[p.vii] It is the object of this book to trace out that type of life, that peculiar quality of consciousness, which is called "mystical," from its earliest appearance within Christianity; to estimate, so far as is possible, the true character and origin of the Christian mystic, and define the qualities which differentiate him from those other mystics who have been evolved along other lines of spiritual development, Oriental, Neoplatonic, or Mahomedan. It is now acknowledged by many psychologists—amongst whom Leuba and Delacroix are of special importance, since their conclusions are entirely free of theological bias—that the Christian mystic does possess such differentiating characters; and represents, so far as the psychical nature of man is concerned, a genuine species apart. Leuba, indeed, does not hesitate to call him "one of the most amazing and profound variations of which the human race has yet been witness." This being so, his origin and real significance have surely a special importance for those interested in the spiritual evolution of humanity,
We are still too often told that Christian mysticism is no integral part of humanity: sometimes, even that it represents an opposition to the primitive Christian ideal. Sometimes we are asked to believe that it originated from Neoplatonic influence; that Pagan blood runs in its veins, and that its genealogy goes back to Plotinus. far from this being the case, all the doctrines and all the experiences characteristic of genuine Christian mysticism can be found in the New Testament; and I believe that its emergence as a definite type of spiritual life coincides with the emergence of Christianity itself, in the person of its Founder. [p.viii]
The examination of Christian origins from the psychological point of view suggests that Christianity began as a mystical movement of the purest kind; that its Founder and those who succeeded Him possessed the characteristic mystical consciousness, and passed through the normal stages of mystical growth. Hence its nature is best understood by comparison with those lesser mystical movements in which life has again and again asserted her unconquerable instinct for transcendence; and the heroic personalities through whom the Christian vision of reality was first expressed, are most likely to yield up the secret of their "more abundant life" when studied by the help of those psychological principles which have been deduced from the general investigation of the mystical type.
The great Christians of the primitive time, the great mystics in whom their spirit has lived on, exhibit, one and all, an organic growth, pass through a series of profound psychic changes and readjustments, by which they move from the condition of that which we like to call the "normal man" to that state of spiritual maturity, of an an actually heightened correspondence with Reality, an actually enhanced power of dealing with circumstances, which they sometimes call the "Unitive Life". This sequence of psychological states is the "Mystic Way", which gives the title to my book. Its existence is not a pious opinion, but a fact, which is attested by countless mystics of every period and creed, and is now acknowledged by most students of religious psychology; yet its primary importance for the understanding of our earliest Christian documents has been generally overlooked.
Using, then, this standard diagram of man's spiritual growth as a clue, I have tried to approach these documents—so far as is possible—without dogmatic presuppositions: to examine the available material from a strictly psychological standpoint. I know that by acting thus in such a connection I invite the charge of irreverence, which [p.ix] awaits all students of religious origins who venture to use the known facts of experience as a help in their investigations. Fortunately those who adopt this dangerous course can claim the support of a Doctor of the Church, as well as the unsanctified approval of common sense. "Interrogate thyself, O man," says St Augustine, "and make of thyself a step to the things that be above thee"—surely a direct invitation to approach theological problems along psychological lines.
Nor in the last result is there any other method of appraoch likely to prove fruitful for us. All those intuitions and revelations of a spiritual world, of an independent spiritual life, which have been achieved by humanity, have passed through some human consciousness on their way to concrete expression. Through that "strait gate" alone has news of the Eternal entered time. Therefore, the laws which govern this consciousness, the machinery by which it lays hold on life, must influence the form in which the message has reached us. The river adapts itself to the banks between which it flows. This is a law—a fact of observation—which applies as much to the greatest as to the least of prophets, saints, and seers; and it is by an appeal to this law that I justify my fragmentary attempt towards "the interpretation of life by life".
Though the method here employed has as far as possible been empirical, and the ultimate appeal is always to particular facts rather than universal principles, some philosphic thread on which the argument might be strung, some diagram of life against which the observed phenomena might be exhibited, was found to be a necessity. Such a philosophic diagram is sketched in the first chapter; which discusses mysticism in relation to human life, and seeks to distinguish the two main forms under which it has appeared in the history of the race. For this philosophy I make no claims. To many, I know that it [p.x] will be unacceptable. It is but a symbolic picture of the universe, useful because it helps us to find a place for the kind of life called "mystic" within the framework of that great and universal life which we call Reality.
For my psychology, however, I make a higher claim; for the principles upon which this is based originate, not in the guessing games of the professors, but in the experience of the saints. In this department, the statements that are made—though sometimes expressed in the picturesque dialect of the laboratory—can yet be substantiated from the first hand declarations of those great lovers of the Absolute, the specialists of the spiritual life.
The historic limits within which I have conducted my investigation into the character of this "life" extend, roughly speaking, from the time of Christ to the end of the fourth century; though—since the mode of demonstration adopted is of necessity largely comparative—persons from outside these boundaries have been freely used for illustrative purposes. The three main sections of the book discuss, first, the mystical and psychological aspect of the life and teachings of Christ, as described in the Synoptic gospels, then that of St Paul, then the mysticism of the Fourth Evangelist: the three outstanding personalities of the New Testament. By the three groups of documents through which these personalities are revealed to us the principles of Christian mysticism were fixed, its psychological imperatives demonstrated. The lives of later mystics merely repeat, and seldom in perfection, the pattern curve which is here laid down.
The succeeding section, which deals with three of the special forms taken by the mystic impulse in the early Church, and with a great but neglected mystic through whom that impulse passed, is but a slight sketch of a great subject, to which I hope to return. It is placed here in the hope that it may help the inexperienced student to discern some of the links—not always obvious—which [p.xi] connect the superb mysticism of primitive Christianity with its better known developments in the medieval world. I end with a study of the liturgy of the Mass: the characteristic art-form in which the mystical consciousness of Christendom has expressed itself.
Biblical quotations have been made, where possible, from the Authorised Version: the Revision being used only where it gives additional clearness. In many cases, however, neither version seemed to bring home to the modern reader the exact meaning or living quality of the original; and here I have used Weymouth's excellent "New Testament in Modern Speech". References to some of the larger works of Eucken, Harnack, Deissmann, and Julicher, are to the English translations, the latest edition of the German not being accessible to me.
Such as it is, this book necessarily owes much to the help, advice, and criticisms of others, more competent than I in the great subjects of which it ventures to treat: friends, fellow students, reviewers, and correspondents. Not all of these will allow a public expression of my gratitude: I can but offer them, collectively, my heartiest thanks for many and invaluable services. But amongst those to whom I am specially indebted for skilled and generous help in various departments, I should like to name here Mr W. Scott Palmer, Miss Ethel Barker, Miss Margaret Robinson, Mr H. Stuart Moore, FSA, and Mr David Inward; and take this opportunity of expressing to them my great gratitude for their kindness.
A considerable part of the chapter entitled "St Paul and the Mystic Way" has already appeared in The Contemporary Review. It is now reprinted by kind permission of the Editor.
E.U.
Candlemas, 1913
