(5-minute read) – Why is it that many Christians think mysticism and Christianity are not compatible? As if there’s something dangerous about mysticism.
Is it because meditation is all about saying less and doing less? It is not a prayer where things are being said or where things are being asked for. It is a listening exercise instead, an opening to what there is.
Are Christians and other word-based religions fearful that something bad can happen if we lose control, if we let go? That something uninvited will possess our minds? That meditation and mysticism are evil, or open us up to evil.
Western culture
Western culture is all about saying, doing and working for what we want. In our collective subconscious we fear forces out there that will take things away from us if we don’t push forward for ourselves.
Some Protestants seem to think meditation – the prayer of not talking but listening – is dangerous because it reduces the importance of the ‘word of God’, the Scriptures. Or Catholics may fear it reduces the importance of ‘tradition’. So mysticism and Christianity do seem incompatible.
Dogmatic believers
The exclusion of our mystical heritage reduces the experience of spirituality to a set of doctrines specific to a particular religion. It makes for dogmatic believers in any religion – people that see a divide between themselves and members of other religions. People that are closed.
The dogmatic, word-based approach to religion is the cause of hatred, conflict and war. It is a tragedy that the divisive forces in religion so often dominate religious societies. These forces are the opposite of The Seven Aspects of Spiritual Intelligence.
Surely it’s time we evolved to the more accepting, peaceful, mystical dimensions of our inherited religions. This should not be too difficult because religions already have mystical branches – divisions of members who are less doctrinal and more mystically oriented. In Islam it’s the Sufis. In Judaism it’s the Kabbalah.
Mysticism and Christianity are compatible
There are many Christians who care less for words in the prayer and less for church doctrine and scriptural literalism. They are believers who pray not in words but in silence. They want no, but listen more.
When I started on my journey with meditation twenty years ago, the Christians who introduced me to it were quick to dispel the false perceptions of meditation and mysticism as something foreign to Christianity.
They showed me it was definitely not foreign to the Bible. They gave me a list of references from the Bible to quietness, mystery, resting in the presence of God without words and concepts.
I have included a highlights list of these Bible references below.
There’s no need to list any ‘proof’ from the church’s tradition – there are especially many Catholic mystics to choose from, two of whom feature quite regularly in my articles, namely Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating.
So, if you happen to call yourself a Christian, please rest assured that meditation and mysticism can and should have a place in your religious life.
If you go on the mystical journey you may find yourself letting go of some concepts and doctrines of your faith. You will definitely discover new dimensions to your faith. You will discover mysticism and Christianity are compatible… to your delight!
Bible references to mysticism
| Psalm 46:10 | Be still and know that I am God |
| Isaiah 30:15 | In quietness and confidence shall be your strength |
| Romans 8:26 | The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that words cannot express. |
| Psalm 37:7 | Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him |
| Psalm 42:7 | Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves & breakers have swept over me. |
| Psalm 62:1 | My soul finds rest in God alone. |
| Psalm 63:1 | Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. |
| Psalm 131 | But I have stilted and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. |
| 2 Corinth 3:6 | The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. |
| Philippians 4:7 | And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. |
| Hosea 2:14 | Therefore I am going to lure her; I will lead her into the desert, and I will speak to her heart. |
| Isaiah 65:24 | Before they call I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will already have heard. |
| Wisdom 6:13-17 | Wisdom anticipates those who desire her, she makes herself known to them. Watch for her early and you will have no trouble; you will find her sitting at your gates. Even to think about her is understanding fully grown. Be on the alert for her and anxiety will quickly leave you. She herself walks about looking for those who are worthy of her and graciously shows herself to them as they go, in every thought of theirs coming to meet them. |
| Wisdom 18:14-15 | When peaceful silence lay over all, and the night had run the half of her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all powerful Word. |
| Psalm 27:14 | Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord. |
| Psalm 33:20 | Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. |
| Psalm 62:1 | For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. |
| Ecclesiastes 3:11 | He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind. |
| Ecclesiastes 4:6 | Better a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. |
| Isaiah 30:15 | In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength. |
| Lamentations 3:25-26 | The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. |
| Zephaniah 2:13 | Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord. |
| Mark 6:30 | Come away by yourself to a lonely place and rest awhile. |
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Beautiful. As a follower of Christ, with a catholic background, and of a spiritual path whereby love and meditation is the most important aspect of the path – I often find myself misunderstood by fellow Christians. I believe the two (religion plus spiritual path) not only compliment each other but complete each other.