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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM

BY
W. H. DYSON

"By love He may be gotten and holden, but by thought
or understanding never."

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LONDON
JAMES CLARKE & CO., 13 & 14, FLEET STREET
1913

PREFACE
The following Studies were written primarily for
my own guidance, to give definiteness to thoughts
suggested by a somewhat prolonged and extensive
reading of the Mystics. I have also had in mind
present-day questions of religious life and thought,
and the influence of these has necessarily given
colour to the consideration of the subject. Indeed,
it is the intimate relation between Mysticism and
the needs of our own time that has prompted the
study. That for which the Mystics stand — intense
personal religion — is, as I interpret the situation, the
true solution of our problems.
There is, of course, no attempt to treat exhaustively
the questions raised, and I should not have ventured
upon publication but for the encouragement of others,
in whose judgment the book may prove useful to
some of the increasing number of those whose
interest in Mysticism is newly awakened but whose
opportunities of personal study have been limited.
The several chapters, while constituting separate
studies, have a vital unity. Underlying all that I
have written is the conviction that Religion, in its
Christian form, is a Life-principle perfectly expressed
in the two great Commandments of Love, and
because essentially spiritual therefore mystical, in

IV

Preface

the very- measure of its depth and sincerity. This
conviction is the ground of the contention throughout
that the Christian Mystics are not isolated instances
of religious genius, removed from us by incom
municable gifts and endowments, but are our
" brethren in Christ," witnessing to us of " the
Spirit of Christ which was in them," and calling us
to share thexonfidence of their assurance, and to be
partakers of the gladness of their joy.
To those who with strenuous labour are seeking
to build up the Kingdom of God ; to those who are
weary and spent with ministering to the world's
necessities ; to those in whom the River of Life is
falling low, I offer this gathering of quiet hours.
W. H. DYSON.
Birkdale, southport,
August 3, 1913.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAQE
I. THE REVIVAL OF MYSTICISM ... 7
II. HAVE THE MYSTICS A MESSAGE FOR US ? 21
III. THE ABNORMAL IN MYSTICISM . . 33
IV. THE MYSTIC WAY  42
V. MYSTICAL THEOLOGY .... 54
VI. THE SEAT OF AUTHORITY ... 67
VII. MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION • • • 77
VIII. PRACTICAL MYSTICISM . . . . 90
IX. A TYPICAL MYSTIC . . . 102
X. SPIRITUAL RELIGION .... Il6
XI. THE MYSTIC LIFE  126
XII. QUAKERISM  I42
XIII. THE HIDDEN LIFE OF THE SOUL . . 157
XIV. ASCETICISM  I74
XV. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT . . . 189

STUDIES IN
CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM
CHAPTER I
THE REVIVAL OF MYSTICISM
The religious life of any period is conditioned, in
outward expression, by the dominating spirit of the
age. In an age characterised by great activity,
when visible and tangible results are demanded,
religion seeks expression in social service, and the
Kingdom of Heaven is set forth pre-eminently
as a Social Redemption. | Almost necessarily, the
emphasis is laid upon the human side in the great
work of righteousness. Duty, rather than faith, is
the watchword. " To labour is to pray " is the
controlling idea. The call to meditation, the
exercises of secret devotion; the fellowship of social
prayer, these are unresponded to, almost neglected.
At such a time, when spiritual religion is, apparently
at least, in abeyance, it is surely a vain hope to
expect, or even to speak of, a revival of Mysticism.
The very type of religion which that term suggests
to many is deemed unpractical and sentimental,
7

Studies in Christian Mysticism
or worse than that, Mysticism is thought of as but
another name for mistiness and unreality. Even
by thoughtful men religion is divided into different
categories, Practical, Institutional, Mystical, as
though each were in itself religion, adequate to the
religious life of the special type of nature to which
it appeals. I cannot accept this unnatural and
impossible division. Vital religion is all of these,
practical, institutional, mystical. It appeals to the
fulness of human nature, and finds, or ought to find,
its expression in all the activities of mind and of
life. The revival of Mysticism is, in my judgment,
the outstanding need at the present time, that is
of Mysticism rightly interpreted, and expressed.
Emphasis must be laid upon these very important
qualifications. Mysticism, as it is found in Christian
experience, has been and is much misunderstood,
and, because misunderstood, neglected and even
denounced. This conviction has grown upon me
while engaged in a somewhat wide, and, I trust,
sympathetic study of the subject generally, and of
the writings of many of the greater Mystics, and it
is with the hope of attracting others to enter upon
the same study that I venture to give expression to
these thoughts on Mysticism.
Surprising as it may be, considering the prevailing
spirit of the age, there are very marked signs of the
8

The Revival of Mysticism
awakening of interest in this subject. If we may
judge from the activity of the Press we cannot but
conclude that many minds are now engaged in this
study. The classics of the Mystics and selections
from long-neglected mystical writings have recently
been published. Even more notable is the increasing
stream of new literature on the subject, critical and
biographical. Indeed the publication, within a very
short time, of several most scholarly and sympa
thetic works on Mysticism is the principal feature
of present-day religious thought. Three of these
really great books I have found especially helpful
and stimulating. The writer known in the literary
world as " Evelyn Underhill," has laid all students
under great obligation by her invaluable book,
Mysticism, a Study in the Nature and Development
of Man's Spiritual Consciousness. The writings of
Dr. Rufus M. Jones are of supreme value, if for no
other reason than this, that they present the subject
from the sympathetic standpoint of a member of
The Society of Friends. The introduction to his
Studies in Mystical Religion impresses me as the
best short exposition of Mysticism. To these two
books must be added a third, Baron von Hiigel's
The Mystical Element in Religion, in many respects
a very trying book both in style and in arrangement,
but discussing questions which are fundamental
with great skill and profound scholarship.
9

Studies in Christian Mysticism
Accepting as a fact the revived interest in and
study of Mysticism we are led to ask what is behind
this movement of thought, whence is its origin, and
what is its significance for religion ?
In the realm of Science new and marvellous
discoveries have been made, discoveries which have
gone far to revolutionise thought. The sense of
the wonder and mystery of nature has again
[ awakened. Fundamental ideas of a former genera-
'. tion no longer satisfy. The secrets of nature are
felt to be richer and more profound than reason
can comprehend, secrets which seem to belong
ultimately to the spiritual, rather than to the
natural realm. In the " seventies " the material
istic theory of the universe was dominant, a theory
which found expression in the oft-quoted sentence
of Tyndall's Belfast Address : " I discern in matter
the potency and promise of all terrestrial life."
How far the pendulum has swung may be judged
from Sir William Crookes' Bristol Address, 1898,
in which he said : "I should prefer to say that in
life I see the promise and potency of all forms of
matter." In Philosophy, Eucken stands for an essentially
mystical basis of religion. In all his recent writings
I he insists upon an independent " Spiritual Life "
with which man is in fellowship, and through which
alone he attains to the fulness of his own personality.
10

The Revival of Mysticism
The oppressive weight of a materialistic philosophy
has been removed. Complacent confidence in
" progress " has received a shock. Two generations
of universal education have not wrought righteous
ness of life. Commercial prosperity has but forced
the more upon us the grave problems of poverty.
All is not well in the best of all possible worlds.
The need, more or less openly confessed, is of a
spiritual power, a moral, regenerating energy, " a
power not ourselves making for righteousness."
In Psychology the new experimental method of
study has already enlarged and enriched our ideas
of personality. The " Hidden Soul " is no longer
a mere poetic fancy. We have been made to
realise that mind, as it manifests itself in normal
consciousness, is but a fragment of a larger self
which lies behind. To this must be added the new
doctrine, now generally received, that communi
cation can take place between mind and mind,
independently of the recognised channels of sense.
Some of the results of " Psychical Research " are
now included in the new Psychology, and the
influence of both on the revival of the study of
Mysticism is seen in the writings of William James,
the greatest exponent of the new Psychology, and
especially in his Gifford Lectures (1901-2), The
Varieties of Religious Experience, which arrested
very wide attention and quickened in many minds
11

Studies in Christian Mysticism
a new interest in the reality and significance of
mystical experience.
It is, however, in religious thought itself that the
movement towards Mysticism finds its direct and
strongest impulse. German Mysticism was a re-
' action from the cold reasonings of Scholasticism,
and the formalism of Ecclesiasticism. Quietism
was a protest against the excessive externalism of
the Roman Church. The Quakers stood for " the
Inward Light " as opposed to the authority of
Church and Creeds. In the history of religion
progress has ever been by loss and recovery of
balance, as a man walks.
The condition of religion at the present time
points unmistakably to some great change. This —
it is often said — is an age of transition. The old
order is gone, but the new is not yet visibly manifest.
Fundamental issues are raised which cannot now
be met by the appeal to authority. The principle
of Evolution which now controls all our thinking ;
the acceptance of the methods of literary and
historical criticism and their unreserved use ; the
repudiation of all dogmatic authority, and the
confident claim to examine all that passes for
truth by the powers of reason — these are some of
the forces by which religious beliefs are now tested
with a severity as great or greater than in any
previous age. In some cases the result has been
12

The Revival of Mysticism
disastrous. Old religious beliefs have been uprooted,
and no new faiths have been implanted. In other
cases the issue has been happier — the things that
could be shaken have been removed, but the eternal
realities have been revealed. But upon all
thoughtful minds, and in the very measure of the
sincerity of their convictions, the question is
pressed : What is the true, firm basis of your
religious life and faith ?
It is just here that the new Psychology and the
new Apologetics meet. Psychology insists that
experience shall be accounted for, claims that
experience is as real as any sensuous perception.
So the religious life is cast in upon itself ; the t
religious experience must be its own evidence.
" Believe what thou findest written in the
sanctuaries of man's soul." Yes, but what is
written there, and how shall we discover and
interpret the writing ? It is into the sanctuary of
his own soul every man must enter, the thoughts
of his own heart he must examine. But the task
of self-knowledge is the hardest any man can set
himself. " The calm of perfect knowledge, where
spirit holds communion with itself, and is to itself
transparent," is a fare grace, for which not only
temperament, but also environment, is absolutely
essential, and that temperament has to be cultivated,
that environment created. Life, for the most part,
13

Studies in Christian Mysticism
' has to be lived at high pressure. Activity is the
\ watchword of the hour. " The cares that occupy
\ the passing day " are manifold and imperative.
Of the prophets of truth and righteousness it has
I been written : " These men mustered their powers
I amidst the silences." Little wonder, then, that
we have few prophets and seers in this busy age.
To most, I fear, it can only be an academic truth :
"That we can feed this Mind of ours
In a wise passiveness."
Times of quiet are hard to find, and if found, the
habit of reflection, of turning the mind inward upon
itself, of communing with one's self in stillness of
all other thoughts, has yet to be formed. Those
" unmannerly distractions," which Faber found
intruding upon the hour of prayer, are with most
of us all the time. And yet the duty abides, the
call is imperative. Notwithstanding all hindrances,
impelled by painful soul-hunger, we must search
into the realities of personal experience, and find
the sure foundation of the soul's eternal life. So
( we turn with wistful gaze to the saints of old, to
| the goodly fellowship of the Mystics, whose testimony
has a new significance for us, and whose mystical
1 experience is our secret quest.
The significance for religion of this new direction
of thought is a more searching question. It is
always difficult to determine what is the true
14

The Revival of Mysticism
inward meaning of any movement, and to escape
the error of taking accidents for essentials is not
always easy. Thus, in the case before us, the new
interest in Mysticism has, almost certainly, to be
included in a wider trend of thought. It is one
form of the activity of the historical spirit which
would embrace all that is human within its scope.
But this will not explain all, for there is quite
certainly a deep, religious spirit beneath the move
ment. Some years ago the hope was cherished by
many that a great creative theologian would
appear, who, in the fulness of modern knowledge
and the assurance of faith, should once more quicken
thought and open a new vision of the eternal
Gospel, a hope, however, which has not been
realised, though the need which inspired the hope
remains. This sense of unrest, dissatisfaction, '
uncertainty, the ever- deepening consciousness of i
something lacking in our religious life to-day, and ;
the increasing longing for a more vital and spiritual
religion, are turning the thoughts of many to the
old Mystics and to their writings, if, perchance,,
they may learn their secret and know their assurance ;
and their peace.
Something more than this can be said, and must
be, if we are to touch the heart of the matter.
Much has been written about the decadence of
religion, but there is another side of the shield,
15

