Spirituality, an ancient theme of Catholic practice, has recently become an issue on the Protestant agenda. When I first heard the evangelicals propose spirituality, I was curious, but not much interest. The proposal went through the writings and experiences of the mystics of medieval times. period and I didn’t see what we could learn from them in this area. The justifications presented for seeking greater communion with God seem to have some basis. The superficiality of modern Christian piety has been criticized, the Church’s current disinterest in spiritual exercises such as meditation and contemplation, and the harmful influence of this kind of traditional systematic theology that takes a mechanistic approach to reality and leaves no room for prayer, but could medieval mystical priests serve as a model for spiritual renewal so necessary today?
I later heard the same proposal of people advocating dialogue with Catholicism and the Orthodox Church through medieval mysticism, which would serve as a kind of bridge for this dialogue, and then I learned that many modern Catholic theologians are in tune with the same discourse. And when I finally heard the neoliberals pretend to be mystical and spiritual, and defend the same thing, I stood up. decides to drink in medieval mysticism?
- I must say.
- At first.
- That I am not saying that anyone who defends aspects of today’s medieval spirituality is neoliberal; I must also point out that.
- At first.
- I am open to learning from the Christians of the past.
- Even if we are medieval Roman Catholics.
- I also want to believe that evangelical supporters of spirituality today examine everything and remember only the good.
- But I do not know how they will be able to separate medieval mysticism from medieval theology.
- Which is full of Catholicism.
- Denounced by reformers.
But my goal in this article is the neoliberals’ interest in medieval mysticism. Something is wrong, unless they have found similarities in the mysticism of monks with the spirituality in which they believe.
The first may be the emphasis on experience, the absence of the Bible, and the consequent emptying of theological content. I know that some mystics have quoted the Bible, but there is a great distance between doing so and developing a spirituality that is the result of biblical theology. Ascetic piety was certainly not shaped by Scripture, beginning with vows of abstinence, self-harm, social isolation, and a life of contemplation. Not to mention the direct search for God. Medieval mysticism, with rare and notable exceptions, focuses on inner experience, the search for ecstasy, mystery, a communion with God without exchange of content, where man does not speak theologically and God does not respond theologically either. . The same is true of the postmodern heirs of F. Schleiermacher, the father of Protestant liberalism. For him, religion consisted in an inner feeling of dependence on God and not in adherence to doctrinal content. Similarly, Paul Tillich, influenced by the mystic Meister Eickhart, said: “If prayer is taken to the level of a conversation between two beings, is it blasphemous and ridiculous? (Systematic Theology, I, 112). Neoliberals ultimately also agree that the heart of religion is direct individual experience with the ineffable. And so, they found their soul mates among the monks.
A second apparent similarity between medieval and neoliberal spirituality is natural theology, the God you want to find in your experiences is the one you can learn by nature or in themselves, meditative contemplation and mystical communion with nature, its rivers, mountains, forests and valleys. (Who does not remember the “sun brother” and the “moon sister” of Francis of Assis?) He collaborates with medieval mysticism, which at this stage is similar only to neoliberal religiosity, but also to pagan spirituality, according to an article by Mauro Meister.
Third, openness to new revelations. Much of the experience of medieval mystics consisted of direct visions or contemplations of God. The famous medieval mystique, the Benedictine nun Hildegarde (1098-1179), for example, had visions of God from the age of three, in which God revealed His nature and that of the universe to her. His work Scivias, a classic of medieval mysticism, recounts these opinions. The famous Ignatius of Loyola, after reading the book Life of Christ by the mystical monk Ludolfo of Saxony (fourteenth century), had mystical visions The same Teresa of Avila, icon of medieval spirituality, tells Castelo Interior how, during a series of mystical experiences, Jesus came to her personally, from where she began to love him passionately. Neoliberals have no visions, but they believe that truth is constantly evolving, that God always reveals new things to the Church. In both cases, mystics and neoliberals seek God without scripture mediation.
The fourth similarity may be unethical mesianism. Many mystics have been isolated to protest against the corruption of the Church of their time. They wanted to reform him and free him from his corruption. Deformed, they retreat in search of greater communion with God. His mysticism comes from this life of isolation, dedicated to contemplation, enclosed in its monasteries or lost in caves and deserts. Neoliberals are also mesianic and believe that they have the task of completely reforming the Church in their day, although they adopt the tactic of staying inside rather than leaving.
A fifth likeness is the ultimate belief in salvation by works. Was it medieval assical mysticism? Something very different from the Pauline doctrine of justification only by faith. His search for spirituality was born of the medieval belief that man actively collaborated for his salvation and ascent to the faith. God. Neoliberals also believe that salvation will not be made by the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, but by the personal evolution of man.
The last resemblance is linguistic atheism. Many mystics have followed Plotin’s idea that God is above reason and words and can only be known when someone transcends this world and becomes one with him, in a mystical union. You can’t talk about God or write about him. Incredibly similarly, neoliberalism rejects the propositionality of biblical revelation and insists that you cannot talk about God or write about it significantly (that is why neoliberals end up becoming poets, because they only have poetry as a means of communication). language where one cannot speak of God, or linguistic atheism, unites the two spiritualities.
Unsurprisingly, neoliberals are so interested in monks; after all, they are birds of the same plumage; and it is not surprising that reformers have generally rejected medieval mysticism. Calvin and Luther had profound differences with the mystical concepts of God, man. salvation.
As a retired Calvinist, I still have qualms about looking for models of spirituality among the mystical medieval ascetics, whose theology was imbued with misconceptions about these things. If they prayed more, fasted more and thought more, I’m not impressed. they say they must work harder not to live at the expense of others, while they contemplate, meditate, and hum.
I believe in biblical mysticism – the union with Christ realized in his death, lived by the Spirit, celebrated during the Last Supper and lived through the use of the means of grace – remains the norm for Christians. What many lack is the will to live it.