Sacramentum Mundi Online

1. The word “mystery” is certainly one of the most important key-words of Christianity and its theology. Vatican I expressly declared (D 1816; cf. 1671- -3; 1795 f.) that there are mysteries properly so called which can only be known through actual revelation by God (against Gnosticism, Rationalism and Semi-Rationalism). It follows that revelation and faith cannot be superseded and abolished by philosophy and understanding. Vatican I also affirmed that, despite their abidingly mysterious charact…

Part of Mysticism: 1. Nature and History 2. Schools of Mysticism A. Theory and Technique From the theological point of view, mysticism may be regarded as consciousness of the experience of uncreated grace as revelation and self-communication of the triune God. The task of a “theology of mysticism” is to give a scientific and theoretical account of its presuppositions and principles, using the methods of theology. It is not possible to start with a definition of mysticism, since the definition has to be worked …

Part of Mysticism: 1. Nature and History 2. Schools of Mysticism A. English Mysticism English mysticism flourished in the 14th century (as did German mysticism), but was not confined to one particular school; its representatives were mostly solitaries with their own individual points of view. English mysticism is distinguished by a rather sober and practical approach, given neither to metaphysical speculations nor to ecstatic states. Its first and most prolific exponent was Richard Rolle of Hampole (d. 1349),…

A. Definition “Myth” meant originally (Greek μύθος) word, news, language, message, but could also mean an event and history. The word and message of myth are concerned with life, the world and things as a totality, describing their origins, relationships and meaning. More precisely, myth is characterized by the fact that it sees the empirical world and its happenings, and above all man and his action, in the light of a reality which constitutes them, makes them a unity and at the same time transce…