Studies in Christian Mysticism
brighter and more inspiring. Religion as it becomes
less formal may become more intense ; less depen
dence upon externals may spring from the fuller
enjoyment of the worship which is in spirit and in
truth. The mystical experience is by no means
a bygone story ; the great leaders of the move
ment in the past have their spiritual sons and
daughters in our own day. In all the Churches
there are those who in gladness and confidence can
say " I know Him whom I have believed," a multi
tude which no man can number, to whom conscious
communion with God, the true mystical experience,
is the one reality in their lives.
The great Mystics have been named " the
pioneers of the spiritual world," and we hold them
in honour because of their spiritual pre-eminence.
But all who have lived in and for the eternal, whose
vision has embraced the realities of the spiritual
world are also Mystics, a great company in every
age and in every land. True, not all of these, not
even many, have been conscious of " that instinct
for the Absolute which is latent in man " which,
according to Dean Inge, characterises the Mystic ;
nor are they, in clear self-knowledge, attempting
" to realise in thought and feeling the immanence
of the temporal in the eternal, and of the eternal in
the temporal," as Mysticism is defined by him —
these ideas are too metaphysical for them. Yet
16

The Revival of Mysticism
simple souls, in common walks of life, knowing
nothing of the culture of the Schools, have lived
their lives in conscious communion with the Spiritual
World, counting the realities of that world the
supreme good. All true religion is based upon
the reality of the Spiritual ; and all devout souls
live and move and have their being therein. In
their lives the spiritual sense has been quickened,
the birth from Above is a fact of experience, and
life, for them, means an " ever closer and deeper
dependence on and appropriation of the fulness of
the Divine Life." It is this which vital religion in
its full Christian sense always means, and means for
all. It is fully recognised that, in religious experience,
as in all other departments of life, there are degrees
of attainment, and that the great Mystics may be
justly styled " the heroic examples of the life of
Spirit." What I wish to insist upon is that there is
true Mysticism in all vital religion, and, very
expressly, in the Christian religion. The assertion
that " the spirit of mysticism is the true and essential
Christianity " has been objected to as an extreme
statement, but such a criticism, as it seems to me,
arises either from a wrong idea of Mysticism, or
from an inadequate realisation of what is essential
Christianity. In his Bampton Lecture (1899), which may claim
17 B

Studies in Christian Mysticism
to be one of the earliest of the modern critical
studies of the subject, Dean Inge gives twenty-six
definitions of Mysticism, to which his own, given
above, may be added. If every type of Mysticism,
Speculative, Religious, Symbolic, is included, these
definitions may be multiplied almost indefinitely.
By some writers Nature-Mysticism is deemed the
highest, and seen in the life of a St. Francis, or
breathing in the poetry of a Wordsworth, it is
attractive to most minds. To others, Speculative
Mysticism is the most absorbing, and Plotinus,
whose Mysticism has been characterised as " the
ultimate result of the whole development of Greek
Philosophy," is counted " the Mystic par excellence."
Between Speculative and Religious Mysticism
there is this important difference : in philosophic
ideas the interest is mainly intellectual and conse
quently limited to the few highly-trained minds ;
in religious experience the fellowship is personal and
may be shared by all. Between Nature-Mysticism
and Religious Mysticism there is an underlying
unity, for only to the religious spirit, conscious of
the Divine within itself, is the vision of the Divine
in Nature an inspiration and a joy. It is Religious
Mysticism which is now to engage our thought.
It is necessary, however, still further to limit our
subject, and more definitely to define the term
Mysticism. The psychological fact upon which
18

The Revival of Mysticism
Religious Mysticism is based, has been thus stated :
" Personal religious experience has its root and
centre in mystical states of consciousness " (Varieties
of Religious Experience, p. 379). To the Mystic,
the vital element in his religion is direct and personal j
communion with God, religion, that is, " in its
most acute, intense, and living stage." Christian
Mysticism, in its essential element, is the conscious
communion of the soul with God, as revealed in and
through Jesus Christ.
This definition is based upon the conviction that
Christianity is a Life, spiritual, eternal, a Life, from
its very nature, essentially mystical. That it is
possible to hold correct beliefs about God, and to
fulfil all the outward requirements of a ceremonial
religion, without living communion with God, is a
fact too evident, but this is not even religion in any
true sense, and, quite certainly, it is not the spiritual
religion of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself is The
Great Mystic — I write these words in deep reverence
of spirit — His oneness with the Father, and the
oneness of the faithful in Him, constitute the
sublimest heights of Mysticism. And the Christian
is the disciple, the follower, the imitator of Christ,
whose Pre-eminence is not that of isolation but of
inspiration, and whose Headship is to reproduce His
Life in ours.
In this faith we realise that the Christian Scrip-
19 b 2

Studies in Christian Mysticism
tures are mystical throughout ; not the Fourth
Gospel alone, though that is deep in spiritual
thought, but also the other three, in each of which
is found the heart- truth of Mysticism : " Whosoever
will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross and follow Me." And not in St. John's
First Epistle alone, though the communion of the
soul with God who is Love, in love and obedience of
life, is therein so richly taught ; but also, and very
especially, in the Letters of St. Paul, wherein his
Christian experience so deep and full is revealed,
and his Gospel for all declared. In his life the words
of Jesus, already quoted, find their exact fulfilment
in personal experience, as his great mystical saying
reveals : "I have been crucified with Christ ; yet
I live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in
me " ; and in his gospel there is no less exalted
hope for those who truly believe — he knows but one
Spirit, one faith, one life, the life which is " hid with
Christ in God."
The Christian Mystics, then, whose thoughts and
Hves we study, were first of all and essentially
Christian men and women, the re-discoverers, in
their own age, of spiritual religion. Theirs was the
vision of God Himself, of God as Love and Light
and Spirit, indwelling, inspiring, redeeming ; the
Christian faith of the Holy Ghost ; the Christian
doctrine of the Immanence of God.
20

CHAPTER II
HAVE THE MYSTICS A MESSAGE FOR US ?
Is Mysticism an abnormal or a normal element in
vital religion ? The question is of supreme import
ance, and upon the answer our whole interest in
the subject hangs. If the mystical experience in
its essential nature is impossible to ordinary
religious people, then our interest in it can only be
intellectual, and life has other interests and duties
which claim us more.
I find conflicting answers in the writings of
students of the subject. Thus in Miss Underbill's
invaluable study we are invited to think of the
Mystics as the great explorers of the Spiritual and]
to give to them
'": the same attention that we give to other explorers
of countries in which we are not competent to
adventure ourselves ; for the Mystics are the
pioneers of the spiritual world, and we have no right
to deny validity to their discoveries, merely because
we lack the opportunity or the courage necessary
to those who would prosecute such explorations for
themselves " (pp. 4, 5).
Again she .writes :
" The Mystics show us this independent spiritual
life, this fruition of the Absolute, enjoyed with a
21

Studies in Christian Mysticism
fulness to which others cannot attain. They are
the heroic examples of the life of the spirit ; just
as the great artists, the great discoverers, are the
heroic examples of the life of beauty and the life of
truth " (p. 41).
In each of these passages the statement is qualified,
for though we may not be pioneers, cannot indeed
be, in a land that has already been explored, yet
we may be followers along the same way — if, indeed,
we are prepared for the great enterprise. Even
though we may not attain to the same fulness of the
spiritual life, yet we may follow in the footsteps of
the saints. If, then, these passages gave the final
conclusion we should have no ground of disagree
ment, but the author of Mysticism makes other
and far more definite statements.
To affirm that " only Mystics can really write about
Mysticism " is to sound a much-needed note of
warning. The blind cannot appreciate colour.
Our anxious question is : are ordinary religious
men and women incapacitated by " colour-blind
ness " ? Is the mystic sense lacking wholly, or is the
religious man, by virtue of his religious consciousness,
a seer, if but dimly ? The author leaves us in no
doubt as to her own conclusions. The history of
Mysticism, she says, " demonstrates plainly enough
that there is developed in some men another sort
of consciousness, another ' sense ' beyond those
normal qualities of the self which we have discussed "
22

Have the Mystics a Message for Us ?
(p. 59). She speaks of an " abnormal and highly-
sensitised type of mind which we call mystical "
(p. 70), a " peculiar mental make-up," so that we
may speak of " the born mystic," as we speak of
" the born musician and poet " (p. 78).
Pressed to their full meaning these statements
leave us in no doubt as to the opinion held. The
Mystics stand apart, a class to themselves, endowed
with powers which are not given to all, which, in
fact, are the peculiar inheritance of the few elect
souls. For one here and there the study of Mysti
cism may prove as the Divine voice calling to the
Mount of Vision, but for the rest of us there is
nothing left but to walk the common path, and live
our life, as best we may, on the lower plains.
But is this conclusion justified ? The quotations
given seem to be conclusive, but I am not at all sure
that we do the author justice by so interpreting
them. Had this been her final word I do not
think she would have written Mysticism, and
certainly it would not have been the really great
book it is. It must be of some " accident " of
Mysticism and not of its essential quality that such
statements are made.
Perhaps the following may be accepted as her
final judgment :
" Just as genius in any of the arts is — humanly
speaking — the final term of a power of which each
23

Studies in Christian Mysticism
individual possesses the rudiments, so mysticism
may be looked upon as the final term, the active
expression, of a power latent in the whole race ;
the power, that is to say, of so perceiving transcen
dent reality. Few people pass through life without
knowing what it is to be at least touched by this
mystical feeling " (p. 87).
In referring to the accidents of Mysticism I have
in mind several considerations which are of the
utmost importance if we are to come to any true
conclusion as to its normal or abnormal character.
(1) Due allowance must always be made for the
influences of time and place. All our experience is
toned by our expectations, determined in great
measure by our beliefs. This is true in a marked
degree of religious experience.
" The actual mystical views of any given period,
the symbolism through which these inward experi
ences are expressed, the ' revelations ' which come to
mystical prophets, all bear the mark and colour
of their particular age. There are no ' pure experi
ences,' i.e., no experiences which come wholly from
beyond the person who has them " (Studies in Mystical
Religion p. xxxiv.).
There is a very definite allowance which has to be
made for the Mysticism of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries. That was, in spirit at least,
the rise of essential Protestantism in the midst of
dominant Catholicism. Men and women trained
in a religion of externalism discovered for themselves
a direct way to God. For them religion henceforth
24

Have the Mystics a Message for Us ?
had " the throb of personal experience in it."
Their life stands out in sharp and challenging
outline against the spirit of their age. They were
no longer merely " Religious," devoted by vows to
the practice of rites and ceremonies, they were
devout, spiritual men who had personal experience
of religion " in its most acute, intense, and living
stage." The fact that Priests and People alike made
religion a mockery by their irreligious lives served
the more to isolate the Mystics from their fellows,
to give deeper significance to their experience, and
to determine their mission. To St. Catherine of
Siena (1347 — 1380) the corruptions of the Church
were her Cross, and her life-work was to restore the
spiritual power of the Church. " Holy Church,"
she wrote, " should return to her first condition —
poor, humble, and meek. For ever since the Church
has aimed more at temporal than at spiritual things
it has gone from bad to worse " (Letters, pp. 119 —
121). From her writings we learn that " moral
corruption was rampant in the convents and
monasteries, amongst men and women alike "
(Gardner's Saint Catherine of Siena, p. 3).
The evidence of Thomas a Kempis is to the same
effect. In his book, The Founders of the New
Devotion, and writing of Gerard the Great (1340 —
1384), he says : 25

Studies in Christian Mysticism
" Now at that time particularly the disposition of
the world seemed to be on all sides turned to evil,
so that there were few who preached the Word of
Life both by example and precept, and fewer still
who followed the rule of continency " (p. 9).
This isolation of character and inevitable antago
nism to the irreligion of the day could not fail to
affect the life and thought of the devout. One
good resulted — many of the Mystics, far from
being " recluses," out of touch with affairs, shut
up to the enjoyment of their own devotion, were
active and aggressive, reformers before the Refor
mation, and their thoughts could not fail to be
moulded by their mission. I do not say that this
antagonism caused them to exaggerate their own
religious experience, but it could not fail to make
them realise more vividly the value of personal
piety, and to speak and write of the new devotion
in terms which could not fail to sound strange in
their own age and which have not wholly lost that
note for ours.
(2) The spirit of the age must always influence
thought — but allowance must also be made for
peculiarities of disposition.
Principal Lindsay, in his History of the Reformation,
supplies a very good illustration of this personal
equation. Writing of St. Ignatius (1491 — 1556), he
says :
" This intensity of the Spanish character, this
26

