Kristen mystik. Ur psykologisk synvinkel. Del I

Författare

Antoon Geels

Summary, in English

This is the third volume in a serial of books focusing on the concept of mystical death and related ideas, as described within the Christian mystical tradition and its Jewish and Greek roots. In the succeeding chapters these mystical elements and their development are followed up, both within the Western and Eastern Christian traditions. In the final chapters the author presents the German and Dutch mystical schools in the fourteenth century.

Using scholarly translations of Christian mystical texts and modern research within the field, the author presents influential Christian mystics in a chronological and thematic way. The study is psychological in the sense that the author gives attention not only to experiential and behavioural aspects but also to the psychology of the mystics themselves. Some fundamental questions are: How is human personality defined by Christian mystics? Which techniques are used in order to reach beyond personality defined as such? What kind of experiences do these exercises lead to? To what end does the mystic pursue these activities? Special attention is given to the phenomenon of mors mystica, the notion that human personality has to die and to be reborn in a transformed state.

As to interpretations from the perspective of modern psychology the author draws attention to his earlier studies, related to the psychology of asceticism, visionary experience and descriptions of mystical death. Christian techniques of visualisation are analysed with reference to HansCarl Leuner’s research on guided affective imagery. This psychological interpretation has not been presented in earlier studies of the author.

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