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Is "Christian Mysticism" biblical?The word mysticism doesn't appear in the Bible, so we need to look more closely at what this word means, especially when it's associated with Christianity. Wikipedia defines mysticism as, "the philosophy and practice of a direct experience of God." e s c o r t s Toronto Christian mysticism generally consists of three main areas: 1) contemplative prayer or meditation; 2) fasting; 3) alms-giving. Going back to the original question, is "Christian Mysticism" biblical, you will find that all three of these in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Различные тематические подарки у нас бизнес подарки удобно и выгодно. One criticism against Christian Mysticism is that the mystic throws away knowledge and reason in favor of the experience of love. Christian Mysticism involves the pursuit of the direct experience with God rather than experiencing him only by faith through reading of the Bible. In this way it is aligned more with the experiences of the Psalm writers when they wrote such things as, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" (Ps. 42:1). усыпление животных One of the earliest guidebooks for Christian mystics, The Cloud of Unknowing, was written by an unknown English monk in the 14th century. In it, he writes that knowledge gets in the way of our experience of God. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Nevertheless, he does state that the mystic experience must include: 1) reading; 2) thinking; and 3) prayer. So knowledge is important, but directly experiencing God is supreme. So the practice of Christian Mysticism is biblical, as long as the practice of it is based on the Bible and has as its goal a more direct experience with God. If you run off from the truth of the Bible, it loses the Christian component, and you run into the danger of heresy and falling away from faith in Jesus Christ. |