Have the Mystics a Message for Us ?
temperament distinguished by force rather than
moderation, easily gave birth to superstition and
burning devotion, and both furnished a fruitful
soil for the extravagances of Mysticism, which
affected every class in society " (II. p. 530).
St. Ignatius himself was carried away by his own
passionate enthusiasm. " He believed that he
could actually see with bodily eyes divine mysteries
which the intelligence could not comprehend."
" He felt assured he could see the mystery of Tran-
substantiation actually taking place." For him
" the Incarnation of our Lord, the Holy Trinity,
the personality of Satan, were translated into
visible symbols which made them plainly under
stood." The influence of St. Ignatius was far-reaching.
He is thought of mainly as the founder of the Society
of Jesus, but he was a true mystic. His spiritual
experience, as Dr. Lindsay shows, was almost
identical with Luther's. " The words used by the
two great religious leaders were different, but the
experience of pardon won by throwing one's self
upon the mercy of God was the same." St. Teresa
(15-15— 1582), and through her St. John of the Cross
(1542 — 1591), were greatly influenced by the life of
St. Ignatius, and in reading their writings we
reahse over and over again the importance of making
due allowances for peculiarities of disposition.
But there is a more evident direction in which
27

Studies in Christian Mysticism
this caution must be observed. Ecstasy and
Mysticism have been very closely related, indeed
the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably,
as representing that " transport of feeling in which
thought and will are merged."
In the lives of some of the Mystics we are con
fronted again and again with abnormal experiences.
We are told of visions and voices and external signs.
The " ecstasy " of the Mystics is counted a supreme
favour, and their abnormal experience is one ground
of their canonisation. It is quite certain that
among the really great Mystics there have been
men and women of exceptional and quite extra
ordinary " psychic " powers. Probably we touch
here one of the reasons, perhaps the chief reason,
why the Mystics, as such, are thought of as possessing
some " sense " or " faculty " over and above the
common endowment. The more, therefore, does
it need to be asserted with all possible emphasis
that the possession of extraordinary powers has no
essential relation to Religious Mysticism.
There have been Mystics who were also
" Psychics," but there have also been Mystics
innumerable who were not. The conscious posses
sion of these strange powers is certainly rare, and if
their exercise is bound up inseparably with Mysticism
then is it indeed abnormal, and may well be distrusted
by devout souls. We may indeed rejoice that
28

Have the Mystics a Message for Us ?
while " psychic " gifts are rare, the mystical
experience belongs to " the multitude which no man
can number."
(3) In one remarkable gift the Mystics who are
best known to us are indeed pre-eminent — they
possessed the literary gift, the gift of expression.
They could interpret their experience, and so
quicken and illuminate the experience of others.
Miss Underbill's illustrations are suggestive.
There is a genius of the Artist, the Poet, the Musician,
a genius unshared by the ordinary man. But
wherein is the genius ? It is not the Artist alone, the
great landscape painter, who gazes entranced upon
the sunset glory. It is not the Poet alone who has
felt " a presence which disturbed him with the
joy of elevated thought." In this experience
many share who cannot be credited with " genius "
in any measure. The genius of the Painter and the
Poet lies in this — they are able to interpret and
express the transcendent vision, the conscious
emotion, the hidden experience, and communicate
it in colour and in song. Even so is it in Religion.
The uniqueness of the great Mystics was not in
their experience, but in their gift of telling the
vision, rare gift as it often was. " It is one grace,"
writes St. Teresa, " that our Lord gives grace ;
it is another grace to understand what grace and
what gift it is ; and it is another and further grace
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
to have the power to describe and explain it to
others " (Life of St. Teresa, p. 136).
Here, I think, we discover the special power of the
great Mystics whose writings supply the basis of
our study. They were men and women of excep
tional gifts, both of thought and of expression. No
one can read The Imitation or St. Augustine's
Confessions without realising that a master-mind
speaks. These books rank amongst the world's
treasures. But the " uniqueness " is not so much
in the religious experience of the writers as in their
ability to tell the story.
Thomas a Kempis was one of a large brotherhood
of like-minded men, and what has made his name to
stand out so markedly was not that he alone of all
the brotherhood had the mystic experience, the
deep, rich, personal religious life of The Imitation,
but that his, pre-eminently, was the gift of writing.
He was the ready scribe of the Community, the
historian and the preacher. There was another
a Kempis, an elder brother, John, to whom Thomas
went for guidance and instruction, but of John
a Kempis we know very little, for his was not the
gift of writing. So has it ever been ; behind the
outstanding figures, the leaders and teachers, there
have always been a body of believers, men and
women of the devout life, Mystics as truly as these
better-known saints. 30

Have the Mystics a Message for Us ?
We read the Confessions with wonder and
reverence. By all Mystics of a later age
St. Augustine has been looked up to as to a great
Master. But behind his life was another, as rich
in vital religion, and even in visions of the Lord,
the saintly Monica, whose tender, trustful prayers for
her son stir our hearts to tears. In that hour when
mother and son stood together " seeking between
themselves, in the presence of the Truth, of what
nature the eternal life of the saints would be," we
know that not St. Augustine alone but the Mother
Saint as truly as her son must be numbered with
the great Mystics. Together they passed into a very
ecstasy of joy so that " the very highest pleasure
of the carnal sense, and that in the very brightest
material light, seemed by reason of the sweetness
of that life not only not worthy of comparison,
but not even of mention, we lifting ourselves with
a more ardent affection towards ' the Self-same '
did gradually pass through all corporeal things,
and even the heaven itself, where sun, and moon,
and stars shine upon the earth ; yea, we soared
higher yet by inward musing and discoursing, and
admiring Thy works ; and we came to our own
minds and went beyond them, that we might
advance as high as that region of unfailing plenty,
where Thou feedest Israel for ever with the food of
truth, and where life is that Wisdom by whom all
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
these things are made, both which have been and
which are to come." The Mother shared the
experience, but the Son tells the vision.
We know of certain of the Mystics through their
writings, but behind the known, and often in closest
fellowship with them, were the unknown saints,
unknown and unnamed for the most part, who
shared the deeper faith and the fuller life. Every
great religious movement has had its prophets,
whose special gifts of leadership and of utterance
have brought them enduring fame, but behind them
has been the great company of the faithful, whose
fellowship of faith has made possible the prophet's
mission.

33

CHAPTER III
THE ABNORMAL IN MYSTICISM
The questions discussed in the last chapter are
of such vital importance to a true understanding of
Mysticism, that we must return to them again.
Unless we can come to some definite conclusion as
to the place and meaning for the Mystics themselves,
and for us, of the abnormal in their experience, we
shall fail to profit by our study of the subject
generally. For my own part I accept this statement :
" The downright ecstatics and hearers of voices
and seers of visions have all, wherever we are able
to trace their temperamental and neural constitu
tion and. history, possessed and developed a defi
nitely peculiar psycho-physical organisation " (The
Mystical Element of Religion, II., p. 42).
The discussion by Baron von Hugel of these psycho
physical and temperamental questions is most
illuminating. He speaks with the authority of
profound knowledge, and with the religious sympathy
of a devout Catholic.
I propose to ask this question : What do the
Mystics themselves say about their abnormal
33 c

Studies in Christian Mysticism
(i) In some cases they warn us against reading a
sensuous meaning into their accounts of voices and
visions. This may be best illustrated from The Life
of St. Teresa of Jesus, written by herself.
To St. Teresa " locutions " were an ordinary
occurrence in her life, and she discusses them very
fully. " A real locution " — she writes — " is nothing
else but a word uttered by one, and listened to by
another," and from which it is impossible to turn
away attention. " The words are very distinctly
formed ; but by the bodily ear they are not heard.
They are, however, much more clearly understood
than they would be if they were heard by the ear "
(p. 214). Then, as to visions, which also were of
frequent occurrence, she writes :
" I was in prayer one day, when I saw Christ
close by me, or, to speak more correctly, felt Him ;
for / saw nothing with the eyes of the body, nothing
with the eyes of the soul. He seemed to me to be
close beside me ; and I saw, too, as I believe, that
it was He who was speaking to me. The vision was
not imaginary ; I saw no form " (p. 233).
St. Teresa writes with great, even surprising
wisdom of these voices and visions, but the essential
matter is her clear knowledge that these were not
outward and sensuous, but inward and spiritual.
I believe she would have us interpret in the same
way all her special visitations, though she does not
always repeat her caution. Thus when she tells
34

The Abnormal in Mysticism
how, on one occasion, when holding in her hand the
Cross of her rosary, the Lord took it from her into
His own hand, and returned it, " but it was then
four large stones incomparably more precious than
diamonds, "[and so it always appeared to her from that
time. She adds : "I never saw the wood of which
it was made, but only the precious stones. They
were seen, however, by no one else — only by myself "
(p. 262). I take this last statement as giving the
key to the whole story. No one else would have
seen the transference of the Cross — the whole was in
the realm of spirit.
In contrast we may turn to the story she tells of
one whom she revered as a saint :
" A year before his death," she writes, " he
appeared to me, being far away. I knew he was
about to die, and so I sent him word to that effect,
when he was some leagues from here. When he
died, he appeared to me, and said that he was going
to his rest. I did not believe it. I spoke of it to
some persons, and within eight days came the news
that he was dead — or, to speak more correctly, he
had begun to live for evermore " (p. 244).
This story will not surprise those who are familiar
with the records of The Society for Psychical
Research. If we may read into the words " appeared
to me" their significance in similar stories, then we
may say that St. Teresa knew quite well what a
seeming objective vision was, and her clear denial of
35 C2

Studies in Christian Mysticism
any such objectivity, whether real or apparent, in her
religious experiences is the more significant.
(2) The Mystics affirm that all abnormal experi
ences must be severely tested. It is indeed a painful
side of our study of this subject to find how devout
souls were tortured by the fear that their voices and
visions might be of Satanic origin. " Satan very
quickly betrays himself," is St. Teresa's opinion,
but it was not the confident assurance of many
others. The decisive test in St. Teresa's experience she
declares to have been this : " The words formed by
the understanding effect nothing ; but, when our
Lord speaks, it is at once word and work " (p. 215).
It will be noticed that auto-suggestion was fully
recognised by St. Teresa as a possible source of
her locutions. It is in this direction that many
will turn for a full explanation of all these experiences.
But I cannot accept it as such. It leaves out of
account the essential element in the experience :
the overmastering sense of an authority not of self.
It begs the whole question of the reality of a Spiritual
World, and of God.
The spiritual guides and teachers of Mysticism
knew better, but just because they knew that there
was a Power, or Powers, not ourselves, they insisted
upon " trying the spirits, whether they be of God."
Walter Hilton (ob. 1396), whose Scale of Perfection
36

The Abnormal in Mysticism
ought to be read by all students of our subject,
urges this very searching test of all feelings and
voices and visions. What is their effect — do they
cause delight in themselves, and the longing for
their return, or do they make the soul more devout,
more fervent in prayer, more wise to think spiritual
thoughts, more full of love to God and love to
neighbour, and more lowly minded (pp. 14, 15) ?
So, too, in the matter of bodily penance, the
extremes of which have ever been the chief cause
of all manner of delusions, he urges discretion,
saying " the mean is the best " (p. 32).
(3) The argument can be carried a step further.
These experiences are not to be relied upon, not to be
sought, not even to be desired ; they are a hindrance,
not a help, to spiritual life.
This counsel is urged by Father Baker (1575 —
1641) with great force :
" As for extraordinary supernatural inspirations,
illuminations, apparitions, voices, conversations
with spirits, messages from heaven, etc., a spiritual
internal liver is forbidden to pretend to, or so much
as desire them ; yes, rather to pray against them,
lest he should abuse them to vanity and pride."
(Holy Wisdom, p. 72).
But it is to St. John of the Cross we must turn
for the most emphatic direction. (The quotations
are from his Ascent of Mount Carmel.) Writing of
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
sense perceptions of an extraordinary character, he
says :
" Though all these may happen to the bodily
senses in the way of God, we must never rely on
them, nor encourage them. Yea, rather we must
fly from them, without examining whether they be
good or evil " (p. 104).
Even of mental images and forms he says :
" The soul must not willingly accept them, nor rest
upon them " (p. 136). " He who shall now desire
to know anything by extraordinary supernatural
ways, implies a defect in God, as if He has not given
us enough when He gave us His only Son " (p. 186).
" One good work, or act of the will, wrought in
charity is more precious in the eyes of God than
that which all the visions and revelations of heaven
might effect. Many souls, to whom visions have
never come, are incomparably more advanced in the
way of perfection than others to whom many have
been given " (p. 195).
(4) So we reach our final conclusion. These abnor
mal experiences are not of the essence of Mysticism.
All that is vital is found apart from them. The
proof of this is found in the Mystics themselves.
Thomas a Kempis (1380 — 1471) has been classed
as a " half-mystic," and if, indeed, the perfect
Mystic is " one who relies upon the Inner Light
and shuts his eyes to facts, " we may rightly rejoice in
his imperfection. But Thomas a Kempis was a
religious Mystic, and was recognised as such by
38

