Metaphysics, Theology, and the Mystical
The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology February 25, 2020 David Tracy 1 citation
The chapter examines how the concept of the infinite has shaped the relationship between theology, metaphysics, and mysticism across Western thought, from Plato to Jeanne Guyon. It argues that the Christian God is both infinite-incomprehensible and radically hidden, and that each naming of God should receive its own Christological emphasis—incarnation for incomprehensibility, cross for hiddenness. Both are genuine Christian options suited to different cultures and temperaments. The work contends that Western religious thought would be impoverished if either ethics or aesthetics, prophecy or mysticism, were eliminated from its canon.