On the Origins of "Mystics" and "Mysticism": From Pseudo-Dionysius to the Anglo-American Mystical Revival in Five Steps

• Authors: Philip Reynolds, Emory University
• Conference Name: Loyola University MTS Lecture in Historical Theology
• Publisher: Boston Colloquy in Historical Theology
• Conference Place: Boston Colloquy in Historical Theology
• Publication Date: 2022
• Type of Work: Conference | Final Publisher PDF
• Subjects: Theology; History, Medieval; Religion, History of
• Keywords: Mystics; Mysticism; Monasticism; Historical theology; Medieval religion; Pseudo-Dionysius; William of Saint-Thierry; Thomas Gallus; Bonaventure; Jean Gerson; William Inge; Rufus Jones; Evelyn Underhill

Abstract

The lecture traces the history of two words, “mystics” and “mysticism,” from their precedents in the Pseudo-Dionysius (early 6th century CE) to the Anglo-American Mystical Revival, which flourished in the Edwardian Period. The narrative proceeds in five steps: (1) the Mystic Theology of the Pseudo-Dionysius; (2) The medieval monastic reception of Dionysian unknowing as affective, sapid wisdom, also known as mystic theology (13th through 16th centuries); (3) Catholic treatises on mystic theology (17th cent. to ca.1950), with the emergence of the term “mystics”; (4) “mystics” as a smear-word in Anglican anti-sectarian polemics in the 18th Century, with the emergence of the (pejorative) term “mysticism”; and (5) the Anglo-American Mystical Revival (1850–ca.1920), with the first affirmative use of the term “mysticism.” Familiarity with this history is necessary if we are to evaluate in an informed and critical way the current use of “mystics” and “mysticism” in historical theology and medieval studies.