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Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation [of the person] for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of God" [1] or divine love. [2]
It is an aspect of psychology adhering to the religion of Christianity and its teachings of Jesus Christ to explain the human mind and behavior. Christian psychology is a term typically used in reference to Protestant Christian psychotherapists who strive to fully embrace both their religious beliefs and their psychological training in their ...
R. C. Zaehner distinguishes between three fundamental types of mysticism, namely theistic, monistic, and panenhenic ("all-in-one") or natural mysticism. [7] The theistic category includes most forms of Jewish, Christian and Islamic mysticism and occasional Hindu examples such as Ramanuja and the Bhagavad Gita. [7]
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, [1] [2] but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. [web 1] It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and ...
Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus, [63] Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by emulation of Christ.
As part of this development, the psychology of religion emerged as a new approach to studying religious experience, with the US being the major centre of research in this field. [3] A few years earlier Edwin Diller Starbuck had written a book entitled Psychology of Religion which James had written a preface to.
The challenge for the psychology of religion is essentially threefold: to provide a thoroughgoing description of the objects of investigation, whether they be shared religious content (e.g., a tradition's ritual observances) or individual experiences, attitudes, or conduct;
Catholic mystic Evelyn Underhill [5] wrote: . It is clear that under ordinary conditions, and save for sudden gusts of "Transcendental Feeling" induced by some saving madness such as Religion, Art, or Love, the superficial self knows nothing of the attitude of this silent watcher—this "Dweller in the Innermost"—towards the incoming messages of the external world: nor of the activities ...