The Abnormal in Mysticism
Mystics themselves. The Imitation was one of the
books which, according to St. Teresa's Constitutions,
every Prioress was bound to provide for her Convent.
Its author is a notable instance of Mysticism
freed from all confusion of voices and visions. True
he had three visions of a remarkable character, but
their character is clearly indicated. One sentence
in the story of each gives the key : " While he was
resting on his bed, behold ! " " One night he saw
himself in a dream seated with other students. . . . "
" He saw in the heavens. . . . And immediately
in his sleep he heard. ..." The Imitation is a
mystical guide. It has the faults of its age, or rather
the limitations of its time and place, but it has
spoken and 'will continue to speak to the devout in
all ages.
Ranking with the Imitation we place Theologia
Germanica, of which Luther wrote : " Next to the
Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath ever come
into my hands from which I have learnt more of
what God and Christ and Man and all things are."
To these I would add The Cloud of Unknowing — one
sentence from which gives us the very heart of
mystical teaching : "By love He may be gotten
and holden, but by thought or understanding
never." In these writings it is not in visions and
ecstasies that true religion is found, but in the
Kingdom within, the life with God and in God.
39

Studies in Christian Mysticism
This was the unwearying witness of Tauler, the
great preacher of the mystical way. To him the
religion of experience was all in all ; in his sermon
on the Feast of St. Augustine, under the text :
" Watch ye. therefore, because you know not what
hour your Lord will come," he sounds the deepest
note of Mysticism :
" This marriage, from which the Lord comes, is
in the very innermost parts of the soul, where the
Image of God is. The nearness of the soul to God,
and of God to the soul, the wonderful works God
does there, and the joy and delight which God has
there, are beyond all reason and understanding ;
although man himself knows nothing and feels
nothing thereof. But the men in whom God thus
(rejoices, and with whom He thus unites Himself,
are the men who have turned with all their hearts
: and all their desires to God, away from the world
and all creatures, and who ever desire to live only
unto Him."
But it is useless to press the argument further.
If to these names we add those of Walter Hilton
and Father Baker, whose clear testimony we have
already given, we have a band of Mystics, saintly,
wise, and richly endowed, whose combined witness
is conclusive.
The mystical experience, in its essence, is wholly
independent of any and every form of " ecstasy."
It is a spiritual quest, and a spiritual experience, the
quest of God, and the finding, say rather the being
found, oi Him. 40

The Abnormal in Mysticism
Every sincere Christian is a Mystic, and must be,
if his religion is not mere formalism. Men and
women, poor it may be in this world's riches, ignorant
of its wisdom, but " rich towards God," and wise
in faith, know in personal experience the peace, the
joy, the hope which the Mystics counted the supreme
good. I recall, in wonder and in reverence, the simple
faith, the clear vision, the abounding hope of a poor
man, almost blind, blind to the glory of this world
but seeing the unseen with eyes undimmed ; I
hear him again in prayer, how near God was to him,
how intimate their fellowship, what flights of
eloquence, what wealth of imagery, what child-
likeness of simple trust ! He was the one great
Mystic whom I have personally known. Would
that our Churches numbered more such saints !
They do number many in their ranks, and these, be
they few or many, are the salt of the Church, keeping
it still sweet and Christian.
, " The Church can never get rid of the mystic
spirit ;. nor should she attempt to do so, for it is,
in fact, her life. It is another name for Conscience,
for freedom, for the rights of the individual soul,
for the grace and privilege of direct access to the
Redeemer, for the presence of the Divine Spirit in
the heart " (Unity in Diversity, Dr. Bigg, p. 93).

41

CHAPTER IV
I THE MYSTIC WAY
The treatment of this subject in Miss Underbill's
Mysticism is very full. Considerably more than half
the book is devoted to it. Her reading has been
very wide, and her conclusion, which may be
accepted absolutely, is that " no one Mystic can be
discovered in whom all the observed characteristics
of the transcendental consciousness are resumed, and
who can on that account be treated as typical "
(p. 204). This fact is most significant. All the
observed characteristics are not essential, and our
aim must be to discover the common factors, the
underlying unity of experience.
The books of the Mystics were written for the
guidance and help of disciples. In some cases, the
authors tell the story of their own religious life,
how they found God. These mystical writings are
always the most interesting, though even these
require to be read with some reserve. An experience
is one thing, but the statement of an experience is
almost always coloured. Seldom is the narrative
contemporaneous with the experience. Reflection,
and the ruling purpose of edification, are apt to over
emphasise and even to distort simple facts.
42

The Mystic Way

In other cases mystical writings have been pre
pared as manuals of devotion, based, no doubt, upon
their author's experience, but written in more
general terms. These are open to the danger of
formalism. They frequently evidence the study of
earher writings, and are coloured by the accepted
" system " of their time. This was especially true
of the " Speculative " Mystics.
The influence of Plotinus was far reaching. It
entered into and dominated Christian thought for
many centuries, through the writings of the Pseudo-
Dionysius. Through this " anonymous, mysterious
man " the Neoplatonic philosophy " was brought
over into the Church, and became ' spiritual bee-
bread ' for many centuries " (Studies in Mysticism,
p. 98). Scholastic speculation coloured all mystical
writings. The religion of experience became syste-
matised, and only when the influence of Dionysius
ceased to control thought, did the imitation of
Christ, and the religion of His Apostles, become
again paramount.
If, then, we would enter into the inheritance of the
faith we must get behind and beneath this specula
tive element, and all formal " cataloguing of stages
of experience," to the common and essential religion .2
of experience.
The division of the religious life into three stages,
purgative, illuminative, unitive, is found in most of
43

Studies in Christian Mysticism
the mystical writers. The soul must be cleansed and
enlightened in order that it may be united with God.
The tendency to systematise is seen even in the
Theologia Germanica, where the " three stages by
which a man is led upwards till he attaineth true
perfection " are again sub-divided.
" The purification concerneth those who are
beginning or repenting, and is brought to pass in a
threefold wise : by contrition and sorrow for sin, by
full confession, by hearty amendment. The enlighten
ment belongeth to such as are growing, and also
taketh place in three ways : to wit, by the eschewal
of sin, by the practice of virtue and good works, and
by the willing endurance of all manner of temptation
and trials. The union belongeth to such as are
perfect, and also is brought to pass in three ways :
to wit, by pureness and singleness of heart, by love,
and by the contemplation of God, the Creator of all
things " (Ch. XIV.).
This sub-division is not followed, indeed it is not
found, in the edition which Luther used. The aim
of the author is really to simplify, rather than
systematise. He reduces all to the denial of self-will,
and the exercise of love. It is in " the self, the I,
the Me, the Mine, that is, self-seeking and selfish
ness," he finds the root of all evil. " If there were
no self-will there would be no Devil and no Hell."
The doing of the Will of God is life and joy — " I
would fain be to the Eternal Goodness what his own
hand is to a man." And this Will is ever and in all
44

The Mystic Way

things, Love. " Knowledge and light profit nothing
without Love."
The threefold division can thus be reduced to a
twofold : e.g., Mortification and Prayer, as was done
by many. I There must be detachment, the breaking
away from all lusts of the flesh, and attachment, the
fixing of the soul in goodness and in God.
Thus Eckhart in his sermon on Sanctification
says : —
" Ways of living are many ; one lives thus, and
another thus ; but whosoever will reach the
highest life, let him in a few words hear the conclu
sion of the whole matter : Keep thyself clear of all
men, keep thyself from all imaginations that crowd
upon the mind, free thyself from all that is contingent,
entangling, and cumbersome, and direct thy mind
always to gazing upon God in thy heart, with a
steadfast look that never wavers."
More helpful, I think, is the testimony of Gerson,
accepted and enforced by Molinos, in The Spiritual
Guide :
" Though I have spent forty years in reading and
prayer, yet I could never find any more effectual way
for attaining to Mystical Theology than that the
spirit should become as a young child or as a beggar
in the presence of God."
This brings our thought more into line with our
Christian Scriptures, which must be our best guide
in spiritual life. The turning away from all self-
trust and self-will, from all sin, and the turning to
45

Studies in Christian Mysticism
God in reverence and obedience and love, is the life
to which we are called. And this is one act of the
whole man ; an act not done " once for all," but
repeated over and over again, all through life, in
ever-deepening reality.
The " Scale " in Music is a natural division of
sound, but Music is found in harmony. So, in the
religious experience, while it is possible and useful
to speak of several notes, yet in actual experience,
these are blended, and it is the harmony which is
known. In mental philosophy it is useful to classify
the powers of mind, as reason, affection, will ; but in
every movement of the self, it is the whole self which
acts. So in religious experience, the great stages are
never isolated ; they run into one another, not
always in equal proportions, and in some measure
the soul is being cleansed, and enlightened, and
unified in every spiritual movement. It is the
recognition of this fact which gives to the Imitation
its pre-eminent place.
Human nature varies so much in every way that
it is quite impossible to lay down rules for uni
versal guidance. " The wind bloweth where it
listeth." " The city lieth four-square " with gates
on every side, and — may we not add ? — with paths
innumerable leading to them. " There are as many
ways to Heaven as there are blades of grass pointing
upwards." 46

The Mystic Way

It is good, therefore, to find that there are Mystical
Guides who do not insist upon all treading one path.
Thus Father Baker writes : —
" The instructor's office is not to teach his own
way nor indeed any determined way of prayer, etc.,
but to instruct his disciples how they may them
selves find out the way proper for them." (Holy
Wisdom, p. 85). " Such is the inexplicable variety
of internal dispositions that the same course and
order in all things will scarce save any two souls "
(p. 88).
In The Scale of Perfection, which would well repay
fuller examination in this connection, Walter Hilton
says : —
" Not that I would by these discourses limit God's
working by the law of my speaking, as to say that
God worketh thus in a soul and no otherwise. No,
I mean not so, but I speak after my simple feeling
that our Lord worketh thus in some creatures as I
conceive. And I hope well also that He worketh
otherwise, which passeth my wit and my feeling "
(P- 235)-
The same spirit is found in Richard Rolle (1300 —
1349), " the earliest in time of our famous English
Mystics." (\After giving a form of words to hold in
thought at all times — he adds : )
" Or if thou hast other thoughts, that thou hast
more sweetness in and devotion than in those that
I teach thee, thou may'st think them. For I hope
that God will put such thoughts in thine heart as
47

/

Studies in . Christian Mysticism
He is pleased with^and as thou art ordained for "
(The Form of Perfect Living, p. 45).
The lowly spirit of these early English Mystics is
very marked. There is no trace of mere personal
authority or dictatorship in their writings. It is as
" fellow-helpers to the truth " they desire to be
received. "If it do thee good and profit to thee,
thank God, and pray for me " (The Form of Perfect
Living, p. 79). It is quite possible, therefore, to
make too much of these formal divisions. They are
important, but should be used to help and not fetter
the spiritual life. The better way, however, is to
try to get at the very heart of mystic experience, and
of this we are never left in doubt. With one voice
all the Religious Mystics set forth " Love " as the
crown of perfection, the fruition of all beatitude,
" God is love ; and he that abideth in love abideth
in God, and God abideth in him."
To understand and interpret aright this great
truth of God's essential character, and of the soul's
fellowship with God, is the highest wisdom. Mystical
Theology has been named " the science of love, by
which the divine verities are not only learned, but
at the same time are relished also." This is the
definition of St. John of the Cross in his Spiritual
Canticle of The Soul and The Bridegroom Christ,
which, as its title indicates, is based upon " The Song
of Solomon." This love song has been, and is still,
48

