The Influence of Jewish Mysticism on the Early Christian Church
The Influence of Jewish Mysticism on the Early Christian Church
Mystics know and experience God in a very different way than the ordinary believer. Whereas the ordinary believer knows God in an objective, concrete manner as embodied in nature or via sacred scriptures, the mystic knows God by personal, one to one contact between their own spirit (soul) and the spirit of God; heart to heart, or as Augustine called it, “cor ad cor loquitur.” Because of the one to one, highly individualized nature of this experience, one might think the mystic would exist outside of the domain of the major religions of the world. That, in fact, is not the case. Mystics are most often allied with one of the major world religions, including (but not limited to) the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The mystic’s conceptions of God do not only come from the small voice speaking to him in the silence of his soul. Instead, the mystic combines these esoteric experiences with the teachings and traditions of their religion. Much has been written on the comparability between the mystics of the differing world religions, noting that the only differences between them stem from the underlying religion itself. The overarching practice of seeking to actually experience what philosophers call the “Absolute truth”, (what theologians refer to as God), seems to know no theological boundaries. A Christian mystic seeks the same “beyond human” communion with the Trinity as the Jewish mystic does with YWEH, and the Muslim mystic does with Allah. The theology of Christianity differs from the llm al-Kalam of Islam and the theology of Judaism in the same ways, whether the believer is a mystic or not. Hence, the principal differences that separate the mystics of the world are the same as the differences that separate all believers. My research seeks not to explain, compare, or contrast the mystics of the differing religions, as I mentioned that much has been written on that
Mystics know and experience God in a very different way than the ordinary believer. Whereas the ordinary believer knows God in an objective, concrete manner as embodied in nature or via sacred scriptures, the mystic knows God by personal, one to one contact between their own spirit (soul) and the spirit of God; heart to heart, or as Augustine called it, “cor ad cor loquitur.” Because of the one to one, highly individualized nature of this experience, one might think the mystic would exist outside of the domain of the major religions of the world. That, in fact, is not the case. Mystics are most often allied with one of the major world religions, including (but not limited to) the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The mystic’s conceptions of God do not only come from the small voice speaking to him in the silence of his soul. Instead, the mystic combines these esoteric experiences with the teachings and traditions of their religion. Much has been written on the comparability between the mystics of the differing world religions, noting that the only differences between them stem from the underlying religion itself. The overarching practice of seeking to actually experience what philosophers call the “Absolute truth”, (what theologians refer to as God), seems to know no theological boundaries. A Christian mystic seeks the same “beyond human” communion with the Trinity as the Jewish mystic does with YWEH, and the Muslim mystic does with Allah. The theology of Christianity differs from the llm al-Kalam of Islam and the theology of Judaism in the same ways, whether the believer is a mystic or not. Hence, the principal differences that separate the mystics of the world are the same as the differences that separate all believers. My research seeks not to explain, compare, or contrast the mystics of the differing religions, as I mentioned that much has been written on that
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