DESCRIPTION: This doctoral seminar is open to a limited number of master's level students by special permission. Mysticism is a term that conjures images of ecstatic experiences arising from a unique and powerful immediacy with God. It has been a phenomenon that has been present within Christianity from the apostolic age to today. What is one to make of mystical experiences and the insights given of those who have them? How does one determine the authenticity and relevance of these experiences? This seminar will survey the history of Christian mysticism, and examine models of evaluation of mystical experience and its interpretation. Students will be exposed to theological, philosophical and biogenetic models of interpretation of mystical experiences, as well as examine classic Christian mystical texts.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The primary goal of this course is to provide the students with resources to evaluate exception Christian experiences, in this particular case, mystical experiences. To do this the students will (1) acquire a general knowledge of the history of Christian mysticism, East and West; (2) become directly acquainted with the two touchstones of mystical thought--Augustine in the West and Pseudo-Dionysius in the East; (3) become familiar with theological models of evaluating mystical experience; (4) explore methodologies of interpreting mysticism from the humanities, in particular philosophy and psychology; and (5) apply these methodologies to a particular mystical text within its cultural and historical context.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: "Pastor, I just had a vision from God and I believe we should..." How does one respond to such a statement? What criterion does one use to evaluate such a claim? How does one respond to experiences that have often been eccentric and on the fringe, but are becoming increasingly more common, as in Pentecostal and Charismatic expressions of the Christian faith? The exploration of the phenomenon of mysticism and its theological interpretation will provide entrée into these larger questions regarding the relationship of experience to theology.

COURSE FORMAT: The seminar will meet weekly for three-hour sessions. It will have some lectures by the professor, but will be mostly seminar presentations and discussions. Students will be expected--along with assigned class readings--to do the necessary primary and secondary research for their presentations. Beyond the contemporary interdisciplinary research in this area, students will study some of the classic texts of the Christian mystical tradition and present them in class in seminar fashion.

REQUIRED READING:

Augustine. The Trinity. New City Press, 1991. 200 pages.

D'Aquili, Newberg, Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience. Fortress Press, 1999. 180 pages.

Jantzen, Grace. Power, Gender and Christian Mysticism. Cambridge University Press, 1996. 300 pages.

James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. Routledge, 2002. 200 pages.

Katz, Steven. Mysticism and Religious Traditions. Oxford University Press, 1983. 120 pages.

McGinn, Bernard. Foundations of Mysticism. Crossroad, 1997. 340 pages.

McIntosh, Mark. Mystical Theology. Blackwell, 1998. 240 pages.

Pseudo-Dionysius. The Complete Works. Paulist, 1987. 100 pages.

Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism. OneWorld, 1999. 430 pages.

Course Reader. 75 pages.