St. Augustine's Paradigm: "Ab exterioribus ad interiora, ab inferioribus ad superiora" in the Western and Eastern Christian Mysticism
I argue that St. Augustine of Hippo was the first in the history of Christian spirituality who expressed a key tendency of Christian mysticism, which implies a gradual intellectual ascent of the human soul to God, consisting of the three main stages: external, internal, and supernal. In this ascent...
| Subtitles: | Augustine's Paradigm 'ab exterioribus ad interiora, ab inferioribus ad superiora' in the Western and Eastern Christian Mysticism |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Innsbruck in cooperation with the John Hick Centre for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Birmingham
[2015]
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| In: |
European journal for philosophy of religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 81-107 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Augustinus, Aurelius, Saint 354-430
/ Mystical experience
/ Spiritual steps
/ Church fathers
/ Neoplatonism
/ Catholic church
/ Eastern Church
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| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion CB Christian life; spirituality |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (teilw. kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | I argue that St. Augustine of Hippo was the first in the history of Christian spirituality who expressed a key tendency of Christian mysticism, which implies a gradual intellectual ascent of the human soul to God, consisting of the three main stages: external, internal, and supernal. In this ascent a Christian mystic proceeds from the knowledge of external beings to self-knowledge (from outward to inward), and from his inner self to direct mystical contemplation of God (from inward to higher). Similar doctrines may be found in the writings of the Greek Fathers (Great Cappadocians, Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, etc.). Although there are many similarities in the overall doctrine and in particular details between them, it does not imply the direct impact of Augustines theological thought on the Greek Fathers but rather the influence of the Neoplatonic philosophy on both Western and Eastern Christianity, in particular, of Plotinus theory of intellectual cognition. |
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| Item Description: | Abweichender Titel im Inhaltsverzeichnis: "Augustine's Paradigm 'ab exterioribus ad interiora, ab inferioribus ad superiora' in the Western and Eastern Christian Mysticism" |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal for philosophy of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.24204/ejpr.v7i2.121 |