Christian Mysticism

REGR 6110
Summer 2011
June 20-23, 27-30
2:30 PM-6:30 PM

Chad Thralls, Ph.D. Office: Keating Hall Room 303 O

Email: cthralls@fordham.edu Office Hours: 1:30-2:30 PM
and by apt.

Course Description
Though the terms “mystical” and “mysticism” are commonly used in our culture, it is not
entirely clear what is being talking about when the subject is brought up. Usually, the
term refers to something vaguely mysterious, paranormal, or just plain weird. In the
Christian tradition, mysticism refers to profound and transformative religious
experiences. This course will explore Christian mysticism through the reading of primary
texts from the fourth to the twentieth centuries in light of scholarly attempts to define it.
It will also explore the potential relevance of these texts to contemporary spiritual
practice.

Required Texts
Dupre, Louis and James Wiseman. Light from Light: An Anthology of Christian
Mysticism. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2001. ISBN: 0809140136

Harmless, William. Mystics. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780195300390

Laird, Martin. Into the Silent Land. Oxford, 2006. ISBN: 0195307607

Barks, Coleman, trans. The Essential Rumi, 2nd ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2004.
ISBN 0-06-250959-4.

Electronic Reserves. You can access most of the secondary literature for the course
through the library’s ERes service. Search for articles via the professor’s last
name. Password = “cm”

Course Requirements
1.) Class Participation. Careful reading of the assigned texts and readiness to discuss
them critically and constructively are expected. Each student should prepare at least two
questions per class to contribute to the discussion. More than one absence will make a
significant impact on the final grade; contact the instructor before any planned absences.
Students will be graded on the quality of their contributions to class discussions. (30%)

2.) A 2 page description of a profound spiritual/religious/ecstatic experience (or a

reflection on why you think you have not had any such experiences) is due 6/22. (5%)
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3.) Daily Papers. (15%) In a one page, single spaced paper, respond to the following
three questions:
A.) What did you find interesting, helpful, or surprising in today's reading?
B.) What did you find confusing, odd, or problematic?
C.) In what ways might this text contribute to a contemporary spirituality (for you
personally, your parish community, your religious community, or perhaps within a
specific cultural, ecumenical, or inter-religious context)?

4.) Final Exam (50%)

Grading System
A, exceptional; A- excellent; B+, very good; B, good; C, passing; F, failure.

Course Schedule of Readings

6/20 Introduction: What is mysticism?

Muir, John. Excerpt from Travels in Alaska (1915).

http://www.onbeing.org/program/discovering-where-we-live-reimagining-
environmentalism/feature/muir-alaska/2108

Rumi. “Some Kiss We Want.”

http://www.worldprayers.org/archive/prayers/celebrations/there_is_some_kiss.ht
ml

Harmless, William. “A Theology Called Mystical.” In Mystics (Oxford, 2008), 3-

18.

McGinn, Bernard. “General Introduction.” In The Foundations of Mysticism.

NY: Crossroad, 1991. (xi-xx)

Periphery
by Kay Ryan

Fountains, for instance,

have a periphery
at some distance
from the spray.
On nice days
idle people circle
all the way around
the central spout.
They do not get wet.
They do not get hot.
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6/21 Apophatic Mysticism

1.) Gregory of Nyssa, Light from Light, 37-54.

Pseudo-Dionysius, Light from Light, 79-94.

Sheldrake, Philip. “Types of Spirituality.” In Spirituality and History: Questions

of Interpretation & Method, 191-198. Maryknoll: Orbis revised ed. 1998.

2.) The Cloud of Unknowing, Light from Light, 247-264.

Thomas Keating Explains the Guidelines of Centering Prayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IKpFHfNdnE

6/22 Laird, Martin. Into the Silent Land. Oxford, 2006.

6/23 1.) Bernard of Clairvaux, Light from Light, 95-114.

Song of Songs 1:1-3:4

Harmless, William. “Mystic as Experienced Exegete: Bernard of Clairvaux.” In

Mystics, 41-58.

2.) McGinn, Bernard. “The Changing Shape of Late Medieval Mysticism.”

Church History 65.2 (Je 1996): 197-219.

Mechthild of Magdeburg, “Lead Me in the Dance.” In Mystics, Visionaries, &

Prophets. Augsburg Fortress, 1998.

6/27 1.) Meister Eckhart, Light from Light, 153-171.

Harmless, William. “Mystic as Mystagogue: Meister Eckhart.” In Mystics, 107-

134.

2.) Julian of Norwich, Light from Light, 229-246.

6/28 Merton, Thomas, “Creative Silence.”

Merton, Thomas, “Learning to Live.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. New Directions, 1961, Chs. 1-3.

Merton, Thomas, Light from Light, 445-461.

Merton, Thomas. “Transcendent Experience.” In Zen and the Birds of Appetite.

New Directions, 1968.
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Harmless, William. “Mystic as Fire Watcher: Thomas Merton.” In Mystics, 19-

40.

6/29 Contemporary Theme: Comparative Mysticism

1.) Rumi and Sufism

Barks, Coleman. Essential Rumi, 1-53, 100-109, 201-205.

Rumi, “Taste with Discrimination.”

Harmless, William. “Mysticism and Islam.” In Mystics, 159-188.

2.) Buddhism

Merton, Thomas. “December 4, 1968. Colombo.” In The Asian Journal of

Thomas Merton. New Directions, 1975, 230-236.

Knitter, Paul. “Prayer and Meditation.” In Without Buddha I Could Not Be a

Christian. Onewold, 2009.

6/30 1.) Harmless, William. “Reading Mystics: Text, Community, Experience.”

Douthat, Ross. “Mass-Market Epiphany.” The New York Times. (7 Mar 2010).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/opinion/08douthat.html?em

2.) Final Exam