Mysticism: An Evangelical Option?

by Winfried Corduan

Mysticism is a controversial topic that all too frequently receives one-sided coverage. On the one hand there are many enthusiasts who are willing to defend mysticism at almost any cost, including sacrificing logical and theological integrity. On the other hand there are philosophers and theologians who see mysticism as not much more than an evil to be stamped out. This book takes a careful look at the philosophical and theological questions involved and attempts to locate a modest place for mysticism within a genuine evangelical framework.Questions addressed in this book include such matters as: Is mysticism a perennial philosophy that appears in different guises but is always the same underneath? Can we argue for an objective reality behind all mystical experience? How can we understand the fact that mystics talk about something that they say is beyond language? How has mysticism shown up in various Christian traditions? Can we reconcile mysticism with the New Testament?The conclusion of this book is based on an understanding of mysticism as an unmediated link to an absolute. In that sense there is a form of mysticism taught in the New Testament, but it is a mysticism that does not require ecstatic experience and does not constitute a separate source of revelation. Nevertheless, this New Testament mysticism describes an integral part of biblical spirituality.

150 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Lauren Crider]

I started this book because I kept coming across this term in my other readings and was asking similar questions to the one in the title. Overall, Corduan tries to categorize and define mysticism within a broad sense and then within the Christian tradition. I do wish that he would have focused more on Christian mysticism, but his exploration sufficed.

Corduan defines mysticism as the "unmediated link to an absolute" for the sake of trying to understand it in all its contexts. However, he seems to suggest that even within Christianity the term mysticism does little to actually define anything (like the term feminism) because there are so many different definitions and connotations that it involves the person actually explaining what they believe instead of being able to share one concrete meaning through a simple term.

To sum up, I think this was a good, as-neutral-as-possible introduction to mysticism. Looking at the different definitions of mysticism in Christian history was helpful, though I was disappointed that he never mentioned Julian of Norwich. I was able to walk away with a better understanding of the nuances of this topic but still a lot to think about.