The Mystic Way
very dear to the heart of saintly men and women, and
it has coloured, in some cases almost dominated, the
writings of some Mystics, to their hurt, and our
distaste. It is always a satisfaction to find this
symbol ignored. For even St. John of the Cross
does not wholly escape extravagances. Thus he
writes : " An instant of pure love is more precious
in the eyes of God and the Soul, and more profitable
to the Church, than all other good works together "
(p. 223). We turn with satisfaction from this
thought to the words of a greater St. John : " This
is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."
Love active, expressed in service, is surely more than
love inactive, absorbed in its own rapture.
Our own English Mystic, Richard Rolle, has
in glowing words described What Love is and
works :
" Love is a burning yearning after God, with a
wonderful delight and certainty."
" Love is a life, joining together the loving and the
loved." " Love makes us one with God. Love is the
beauty of all virtues."
" Love is a stirring of the soul for to love God for
Himself, and all other things for God."
" Truth may be without love ; but it cannot help
without it. Love is a perfection of learning, virtue
of prophecy, fruit of truth, help of sacraments,
establishing of wit and knowledge ; riches of pure
men ; life of dying men " (The Form of Perfect
Living, pp. 55—57)- 49 D

Studies in Christian Mysticism
Here, then, is the harmony of the three notes of
the Mystic Scale— for love at once purifies, illumines,
and unites the soul to God. It is " the expulsive
power of a new affection," which drives out all
unrighteousness. This is the essential Gospel : it
is " the goodness of God which leadeth to repen
tance." This way of true holiness is definitely
taught by Spiritual Guides ; but it is implied in
their reverence of " The Sacred Humanity," and
their insistent requirement of meditation upon the
Life and the Passion of Jesus Christ.
Here, again, I quote from Richard Rolle, though I
have other references before me. He writes :
" If thou wilt be well with God, and have grace to
rule thy life, and come to the joy of love : this name
Jesus, fasten it so fast in thy heart that it come never
out of thy thought. ... If thou thinkest Jesus
continually, and holdest it firmly, it purges thy sin,
and kindles thine heart ; it clarifies thy soul, it
removes anger and does away slowness. ... It
opens heaven, and makes a contemplative man "
(The Form of Perfect Living, p. 53).
This, then, as I read the story, is the message of
the Mystics to all who would enter into their secret
peace and joy — they bid us think, and meditate, and
pray. They tell us that the Great Reality, God, is
known in silence ; that His Holy Place is in the soul,
and that to get alone with God is the way of life.
They bid us hold before the mind the Jesus of the
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The Mystic Way

Gospel story, if we would know, in truth, the mind
and will of God, the Love whichGod is. This " free
dom of the will," at least, we have : we can hold
Jesus before the mind and prolong the consideration
of Him . How truth is vitalised is God's secret . ' ' Man
cannot without God ; God may not without man."
The Mystics divide life into two — the Active, and
the Contemplative, and their books were written, for
the most part, for the guidance of Contemplatives.
To withdraw themselves from all secular life, and ,
even from the office of the Priesthood, seemed good
and wise to them. We need not discuss their duties,
enough that we know and do our own. But this
must be said — it is not to Contemplatives alone that
the mystic experience belongs. Jesus Himself lived
the " Active " life. The great missionary Apostle
was no " Contemplative," and shall we say that
St. Paul did not attain to the " Unitive " Life ?
" Not that I have already obtained, or am already
made perfect : but I press on " — that is the true
Christian Perfection, in this life certainly — the per
fection of unceasing endeavour. There are, and
must be, degrees of attainment, but the measure of
this is not in visible expression, but in inward
purpose, in love, and the truth holds still : " much
forgiveness, much love."
But the law abides : without " contemplation "
there can be no spiritual progress, and no depth and
51 D2

Studies in Christian Mysticism
warmth of religious experience. Here, for us, is the
opening of the mystic way. We must find time for
quiet thought. The need for this is well known and
often spoken of. We are so pre-occupied, " lost
among the stuff " of life. Business and politics and
pleasures fill life to overflowing. Even the Church
can find no place for Prayer. Organisations are
innumerable, and what with running these, and run
ning here and everywhere to fulfil engagements, even
our spiritual leaders have scarce time left for true
meditation. " Clergymen are often tempted by the
devil to turn their meditation into a work of sermon-
making " (Ara Coeli, p. 72, note).
Yet it is to the ministers of the Churches, our
preachers and teachers, we look for leadership in
this movement, and that they may lead, they must
set the example of serious devotion. The true note
of Mysticism must be heard in their sermons. Out
of a deepened hfe they alone can hope to quicken the
deeper life in others. Not by exhortation however
earnest, nor by exposition however lucid, will they
lead their people along the mystic way, but by them
selves entering therein. Only as they see the Vision
of God can they reveal it. Only as they themselves
are purified and illumined and made one with God
will they draw their hearers into His Presence and
kindle the fire that flames forth in prayer and faith,
and glows in works of holy love.
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The Mystic Way

In all the Churches there are faithful men and
women who earnestly desire for themselves and for
the whole Church a revival of spiritual religion, and
who are looking to their spiritual Leaders with
wistful eyes to lead them into the larger life of fuller
faith and richer experience.

53

CHAPTER V
MYSTICAL THEOLOGY
Is the mystical consciousness limited to the
verifying and vitalising of truth already received,
or are new revelations given ? The importance of
this question cannot well be over-estimated.
It is the common confession of all saintly souls
that goodness is ever and always of God, " the
fruit of the Spirit." It is in this sense we are to
interpret the oft-quoted and usually misunderstood
phrase in the General Confession : " There is no
i health in us," i.e., there is no self-healing, no
healing power in and of ourselves.
"And every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are His alone."
' Even so also is it of Truth. All knowledge is a
communication of the Divine Mind. In the realms
of Science itself there is no " logic of discovery."
New ideas are given to thought, rather than won
by thinking.
What is told us of Herbert Spencer is of great
interest in this connection. 54

Mystical Theology
" His inactive disposition recoiled from the notion
of wrestling with a problem in an attempt to solve
it. Whenever he was confronted with a problem
whose solution was not obvious to him he would
push it aside, and abandon all conscious effort to
solve it. But the matter would not usually be
entirely lost sight of ; it would stick in the back
of his mind, and by and by, very likely while
thinking of something else, a little inward flash
would occur, rendering the solution somewhat less
obscure than it was before. With the lapse of
time other flashes would follow ; and after several
years, maybe, the solution of that problem would
be set forth with the marvellous lucidity that
Spencer commanded, as an integral portion of his
system of philosophy " (Letters of J. S. Mill, Intro.
p. xxviii).

This, we shall be told, is the working of the
sub-conscious self. But this only puts the problem
further back. A name is not an explanation,
though it too often ranks as such. At the sight
of some new wonder we exclaim " Manna ! " — ¦
What is it ? — and are satisfied that we know.
Intuition, insight, uprushes of clear thought are
known to us all, but their secret springs are hidden
from us. Truth flashes upon the mind, comes as
a surprise, not unfrequently as an unwelcome
surprise, conflicting with prejudices and cherished
beliefs. In our moral judgments this is a constant
experience. Duty appeals to us, not as self-
selected, but as commanded, and with a personal
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
emphasis as of another and higher Self — " Ye have
not chosen Me, but I have chosen you."
In this wider .sense, Mysticism enters into the
whole of life. There is a mystical element in all
moral judgments, and in all intellectual apprehen
sions of truth. The Divine Spirit quickens all
human powers, thought, feeling, will. But our
concern now is with Christian Mysticism, as imme
diate, conscious communion with God in and
through Christ, and, for this religious experience,
belief that God is, and knowledge of the historic
Jesus, are essential conditions.
In this experience the vital element is the sense
of God's Presence, a sense varying, indeed, in
degree, from an arresting sense of a Personal Will
other and higher than our own, to the full rapture of
holy love. In this mystic consciousness the impres
sion is not that of new truth, but of the supreme
value of all truth, and the august authority of all
righteousness. The great ends of life receive
Divine Sanction, and all motives are resolved into
the Will of God. The thoughts of the heart are
cleansed, and the soul's vision of religious truth,
in its moral significance, is enlarged and strengthened.
In so far, then, as religious insight is dependent
upon character, the mystical experience, by en
riching character does also enrich the knowledge
| of truth, but it is ever of truth as life. Communion
56

Mystical Theology
with God is the inspiration of spiritual life, not'1
the strengthening of the reasoning faculties. The ¦
mystical consciousness provides the dynamic of
faith, not the skill of the logician. While, then, '
there is no " Mystic-Creed " as such, yet there are j
important truths which are known in fuller, richer i
measure by the Mystics, and which are enforced \
by them in all their writings.
Limiting our consideration of Mysticism to its
religious and Christian phase, we shall find that two
great subjects of thought stand out pre-eminently :
God, and the Soul, in their essential moral nature,
and in their relation to one another. If the witness '
of the Mystics is indeed true, and man can come
into direct, conscious communion with God, this fact
alone must have deep significance.
Speculative Mysticism finds its delight in this
theme, and has not escaped the errors of Pantheism,
in its doctrine of God ; and Deification, in its
conception of man. But this speculative philosophy
is not integral to Religious Mysticism. Were these
high realms of thought to be climbed by all who
would attain to " perfection," then must hopeless
despair paralyse endeavour for most of us. What
has been said of one, is true in measure of all Philoso
phic Mystics : "It seems as if in ascending Plotinus
had drawn up the ladder after him, and left himself
no possibility of descending again" (Caird's Evolution
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
of Theology in the Greek Philosophers, p. 253).
Certainly there is no ladder left by which simple
souls may ascend. It was only as Mysticism
became emancipated from Neo-Platonism, and
from Scholasticism, and returned to the earliest
sources of Christian thought and life, that it is
: seen as a simple, yet practical, religion of experience,
: the life " hid with Christ in God."
And this life is not exceptional, abnormal, but
life in its fulness and joy, only to be understood
as it is known, and never able to be explained or
adequately expressed.
" What this opening of the spiritual eye is, the
greatest scholar on earth cannot imagine by his
wit nor show fully by his tongue ; for it cannot be
gotten by study, nor by man's industry alone, but
principally by grace of the Holy Ghost, and with
human industry " (The Scale of Perfection, p. 273).
Accepting this limitation we may consider the
two great truths underlying the soul's vital
experience of God.
(1) Of God. — The testimony of the Mystics as to
the nature of God can be summed up in the two
great sayings : " God is Spirit " ; " God is Love."
How these are known must be evident from the very
nature of the religious experience. God is known
in direct fellowship with the soul, known, that is,
as Spirit, by the spirit which man is. God is known
as Love, by the love which alone brings the soul
58

