MARK BARNA,THE GAZETTE
Mysticism is a dirty word for some Christians.
“They think of it as the bizarre,” said Bernard McGinn, a retired religion professor at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School. “But that is an unfortunate misreading of (the Christian) mystical tradition.”
McGinn will be discussing this tradition in a Friday lecture at Colorado College and this weekend at First Congregational Church.
For McGinn, mysticism is not simply a part of Christianity. Mysticism is imperative to its survival. “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or not a Christian at all,” McGinn said.
Mysticism within the Abrahamic faiths is about seeking an experiential, rather than a solely intellectual, relationship with God. This is achieved, mystics say, through various types of meditation and a contemplative reading of sacred texts.
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