10. None the less the Saints, the typical mystics, were fully alive to the fictitious sem blance of purely natural, both normal and ab normal, subjective states to genuine mystical experience and writers on the subject have laid down certain signs for discerning the true from the false. Usually they point to the afniits of the Spirit" as enumerated by Saint Paul (Gal. 5, 22) ; joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity." The essence of all these fruits of true mysticism is self-denial, love of self-sacrifice and humility; only where such dis positions are habits can the subject he said ato walk by the Spirit." This mental attitude the mystics observe shows itself in subjection of the will to God and to lawful authority, a care to avoid self-obtnisiveness, a tenderness of con science, zeal for self-control, deep interior peace even in the midst of misunderstandings and persecutions. On the contrary, they say, where the opposite signs prevail, self-conceit, obstinacy, an appetite for singularity, morose ness, refusal of humiliation, sentimentality in devotional observances, unrest and such like all being indications of pride, vanity or some form of sensuality—there the subject, though seemingly wrapt up' to the third heaven, will be found to be the victim of an active or a passive delusion.
11. From the foregoing principles it should be inferred that Christian differs essentially from purely rational mysticism in the primacy it gives to divine 'influence in mystical, experi ence. The uplifting and sustaining of the in, tellect and will in communion with God are due not in the first instance to purely innate endowments but to a transcendent light and energy. Christian mysticism as a theory ig nores or pretermits none of the ascertained' facts and legitimate inferences of psychology and philosophy, but it claims to supplement this knowledge with principles and deductions of a religious and theological character. The higher influences thus postulated though distinct from are nevertheless continuous with the normal psychical life of the mind, just as the higher mental powers are themselves distinct yet not severed from the sentient and organic activities. Thus genuine mysticism by its sharp distinc tion between the mental activities and the im manent Deity steers clear of pantheism. The terms "deification," identification with God 'and the like in which mystical writers speak of the contemplative state are meant to express the close union of the soul with God but not a unity or substantial identity.
IV. History of Christian Mysticism.— Mysticism as an experience is as old as human ity. The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, are described in the Bible as men who while not exempt from human failings, lived more or less habitually in converse with God, while the prophets from Samuel to the Baptist passed much of their lives in the abiding reali zation of the divine presence. The unitive or
highest form of mystical life culminates in Christ, who though of necessity perpetually con scious of His Divine Personality nevertheless frequently retired from human association to commune with His Father in the solitude of the mountain or desert. Christ became for all future time the pattern of the mystical life while His Personality, deeds and words have formed ever since the chief subject-rnatter whereon the, genuine mystical mind has been nourished. As his example and teachings spread abroad and the realization of their power deepened in the Christian consciousness the tendency to devote more and more ,of life to mystical contemplation increased. Spontane ously and gradually at first and accelerated afterward by the pagan persecutions which drove numbers of the early Christians into the deserts the eremitical and subsequently the mo nastic state grew up and developed, at first in the East and in Egypt and later on throughout western Europe. Monasticism (q.v.) was and is essentially an institution established as a means to facilitate and conserve the contem plative life. Some of the religious orders were founded almost exclusively for this end. Oth ers, and these the majority, aimed at combin ing the contemplative with the active life, a so-called mixed status wherein the cultivation of an abiding consciousness of the Divine Pres ence should fructify and energize in labor for human welfare. How successfully •this aim was accomplished is told in the history of monas ticism and the biographies of such men as the Gregories, Basil, Benedict, Bernard, the Fran cises, Dominic, Borronnto, Loyola; and of such women. as-Hildegarde,•the Eligabeths, the Cath arines, Teresa and . other well-known heroes and heroines, of human as well as, of divine. charity; all of whom drew inspiration and ergy for lives of continued self-sacrifice from an almost uninterrupted communion with the • •• •• Though monastic retirement • and discipline facilitate 'and foster the. genesis of mystical habits, they are by not means essential as is patent' from the .case of numberless menu and women who in every age hagessuccensially united a high degree of. contemplation with every variety of secular octupation. .Here again the, lives of the true mystics, the Saints, show that the cultivation of an abiding'canverse with God culminating frequently even .in deeps mystical union is compatible with all the duties' and reasonable demands of social life.