Mystical Theology
into fellowship with Him, and by the Grace of
Condescension which makes such fellowship with
sinful man possible.
It would be easy to find in the writings of all the
Christian Mystics glowing sentences in which these
truths of God are declared. I have already given
some extracts enforcing the human side of this
truth — that love alone knows God. The ground of
this love is seen in God Himself. " Contemplation
is a wonderful joy of God's love " (Rolle). God is
" The Living Fountain of Goodness " (Catherine of
Genoa). Richard of St. Victor writes thus :
" In this state a man's soul feeleth God so sweet, so
merciful, so good, so courteous, so true, and so kind,
so faithful, so lovely, and so homely, that he leaveth
nothing in him that he offereth not it clearly, freely,
and homely unto Him " (The Cell of Self-knowledge,
p. n).
Such joy in God, so rich and full, can only be in
God as Love. Reference has already been made
to the danger of so pressing the love-symbols of
Marriage, and of the Bride and Bridegroom, as to
repel, rather than inspire devotion. There is a
corresponding danger of thinking and speaking of
Divine Love as weak and sentimental. But deep
religious experience saves from this error.
The vision of God brings true self-knowledge.
This is emphasised by many of the Mystics. Thus,
Richard of St. Victor writes :
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
" When a soul, by the grace of God and long
travail, is come to feeling of ghostly joy in God,
then it feeleth that sin hath been the cause of the
delaying thereof" (p. 22). "When thou feelest
continually thine heart desire after the love of God,
then, by the light of His grace that He sendeth in
thy reason, thou mayest see both thine own un-
worthiness and His great goodness " (p. 30).
Further evidence of this truth is found in the
stern rebukes of " the sin of presumption," and of
all spiritual pride and self-righteousness, and in the
demand for humility before God, in which all
Mystical Guides unite. To claim any good as of
self " toucheth God in His honour." This is the
spirit throughout of the Theologia Germanica, and
of the Imitation. Indeed the grace of humility is
pressed so urgently, that it has seemed to some an
unmanning of the self, a self-abasement altogether
too abject.
But this is to do these great souls grave injustice,
and to miss altogether the deep significance of their
teaching. It is the intense, even passionate realisa
tion of the Love of God, which inspires and compels
humility before God. All must be read in the
spirit of a prayer so tender and trustful as this :
" Blessed be Thou my God ; for although I be
unworthy of any benefits : yet Thy nobleness and
infinite kindness never ceases to do good even to the
ungrateful and to those who are turned away far
from Thee. Turn Thou us unto Thee, that we may
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Mystical Theology
be thankful, humble and devout ; for Thou art our
salvation, our courage and our strength " (Imitation,
Bk. IV, Ch. VIII.).
One further testimony must be given, and again
from one of our own English Mystics. Amongst
the re-issues of the books of the Mystics, that of the
Revelation of Divine Love, Recorded by Julian,
Anchoress at Norwich, A.D. 1373, is especially
welcome. Little is known of the outer life of
the Lady Julian. She speaks of herself as "a
simple creature, that cowde no letter " (unskilled
in letters), and if we are to understand that she was
an uneducated woman, then she is a truly remark
able illustration of " the genius " to which reference
has previously been made. She certainly was a
literary genius, with a rare gift of expression. Her
Revelation is the story of the Answers to her three
desires, and especially to the third, which she tells
us was " a mighty desire to receive three wounds
in my life : that is to say, the wound of very con
trition, the wound of kind compassion, and the
wound of steadfast longing towards God " (p. 5).
Her vision of the Love which God is was that of
Fatherhood, and even more remarkable, of Mother
hood. " As verily as God is our Father, so verily God is
our Mother ; and that showed He in all, and
especially in these sweet words where He saith :
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
I it am. That is to say, I it am, the Might and
the Goodness of the Fatherhood ; I it am, the
Wisdom of the Motherhood ; I it am, the Light
and the Grace that is all blessed Love ; I it am, the
Trinity ; I it am, the Unity : I am the sovereign
Goodness of all manner of things. I am that
maketh thee to love : I am that maketh thee to
long : I it am, the endless fulfilling of ah true
desires " (p. 147).
One other passage must be given, the closing one
of her book :
" And I saw full surely that ere God made us
He loved us ; which love was never slacked, nor
ever shall be. And in this love He hath done all
His works ; and in this love He hath made all
things profitable to us ; and in this love our life
is everlasting. In our making we had beginning ;
but the love wherein He made us was in Him from
without beginning : in which love we have our
beginning. And all this shall we see in God,
without end " (p. 203).
What the vision meant to the Lady Julian is
seen, I think, in this hope, in the expression of
which she anticipates the faith which holds the
heart of many in our day, and which is grounded in
the vision of the Holy Love of God : " Thus I
understood that all His blessed children which be
come out of Him by Nature shall be brought again
into Him by Grace " (p. 159).
(2) Of the Soul. — If the vision of God brings with
it true self-knowledge, " beholding His greatness we
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Mystical Theology
are struck by our own baseness, His purity shows
our foulness, and by meditating on His humility we
find how very far we are from being humble "
(The Interior Castle, p. 18), yet this self-abasement
is but one result. True self-exaltation also follows,
for the worth and dignity of the soul are revealed.
The soul that is of worth to God must also be of
worth to itself, and the measure of God's regard
declares that worth.
The discovery of God's Presence in the Soul is
the mystic secret. " Why do I pray that Thou
shouldest enter into me, seeing that I also am ?
For I should not be, if Thou wert not in me " — so
St. Augustine writes. It is the re-discovery of the
Apostolic faith : "Ye are a sanctuary of God ;
and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." The
doctrine of the Immanence of God is taught by all
Mystics. In Philosophic Mysticism this essential
truth passes almost if not wholly into Pantheism,
but in Religious Mysticism it is a truth of experience.
Eckhart, in whom the speculative and deeply
religious elements were remarkably combined, in
his sermon on " The Nearness of the Kingdom,"
says : " I am as sure as I live that nothing is so
near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I
am to myself ; my existence depends on the nearness
and presence of God," and to know this nearness of
God is our happiness. In another sermon he;
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
declares : " There is a somewhat in the soul that
is, as it were, a blood relative of God."
Tauler speaks of " the unseen depths of the
spirit where lies the image of God," and declares :
" He is much nearer than anything is to itself in the
depths of the heart."
Rusybroeck taught that " the soul finds God in
its own depths." St. John of the Cross wrote :
" In every soul, even that of the greatest sinner in
the world, God dwells, and is substantially present."
It is unnecessary to press the matter further.
Freed from philosophic terms and scholastic specula
tion, the truth of Mysticism is the simple yet
profound truth of Scripture. Man is the Image,
the Offspring, the Son of God, and to restore and
perfect the lost image, and to draw back the
wandering sons to the Father is the place and power
of Christ. "Thou hast made us for Thyself, and
our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee."
" The direct access of the soul to God — the direct
access of God to the soul," this, which has been
declared to be " the ultimate principle of Protes
tantism," is the first-hand experience of the Religious
Mystics. To them this was no mere " principle " —
it was the life of their life. For them, conversion
was in truth " the solitary disclosure of God to the
Soul." Enough has not been made of this experience,
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Mystical Theology
which is by no means limited to the past. It is a
vital experience to-day, though far less notably so
than all devout souls wish. I press the point :
Conversion is essentially mystical, and true Mysti
cism is found in every genuine conversion.
The author of Mysticism, as it appears to me, has
a very inadequate idea of what the Evangelical
Churches, at least, mean by conversion. She
defines " religious conversion as ordinarily under
stood " thus : " the sudden and emotional accept
ance of theological beliefs which the self had
previously either rejected or treated as conventions
dwelling upon the margin of consciousness and
having no meaning for her actual life " (p. 213).
As known to many of us, conversion is not
necessarily sudden, and it is always moral. It is
often an epitome of the " Mystic Way." There
is a gradual detachment from old ways, a greater
thoughtfulness, with times of serious self-questioning.
The thought of God and of His Will becomes
persistent. Memories of Christ are revived. Often
there is severe inward conflict, the sense of past
wrong-doing, and the secret longing for deliverance.
At last light breaks, God speaks, and the will is
yielded to His obedience, and in that experience God
is known, His Presence is a reality, and life is
changed. This experience is repeated upon higher planes
65 E

Studies in Christian Mysticism
of life and thought. Now the turning away is
from the pride of intellect, or from self-satisfaction
in spiritual things. The Vision of Christ is fuller,
deeper. The contemplation of God is more profound.
God and the soul, the soul and God, ever in closer
fellowship, in living, personal union, knowing and
known — this is the mystic consciousness.

66

CHAPTER VI
THE SEAT OF AUTHORITY
The great truths of Mysticism are, as we have
seen, two, of God, and of the soul. Other truths
are discussed by the Mystics, and many startling
theories are propounded — doctrines of Sin, of the
Soul's essential nature and destiny, of the nature
of God Himself, and of the Universe. But these
do not arise necessarily out of, or belong essentially
to, the religious experience. They belong to the
speculative element in Mysticism. The Divine in
Man, and the Human in God, the true kinship of
man and God, the discovery of and communion with
God in the secret life within — this it is which is
given in religious experience.
Out of this experience arises the doctrine of the
" Inner Light," its reality and its authority. Here
we touch the danger zone of Mysticism. To many
it has seemed that Mysticism is but another name
for " Subjectivism." In the very measure of the
brightness of the " Inner Light " must be the
impulse to reject all external aids to, and authority
in, matters of faith. The strong emphasis which is
laid upon humility is not without its special need.
67 E 2

Studies in Christian Mysticism
The testimony of experience is that God dwells
" with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit."
This danger has been strongly emphasised by
Herrmann in his deeply religious book : The
Communion of the Christian with God. To him the
piety of Mysticism is :
" When the influence of God upon the soul is
sought and found solely in an inward experience of
the individual ; when certain excitements of the
emotions are taken, with no further question, as
evidence that the soul is possessed by God ; when,
at the same time, nothing external to the soul
is consciously and clearly perceived and firmly
grasped." I have emphasised the qualifying words upon
which the whole of his assumption rests. He grants
all for which we contend when he says : " The
Mystic seeks God in his own inner life. In this he
' is indeed not altogether wrong. For we never find
God until He rules in our inner life." But Herr
mann will not admit that this is Mysticism in and
of itself ; to complete the idea there must be the
minimising, even to rejection, of all external
authority. Hence he can say : " Mysticism is not
that which is common to all religion, but a particular
species of religion, namely, a piety which feels that
which is historical in the positive religion to be
burdensome and so rejects it." In his earnest
desire to exalt the historical Person of Jesus,
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The Seat of Authority
he seems to go to the opposite extreme and to
deny to experimental religion its true place and
power. What are the facts ? Do the Christian Mystics
limit all Divine Revelation to the " Inner Light,"
rejecting all historical religion, and refusing guidance
from external sources ? Were this the case then it
would be no wonder that devout men should leave
the Mystics severely alone. Wesley's well-known
objection to the mystical writers is based largely
upon this misunderstanding. " I think," he wrote
in 1736, " the rock on which I had the nearest made
shipwreck of the faith was the writings of the Mystics
— under which term I comprehend all, and only
those, who slight any of the means of grace " (Life
and Times of Wesley, Vol. I . , p. 133) . His own mystic
experience, " second conversion " it is often named,
two years later, when for the first time he experi
enced religion in its fulness of conviction and of
joy, ought to have changed his attitude ; but so
late as 1764 he returned to the attack. After
reading a Defence of the Mystic Writers he formulated
his objections : to their sentiments — their spirit —
and their whole phraseology. We can only con
clude that Wesley's acquaintance with the Mystics
was very limited. It is evident that Jacob Boehme
is most in his mind, for he concludes : "St. John
speaks as high and as deep things as Jacob Behmen.
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
Why then does not Jacob speak as plain as he ? "
(Vol. II., p. 521.)
For the understanding of the subject before us,
two considerations must be held in mind. First,
that there is no pure, unmixed experience, unin
fluenced by anything outside itself, just as there is
no self-realisation except under the influence of
other selves. Second— that all vital knowledge of
God must be direct Self-revelation, not otherwise
can it carry conviction as of God. In the final
issue the seat of Authority, for each soul for itself,
must be within. No outer revelation can be received
unless it is authenticated within, and, unless received
within, it must remain inoperative.
" All the great works and wonders that God has
ever wrought or shall ever work in or through the
creatures, or even God Himself with all His good
ness, so far as these things exist or are done outside
of me, can never make me blessed, but only in so
far as they exist and are done and loved, known,
tasted and felt within me " (Theologia Germanica,
p. 28).
It is a simple truism to say that we receive only
< what we can receive. Every nature is the measure
of its own receptivity. This is not to make the
individual the measure of the truth, but he is his
¦ own measure as to what of truth he can receive.
There must be "an inner witness " if any external
voice is to carry conviction. The Word of God Him-
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The Seat of Authority
self, whether as contained in the Bible, or as spoken
by living voices, must speak to this " inner witness "
if it is to be verily God's Word. This truth the
Prophets knew. They spoke with conviction, out
of their own souls, hoping to evoke, not override,
the moral sense of their hearers. " Come now let
us reason together " — is the Divine note. So our
Lord Himself appealed to those whom He addressed.
" How think ye — What think ye — Why of your
selves judge ye not what is right."
The true relation of the outward and inward
voices has been clearly stated by Coleridge :
" As much of reality, as much of objective truth,
as the Scriptures communicate to the subjective
experiences of the Believer, so much of present life,
of living and effective import do these experiences
give to the letter of the Scriptures. In the one, the
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
have received the spirit of adoption ; in the other
our spirit bears witness to the power of the Word,
that it is indeed the Spirit that proceedeth from'
God" (Confessions — Letter VII.).
We return to our question — What are the facts ?
Do the Mystics as such " slight the means of grace " ?
(i) They were devout and loyal sons and daughters
of their Church, fulfilling all her rites, and sub
jecting themselves in all outward duties to her
discipline. This is the surprising fact. We expect
to find a breaking away from formal religion coire-
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
sponding to the inward realisation of vital, personal
religion. It was not so. No doubt there are
exceptions. There are extravagances of Mysticism,
and something worse. But, speaking generally,
the great Mystics of the Middle Ages did not depre
ciate external obligations or disregard the doctrines
of their Church. Holding the essential Protestant
faith of direct personal fellowship with God, they
were in no sense " Protestants."
There is no need to adduce evidence. Indeed
the fact that mystical writings are so permeated
with Roman Catholic ideas and rites has proved a
stumbling-block in the way of their appreciation
by the devout of other Churches. The enlargement
of ideas and widening of sympathies which is in
process, and which, in part at least, accounts for
the new awakening of interest in Mysticism, will
minimise this objection.
But this must be said — these outward forms of
religion are not essential elements in Mysticism.
The proof of this is seen in The Society of
Friends :
" A religious body which has made a serious
attempt to unite inward, mystical religion with
active, social endeavours, and to maintain a religious
fellowship without a rigid ecclesiastical system, and
with large scope for personal initiative, immediate
revelation and individual responsibility " (Studies
in Mystical Religion, p. xxxviii.). 72

