental relations of Jewish and Christian communities and their similarities in the religious beliefs and rituals-Hebrew Bible and Philo's treatises, religious texts-such as Didache and Apocalyptic and apocryphal literature-mysterious religions, and Gnostics and Hermetic rituals. Moreover, the impact of Platonic and Neo-Platonic schools on Christians' tendency towards mysticism has been mentioned. In the second part, the influence of internal sources such as Gospels, the mystical teachings of Christ, Paul and John, have been studied. Finally, we come to the conclusion that Christian mysticism, in spite of external influences, has mostly been impacted by the Gospels and mystical and moral teachings of Christ and his ascetic life.

Religious developments in different societies-due to the similarities in some basic principles-follow a common pattern. However we could not claim that, in this respect, societies are completely the same. In this article, religious developments in modern Islam and in the 16th century Europe are analyzed. Their main similarities are as follows: careful attention to the essence and reality of religion, disputation over authority and the role of tradition, the importance of purity and rejection of philosophical and modern ideas, and paying attention to the hereafter and the final salvation.

The works of Syrian writer, Dionysius the Areopagite or Athenian convert (c.500 C.E.), has exercised influence on the Latin west more than any other Eastern mystical work. His writings are idiosyncratic, almost in incantatory style, and filled with neologisms. Many scholars recognize him as the father of Mystical Theology and believe that he successfully combined the truth of Christian faith with the Neo-Platonic philosophy. Dionysius is a pioneer in expressing views about Divine nature, the superiority of Divine nature to negation and affirmation, absolute transcendence and God's Unity, God's manifestation in his creatures, deification and union with God.

In Islamic and Christian theology faith is defined as an inner assent. This assent, as a divine grace, grants to man's heart the hope of being blessed in this mundane world and eternal happiness in the Hereafter. As a result, man loses his selfishness and submits his desires to God's will and commands, moreover, when he reaches a higher place, God's will would be manifested in his all existential aspects. Muhammad Ghazzali and Martin Luther, as two influential Islamic and Christian thinkers, look at faith as such. By referring to their theological works, this essay reaches the conclusion that according to them faith is an inner assent which is given to man's heart as a divine gift and grace. In this respect both thinkers have a common view.

Talking about the importance of names, particularly God's names, is a complicated issue. In ancient era the name of a person or a deity was equal to his/her identity, therefore, knowledge of names had a magical function. The subject of name has been markedly expressed in Old Testament. God has revealed there by several names, such as El, El Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai and YHWH. Some of these names are very ancient and others are of Semitic origin. El is a common term in all Semitic tribes and YHWH is the personal name of the God of Israel. Calling the personal name of God was taboo and therefore considered as a great sin. So for expressing reverence the sacred name was replaced by the term Adonai (Lord). Every name in Old Testament reveals different aspect of the God of Israel, for example, El is a compassionate God, and Elohim is the Lord of Judgment. In some passages YHWH is the God of mercy, while in others is portrayed as an avenger. This essay, with a descriptive-historical approach, tries to shed light on this issue.

Affirmative ethic-the collection of virtues and merits in all human societies-secures the permanence and consistency of human life. In mystical approach which aims at experiencing the final core of knowledge, the affirmative ethic is defined differently. In general, there is no dichotomy between the affirmative ethic and other ethical issues, but mystics pay more attention to its esoteric dimension than the exoteric one. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582 C.E.) and Jalal al-din Rumi (1208-1274 C.E.) are mystics of two Islamic and Christian traditions who have taken much notice of affirmative ethic-concepts such as modesty, sincerity, forgiveness and etc-in their works and have emphasized to its importance in the course of mystical journey. For Teresa of Avila modesty is of the utmost importance, so much that one could call her mysticism the mysticism of modesty. For Rumi it is almost the same. From his viewpoint modesty impedes the penetration of evil into the seeker's mind, brings man to the position of kingship among the other creatures and grants him the divine union.

Catholicism, inspired by New Testament, has a dual view about marital love. On the one hand it regards the union of a man and his wife as the symbol of the eternal union of Christ and Church deals with it as a sacrament, on the other hand, it regards sexual relation as the base of this union and accepts its legitimacy only for the purpose of reproduction without any pleasure-seeking intention. Protestant leaders denied marriage as a religious sacrament but had a positive view about marital sexual relations. In Paradise Lost John Milton criticizes the catholic view vigorously. He says love, as emotional attachment and empathy not sexual relation, is the base of marital relationship and believes that true marital love has a transcending effect on the lover. Therefore one can say that Milton's views about marital love are even more positive than the views of the leaders of the Reformation.