V. Mystical Theology.— It is with mys ticism as with every other human experience, theory follows on life. 'Speech precedes gram mar, thought logic, conduct Ethics. Prat/tuns est vivere deinde philosopkari. As mystical tendencies and 'habits spread and strengthened, there gradually grew up. a mass of facts and in-' ferences• which constituted' in time the body of a mystical theory, or what is 'known as mys tical theology, and which took its place in the, evolution of Christian doctrine as a sequent of moral theology. Mystical-experiences were analyzed and systematized, principles indixed therefrom and cIaiiffed in the light of 'Biblical and Patristic teaching, and practical rules for discernment and guidance in the mystical life were the whole developing by de grees into an organized science or discipline. The writers eminent in the formative stage of mystical theory were Saints Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory.of .N'azianza, Chryostorn, John Chmacus,:Cassian, Gregory the Great, Ambrose; and Augustine. ['he first systematic work on the subject was that 'of Dionysius, the so-called, Areopagite. Ip the intense intellectual ferment that followed 'the triumph of Christianity the Neoplatonista endeavored to set up against Christianity, a world-religion whose controlling tenet it was that the universe is simply a phe-' nomenon of the' divine life, the human indi vidual' a manifestation of the divine essence, God coming to .consciousness in man. Dio nysius opposed this teaching, vindicating the Christian doctrine' that in the union of the human soul' with the Deity it retains its dis tinct entity. During the Middle Ages the works of Dionysiut became for the mystical writers what the of 'Peter. the. Lombard was to the Scholastics, a text for the numer. ass' Commentaries of 'eminent writers such as Hugh and Richard of Saint Victor, William of Paris, Bonaventure, Dionysius • the Carthusian, Gerson and others.. 'The Scholastics,' likewise,
especially Aquinas, based their treatment of mystical phenomena on the Areopagite. The influence.of Neoplatonist') (q.v.) lingered, how-. ever, in the writings of Engem, iiven though he translated the works of Diosystus., A tinge of Neoplatonism moreover clings to the 14th and 15th century writers, Tauler. Suso and. Ruysbrovic,, who theorized more the interests of an intellectual union with God, while the most eminent teacher of practical, mysticism — union of will —was at this time Thomas of Kempen. In the subsequent cen turies practical mysticism is systematically represented by Saints Teresa, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales and Ignatius of Loyola. The works of these writers have for the most part been translated into English. Among the later mystical authorities may be mentioned Louis of Blois, John of Avila, Louis of Gran ada, Louis da Ponte, James Alvarez, Alphonsus ieremberg, Lancicius, Surin, God inez, Scaramelli, Benedict XIV and Schram.
Joly, 'Psychologie des Saints> (English trans.) (1898) ; Tyrrell, 'Faith of the Millions> (1901) ; Ullathorne, 'The Endowments of Man' (1880) ; Devine, 'A Manual of Mystical Theology' (1903); Inge, W. R., 'Christian Mysticism> (1899) ; id., 'Studies of English Mystics> (New York 1906); id., 'Personal Idealism and Mysticism (ib. 1907) • Recejac, 'Bases of the Mystic (1899) ; James, 'Varieties of Re ligious Experience> (1902) ; Royce, 'The World and the Individual' (1902) • GOrres, cDie Christliche Mystik' (1836-42) ; kibot, 'La Mystique Divine> (1904); Migne, 'Diction naire de Mystique Chretienne) (1858); Von Hugel, Friedrich, 'The Mystical Element in Religion> (2 vols., New York 1909) • Wetzer Waite end, (Kirchen-Lexicon) (1893).