The Seat of Authority
(2) Mystics recognise the need for the correction
of individual experience by external authority. No
man may be a law to himself, in thought or in action.
No life is alone. Comparison is necessary, and truth
gains added force as it is seen working in other lives.
In the Life of St. Teresa it is told again and again
how eagerly she sought guidance, and submitted her
experience to the judgment of others. And for
" her children " she insists that while " experience
is necessary throughout, so also is a spiritual
Director." For herself she welcomed most those
who were " timid about these things," and to them
she " laid bare her secrets with the greater joy."
" I hold all truth in suspicion which the authority
of the Scriptures does not confirm," writes Richard
of St. Victor. Telling of the three means that bring
a soul to contemplation, Walter Hilton includes
" reading of Holy Scripture and good books."
One of the joys of the contemplative life, he says, is
" to see Jesus in the Scriptures after the opening of
the spiritual eye."
It is, I think, in the writings of St. John of the
Cross, who might be cited as one of the most exclu
sive and self-centred of the Mystics, that the need
of f ellowship with others in the faith is most strikingly
taught. Quoting a well-known passage, he writes,
paraphrasing the thought :
" Where two or three meet together, to consider
what is for the greater glory and honour of My
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
name, there am I in the midst of them, enlightening
them, and confirming the truths of God in their
hearts. Remember, He does not say : Where one
is, but where two are, at the least. He would have
us know that it is not His will that anyone should,
trusting to himself, rely on the divine communica
tions ; and that He will not establish us therein
without the authority and direction of the Church
or His Ministers. God will not enlighten him who
is alone, nor confirm the truth in his heart : such
an one will be weak and cold " (The Ascent of Mount
Carmel, p. 189).
(3) The place of Jesus Christ in mystical experi
ence. In view of the criticism of Herrmann, and
of his express statement that the Mystic in finding
God " has left Christ behind," the question of the
relation of Christ to mystical experience is supremely
important. In Christ we have the Highest
Authority, and for any religious experience which is
to be called Christian His place must be pre
eminent. Here, again, we turn to the words of the Mystics
themselves. St. John of the Cross writes :
" We must abide in the teaching of Christ, all
beside is nothing, and not to be believed, unless it
be in harmony therewith " (The Ascent of Mount
Carmel, p. 186). " God hath now so spoken, that
nothing remains unspoken ; for that which He
partially revealed to the prophets He hath now
revealed wholly in Him, giving unto us all, that is,
His Son " (p. 184). " If thou desirest to learn of
God secret things, fix thine eyes upon Christ, and
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The Seat of Authority
thou wilt find the profoundest mysteries, the wisdom
and marvels of God, hidden in Him " (p. 185).
Even Eckhart, " who more than any other of the
German Mystics gives himself to abstract specula
tion," has this direction : "If the Divine Nature be
beyond your comprehension, believe simply on
Christ ; follow His holy example, and remain
steadfast." And for himself, he says :
" If I should remain entombed in flesh till the
judgment day and suffer the pains of hell, that would
be for me a small thing to bear for my beloved Lord
Jesus Christ, if I had the certainty at last of not
being separated from Him. While I am here, He
is in me ; after this hfe, I am in Him. All things
are therefore possible to me, if I am united to Him
who can do all things " (Sermons, p. 37).
The testimony given under these three heads
might be added to almost indefinitely, but what has
been given will, I think, suffice to justify the asser
tion that Christian Mysticism does not include the
rejection or the depreciation of external religion.
The mystic experience is of a deep and vital spiritual
life, the discovery of God within, and the communion
of the Soul with God, a knowledge of God and com
munion with God as revealed in and through Jesus
Christ, so that the Gospel Story is bound up in
separably with the religious experience.
Nor must we omit from thought the natural
fellowship of kindred minds which instinctively
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
draws into close sympathy those who share the
same experience. There is abundant evidence that
the Mystics, generally, read and carefully studied
the writings of those who had lived the life before
them, and even in the few cases where there is little
evidence of this, yet the very fact that these secluded
Mystics should have recorded their experience shows
that they were not mere isolated units — they wrote
for the guidance of those who they knew desired
their help. In this fellowship one with another we
seem to be witnessing the re-birth of the great
Christian faith of " The Communion of Saints."
Indeed, whatever their own Church life, the devout
Mystics reveal, and sometimes even consciously
realise, that in this fellowship of spiritual life is the
true Unity of the Body of Christ. And this is our
hope for our own day. More and more is it seen
that outward uniformity and intellectual agreement
cannot be looked for. It is for " the Unity of the
Spirit " we pray. And this unity already exists
among all those who have discovered God in their
souls and are dealing directly with Him.

76

CHAPTER VII
MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION
The distinction between Mysticism considered as
a vital rehgious experience and Mysticism as a
principle of interpretation is of the greatest import
ance. There is a certain fascination in a thorough
going doctrine of Symbolism, and most of all when,
to the seeing eye, " all things are full of God."
The Nature Symbolism of our great Poets is beautiful
and helpful. The tender reverence for Nature of
St. Francis of Assisi, who could speak of " my little
sisters the birds," is delightful. The Lady Julian
wrote : " After this I saw God in a Point, that is to
say in mine understanding — by which sight I saw
that He is in all things." Even the author of
Theologia Germanica can say : " The creatures are a
guide and a path unto God and Eternity. This
world is an outer court of Eternity." There is,
however, one essential condition of this vision of
God in all things : the spiritual eye must be opened,
God must be known first of all within, in the soul
itself, not otherwise will He be found in Nature.
This is ever the witness of Rehgious Mysticism.
This principle is of special force in the interpreta-
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
tion of Scripture. To the soul that knows God and
waits upon His Word, symbols of His thought are
found everywhere ; all Holy Scripture is full of God.
But it is quite possible to hold a doctrine of interpre
tation, and to be able to elaborate and apply its
rules, without any first-hand knowledge of God
Himself. There is a danger of Mysticism degenerat
ing into mere Symbolism, and delight in mystic
meanings taking the place of religious experience.
Indeed not a little of the " spiritual interpretation
of Scripture " has been prompted by the exigencies
of Apologetics, rather than by the insight of
experience. This is true, in great measure, of Origen, the
prince of Allegorists. His was the serious task of
meeting opponents, and refuting their objections to
the Hebrew Scriptures as of Divine origin and
i authority. He laid down the doctrine that " as
man consists of body and soul and spirit, so in the
same way does Scripture," which has a literal, a
moral, and a mystical significance. In his Homilies
on Exodus he declares that " not one iota or one
tittle is without mysteries." All is precious— every
minute detail, incident, turn of expression, name,
number. " For those who can understand " there
is a spiritual sense in everything. Some passages,
he held, " do not at all contain the corporeal sense."
In illustration, he instances the vessels of water for
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Mystical Interpretation
purification, containing two or three firkins apiece—
"darkly intimating that the Jews are purified by
the word of Scripture, receiving sometimes two
firkins, i.e., so to speak, the ' psychical ' and
' spiritual ' sense ; and sometimes three firkins,
since some have in addition to those already men
tioned also the ' corporeal ' sense, which is capable
of edification."
Origen finds the justification of his method in the
writings of St. Paul, and no doubt the Apostle's
Rabbinical training does colour his thought at times,
though in his Epistles allegory holds a very sub
ordinate place. It is but " the turn of a metaphor,
or the character of an illustration, or the form of an
argument," and can hardly be used in support of a
thorough-going system of allegorical interpretation.
" The object of the Spirit," so Origen believed, was
the enumeration " of ineffable mysteries," in order
that " he who is capable of instruction may by
investigation, and by devoting himself to the study
of the profundities of meaning contained in the
words, become a participator of all the doctrines of
His Counsel." This introduces into Divine Revela
tion the definite purpose of concealment, and exalts
the " esoteric " into a Divine grace. The very
basis of allegorism is in the assumed Divine intention
to " conceal from the multitude the deeper meaning "
of Scripture, 79

