The Origin and the Advent of Christian Mysticism

Subject Areas : Christianity

علی بادامی ¹ (ندارد)

Received: 2012-06-12 Accepted : 2012-09-19 Published : 2011-09-23

Keywords: Christian mysticism, Jewish heritage, Gospels, Paul, Philo, John,

Abstract :

By the advent of Christianity mysticism has started practicing in theChristian religious life and has been influenced by external and internalsources during its development and formation. This essay tries tosurvey the formative period of the Christian mysticism, and includestwo parts: In the first part the influence of following factors onChristian mysticism have been dealt with: Jewish heritage– that is, thehistorical and environmental relations of Jewish and Christiancommunities and their similarities in the religious beliefs and rituals–Hebrew Bible and Philo’s treatises, religious texts– such as Didacheand Apocalyptic and apocryphal literature– mysterious religions, andGnostics and Hermetic rituals. Moreover, the impact of Platonic andNeo-Platonic schools on Christians’ tendency towards mysticism hasbeen mentioned. In the second part, the influence of internal sourcessuch as Gospels, the mystical teachings of Christ, Paul and John, havebeen studied. Finally, we come to the conclusion that Christianmysticism, in spite of external influences, has mostly been impacted bythe Gospels and mystical and moral teachings of Christ and his asceticlife.