Christian Mysticism

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course examines the nature and development of spiritual consciousness. It uses class Christian texts, film, and "practical" exercises. It explores the paradoxical nature of mysticism by focusing on how and why it challenges the "normal" categories for perceiving and interpreting reality. The course surveys some of mysticism's principal types and discusses its multi-disciplinary structure (ie, philosophical, theological, psychological). Readings deal, among others, with Ignatius Loyola, Edith Stein, Gregory of Nyssa (a 4th century theologian), William James, John of the Cross, Plato.