Future Christian A Mystic or Not a Christian At All

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.