The Mystical—or What Theology can Show
The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology February 25, 2020 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198722380.013.23
Summary
The abstract discusses the challenges that skepticism poses to the understanding of the mystical within theology, which traditionally values sacred mystery. It suggests that while theology cannot fully articulate the ineffable, it can reveal aspects of the mystical experience. The relationship between phenomenology and mystical theology is highlighted as mutually beneficial, potentially leading to a redefinition of how mystery is understood in both fields.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | Skepticism challenges the credibility of theology's engagement with the mystical, yet a mutual relationship with phenomenology may redefine notions of mystery. |
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Abstract
Access to the ‘notion’ of ‘the mystical’ is treated by many as problematic in an age of scepticism. For a tradition that reverences sacred mystery, and for a discipline like theology—that processes both from and toward this mystery—this scepticism issues an epistemological challenge to the credibility, even the possibility of the discipline itself. In a manner not unlike phenomenology, while unable to speak of the ineffable, theology can reveal that which shows itself whilst nevertheless remaining unsayable. While there are myriad reasons why these disciplines cannot simply be collapsed, there is nevertheless a kind of mutual relationship possible between phenomenology and mystical theology, in which both are increasingly opened to the phenomenality of the mystical, perhaps even to the point of redefining our notions of mystery.