Brian Hamilton-Vise

All theology is mystical theology

I tried to say yesterday that the doctrine of the Trinity is founded on contemplation rather than metaphysical speculation, that its philosophical meaning depends on its philosophical impossibility. The doctrine of the Trinity is a self-subverting utterance, which is to say that it’s essentially apophatic. And in fact, this is the proper character of all Christian theology.

Tomorrow morning I need to give an introduction to mystical theology, since next week the students will read through Bonaventure’s Itinerarium mentis in Deum. The most fundamental point that will need to be made is this: mystical theology is not a separate stream or tradition or even genre of theology, but just another way of designating the character of the entire theological enterprise. The relentless concern of the fathers and the medievals is to maintain the absolute identity of the intellectual and experiential quest for God. Thus the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity was but an exploration on the part of the entire church of how to worship the God revealed in Christ. Likewise, Augustine’s own spiritual search for himself and for God necessarily included an intellectual search for what is meant by “the self” and how to comprehend the nature of the incomprehensible God. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium is the most concise demonstration of the point. At stake is precisely the journey of the mind into God. The journey cannot be made without the intellect–even though, in the end, the intellect is left behind in the ecstasy of desire and love–nor can the mind itself be properly understood without undertaking the journey into God.

Saying that all theology should be mystical means two things above all. First, it’s a pursuit that involves the whole existential orientation of a person, not only her intellect. The structure of theological inquiry involves both understanding and love, intellect and will, knowledge and desire. Second, it means that theology’s object is always self-consciously out of reach–both intellectually and experientially. The goal of theology is nothing less than to lose ourselves in God.

16 October 2008 | Comments (1)
Tags: Augustine, Bonaventure, Negative Theology