Studies in Christian Mysticism
Through Origen, the principle of mystical inter
pretation became established in Christian thought,
and, as we should expect, it entered very largely
into the writings of the Mystics. The surprise, I
think, is that it did not enter more largely. Allow
ance, however, has to be made for unfamiliarity
with the Bible. Before the age of printing, copies
of the Scriptures must have been comparatively
rare, and before the age of translations into the
vernacular, the Bible was a sealed book to many.
St. Teresa tells us that she " scarcely understood
a word of Latin." In her writings there are very
few Scripture references. Their charm lies in her
directness of speech, " illustrated by so nice and
homely examples." Her parable oi the watered
garden is rich in suggestiveness. It is given in her
Life, written by herself. " A beginner must look
upon himself as making a garden, wherein our Lord
may take His delight, but in a soil unfruitful, and
abounding in weeds." The Lord roots up the weeds,
and plants good herbs.
" We have, as good gardeners, by the help of God,
to see that the plants grow, to water them carefully
that they may not die, but produce blossoms which
shall send forth much fragrance. ... It seems to
me that the garden may be watered in four ways :
by water taken out of a well, which is very laborious ;
or with water raised by means of an engine and
buckets, drawn by a windlass — I have drawn it this
way sometimes — it is a less troublesome way than
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Mystical Interpretation
the first, and gives more water ; or by a stream or
brook, whereby the garden is watered in a much
better way ... or by showers of rain when our
Lord Himself waters it." [She then proceeds to
give " the application of these four ways of irrigation
by which the garden is to be maintained "] (p. 81).
This use of natural imagery runs through her
books, but of allegorising there is little or nothing.
Of course — for this contrast belongs to the subject —
there is the usual reference to Martha and Mary, as
types of the Active and Contemplative lives. Here
again her woman's wit serves her well. She writes :
" St. Martha was holy, though we are never told
she was a contemplative ; would you not be content
with resembling this blessed woman, who deserved
to receive Christ our Lord so often into her home ?
. . . Remember that some one must cook the food,
and think yourself favoured in being allowed to
serve with Martha " (The Way of Perfection, p. no).
In another place, indeed in more than one, she
speaks of the contemplative and active life com
bined — " thus Martha and Mary toil together."
In St. John of the Cross we meet another type of
mind. He is the scholar, the student, and to him
the Bible was a well-known book. In the Index of
Scripture texts in The Ascent of Mount Carmel there
are over 200 Old Testament passages given, and 150
New Testament. In that of the Spiritual Canticle,
there are about 200 references — excluding the
passages from The Song of Solomon, upon which the
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
book is based. Reference has already been made
to this book. It seems as if it were only in the
ecstatic emotions of this love-song that the Mystics
could find adequate symbols of their own spiritual
love. For the most part the applications of Scripture in
the writings of St. John of the Cross, are direct and
apt. There are occasional " mystical interpreta
tions." " ' He sendeth His crystals ' — that is con
templation — ' like morsels ' — these morsels of dim
contemplation." " ' At the brightness that was
before Him the clouds passed ' — that is, between
Him and our understanding." " These are they —
the soul's lower operations, passions, and desires —
of whom our Saviour said in the holy Gospel, ' A
man's enemies shall be they of his own household.' "
The ladder of Jacob's dream shadows forth " the
ladder of contemplation." This symbol is frequently
used in mystical writings. In his use of it, the ladder
has ten steps. The creeping things and abomina
tions which Ezekiel saw, in his vision, painted on the
walls of the Temple are " the thoughts and concep
tions of the intellect derived from the vile things of
earth, which defile the Temple of the Soul." Often
his spiritualisings are apt and suggestive. " Why
do you spend money, of self-will, for that which is
not bread, that is, the Spirit of God." Of the
longing of the soul for God, he writes :
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Mystical Interpretation
" So oppressive is this thirst of the soul, that it
counts it as nothing to break through the camp of
the Philistines, like the valiant men of David, to
fill its pitcher with ' water out of the cisterns of
Bethlehem ' which is Christ." " ' Let your loins be
girt ' — the loins are the desires."
Christ is the " Treasure hidden in the Soul."
The command to enter the inner chamber and shut
the door is a command to " enter within thyself "
and shut the door " of the soul," or as Richard Rolle
has it — " call thine heart home, and hold thy wits
in there, that none go out."
There is one great Mystical Book which runs an
allegorisation of a Bible story through all its parts :
I refer to the treatise Benjamin Minor, by Richard
of St. Victor. Following the reading of the Vul
gate : " This is Benjamin, a youth, in ecstasy of
mind," this son of Jacob is taken as the type of
contemplation. The whole scale of perfection is
worked out under the characters of Jacob, his wives,
and his children. " By Jacob is understanden God,
by Rachel reason, by Leah affection," and so on
through the whole family story.
What, then, is to be our attitude to the mystical
interpretation of Scripture ?
(i) It must be admitted that the Bible is essen
tially a mystical book. As a book of religion, telling
the story of how men found God, and how God
found and inspired men, it could not well be other.
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
It must also be granted that there are special and
remarkable mystical experiences told of many of
the great leaders of rehgion. The whole story of
Moses is full of these. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and most of the Prophets had their " vision."
And in the Christian Scriptures there are incidents
and experiences of a like character. The conversion
of St. Paul, and his trance visions, and St. Peter's
experience at Joppa, may be cited in evidence.
Then, too, there are many passages in these writings
of the finest spiritual Mysticism ; not in the Fourth
Gospel alone, but also in the other three, and not
by any means in the writings of St. John alone, but
also and, I think, in richer significance, in those of
St. Paul.
But all this may be freely and gladly admitted
without going to the extreme of asserting, as some
do, that the Bible is mystical throughout, and that
deep spiritual meanings are to be found in any and
every part. To count the whole of the New Testa
ment as mystical in intention is to rob the supreme
mystical passages therein of their special force and
value. By reducing all to a common level, the rare
wine of the richest Mysticism is sadly diluted.
Indeed this is to set aside all ideas of historical
interpretation, and to bring us back again to the
old error of the " equal and level " theory of the
Bible, and an altogether impossible doctrine of
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Mystical Interpretation
Inspiration and of Revelation. It is a return to the
standpoint of Origen, without his excuse, compelling
us to say, with the late Dean Burgon :
" The Bible is none other than the voice of Him
that sitteth upon the Throne. Every book of it,
every chapter of it, every verse of it, every word of
it, every syllable of it (where are we to stop ?), every
letter of it, is the direct utterance of the Most High "
(Inspiration and Interpretation, p. 89).
To affirm that all in the Bible is thus the very
Word of God, and charged with Divine significance,
is to affirm that there is no Word of God which we
need to consider, and no Divine message of any
practical use to us. A chain is ever the strength of
its weakest link.
(2) But further than this, and if possible worse,
the doctrine of the mystical interpretation of all
sacred writings reduces to one level all religious
writings, all Scriptures. The " enlightened " can
discover the profoundest truths in all. To them the
Bhagavad-GUd, especially as it is rendered in " The
Song Celestial," is as the Fourth Gospel. The whole
of mystical theology is found therein. Esoteric
Buddhism becomes as rich and fruitful as Christianity
itself. Of course, the form of these writings is
different, and a certain superiority of the Christian
Scriptures will be admitted, but to the " initiated "
their essential value is the same. Now all this is
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
to shut the eyes to the witness of History. As a
simple matter of fact, the Scriptures of the World
have not wrought the same righteousness of life
either in nations, or in individual lives. God has
not been known in the same fulness, nor has com
munion with Him been experienced in the same
peace and gladness of heart, by the devout of all
religions. The ultimate test remains : "by their
fruits ye shall know them."
(3) This principle of interpretation tends, in great
measure, to the denial of the historical in Rehgion.
This was felt by Origen, and he guards himself against
the possible charge.
" But that no one may suppose that we assert
respecting the whole that no history is real because
a certain one is not ; and that no law is to be literally
observed, because a certain one according to the
letter is absurd or impossible ; or that the state
ments regarding the Saviour are not true in a manner
perceptible to the senses ; or that no commandment
and precept of His ought to be obeyed ; we have
to answer that, with regard to certain things, it is
perfectly clear to us that the historical account is
true." ..." The passages that are true in their
historical meaning are much more numerous than
those which are interspersed with a purely spiritual
signification " (De Principiis, Bk. IV., Ch. I).
The tendency to ignore or deny the historical,
under the assumption of enlightened Mysticism, is
not wholly unknown in our own day. We find
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Mystical Interpretation
evidence of it in the interpretation of the Fourth
Gospel. The writer of this Gospel confessedly uses
his material for definite spiritual instruction. The
miracles of Jesus are thought of as " Signs." Yes,
it is said, they are Parables in the form of stories of
action,, and have spiritual meanings only. I am
not now discussing the question of the fact of the
Miracles, neither do I doubt the mystic significance
of many miracles. What I urge is that the pre
sumed incompatibility between Mystical and His
torical is false and misleading ; even if it were
admitted that the Fourth Gospel is mystical through
out, yet the question of the historical truth of the
facts and incidents used by the writer is not settled.
It is still open to say that the writer, in fulfilment of
his purpose and for the enforcement and embodiment
of his ideas, makes use of historical facts and not of
mere imaginative pictures. The facts of Nature are
not denied in Nature Mysticism. It is a sense of
the meaning, thought, idea behind the outward that
is felt. Assuming that the Divine Life is lived under
human conditions, such a life must surely, in all its
activities, be rich in the expression of mystical
experience, richer far than any imaginatively created
mystical stories.
(4) The principle of mystical interpretation carries
the fatal doctrine of the esoteric in religion. The
Scriptures, on this theory, were written by
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
" initiates " for the initiated. In one sense this
must be true ; " the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness
unto him ; neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned." But there is a radical
difference between these initiations. The Apostle's
doctrine is that of all religious experience : " The meek
will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He
teach His way." The doctrine of Symbol Mysticism
is : " By wisdom is God known." Such Mysticism
is " for the educated and developed." " For the
uninstructed and undeveloped the Church must
continue to speak with veiled face, in parable and
symbol." This is the " note " of the occult, rather
than of Mysticism. In Christianity it is a discordant
note. The doctrine that the Bible is first of all and mainly
a religious Book is entirely right and good. It is
for this very reason that it appeals to simple souls
who know and experience vital religion. And this
is the true attitude of the Mystics, and their united
witness. The richest mystical experience may be,
often has been, enjoyed by the lowly and uncultured.
" Born of the Spirit," spiritual things are their
highest good. Untrained in mental exercises they
are yet " rich in faith." To them has been given
to know the secret wisdom of God. In their
experience has been fulfilled the saying of the Greatest
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Mystical Interpretation
Mystic : "I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes." " Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs
is the Kingdom of Heaven."

89

CHAPTER VIII
PRACTICAL MYSTICISM
A Mystic, in the thought of many, is an imprac
tical dreamer rejoicing, it may be, in the indulgence
of his own emotions, but of no service to anybody
else. Let it be at once admitted that this judgment is
not wholly baseless. In mystical writings the affec
tions and activities of ordinary life are so utterly
contemned, and the call to complete detachment
from all external realities is so absolute, that readers
are not altogether without excuse for their mis
understanding. To some minds even the Imitation is positively
distasteful. Ardent lovers of the book have to
admit that, on its negative side, it is
" false in emphasis and, more than that, false to the
facts of experience and realit)'. This picture of the
worthlessness of the finite, the vanity of all that is,
is untrue and impossible. Taken consistently, it
cuts the nerve of spiritual effort, and destroys all
faith in the significance of earthly life with its myriad
moral issues. It turns the gaze away from the very
stuff out of which moral and spiritual fibre is to be
woven." "The eternal thing in the book is its
calm and compelling revelation of the reality of the
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Practical Mysticism
spiritual Kingdom, and its complete sufficiency for
the soul " (Mystical Religion, pp. 326 — 7).
Milman's criticism that it "begins in self and
terminates in self," has been refuted at some length
by Mr. Montmorency in his Thomas d, Kempis, his
Age and Book. We agree that in one sentence,
which by no means stands alone, this criticism is
refuted. " If thou wilt be carried : carry also
another " — to which we may add this saying : "If
thy heart were right then every creature would be a
mirror of life, and a book of holy doctrine to thee."
The prayer of Jesus for His disciples : "I pray not
that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil," gives
the true life-principle— 4n the world but not of the
world. This way of life some at least of the Mystics
clearly perceived, as I shall hope to illustrate from
their writings and from their hves.
In the teaching of the Mystics, three directions
of thought may be profitably considered. Their
thoughts of Nature, of love and service of one another,
and of service in relation especially to ecstasy.
(1) Nature.— -In any fuU study of Mysticism
account must be taken of the symbolism of Nature.
Indeed Mysticism itself has been defined in terms of
symbolism, " that everything, in being what it is, is
symbolic of something more." It is not of this I
wish to speak, but of the first-hand experience of
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
God. Is there a message of God in Nature ? Are
the Mystics, as such, blind — self-blinded it could
only be — to the glories of earth and sea and sky ?
The answer may be given in the words of Suso :
" O tender God ! if Thou art so loving in Thy
creations, how beautiful and delightful must Thou be
Thyself." Nature parables and images abound in
the writings of St. Teresa, showing how richly she
had fulfilled the command to " consider the lilies,
and behold the birds." The love of St. Francis for
all living creatures as sharers with himself of the
Divine life is one of the many attractive qualities
in a life full of love and tenderness.
(2) Love and Service of one another. — The second
great commandment, even as the first, and as
necessitated by it, is ever emphasised. Love to our
neighbour is part of our love of God. " What a man
takes in by Contemplation he must pour out in love "
— so Eckhart taught. He even exalts Martha, " who
has learnt her lesson," above Mary," who is still at
school." Tauler's sermons are charged with ascetisicm.
Even the affections of ordinary life are set aside.
They were sermons to the religious, and due allow
ance must be made accordingly. But there is
another note therein. Thus, when distinguishing
between true and false conversion, he says the truly
converted are " kind-hearted to their neighbour "
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Practical Mysticism
and ever ready to " lend him a helping hand."
They are " careful to fill up their time industriously
with good and useful undertakings to the glory of
God and the good of their neighbours." All aptness
for any art of life he counts a gift of God. " If I
were not a priest," he says, " but were living as a
layman, I should take it as a great favour that I
knew how to make shoes, and should try to make
them better than anyone else, and would gladly earn
my bread by the labour of my hands." He urges
that this is the spirit in which all work should be
done, " in God with a view to His glory, and the good
of his neighbour."
" I will not that thou shouldest ween that all are
holy that have the habit of holiness, and are not
occupied with the world. Nor that all are ill who
discourse of earthly business; " thus Richard Rolle,
who also says : " He is ever praying, who is doing
good." In the writings of St. Teresa the second command
ment of love is very strongly enforced, and with a
special emphasis which sounds quite modern :
" Our Lord asks but two things of us : love for
Him and for our neighbour ; this is what we must
strive to obtain. Let us try to do His will perfectly ;
then we shall be united to Him. ... I think the
most certain sign that we keep these two command
ments is that we have a genuine love for others.
We cannot know whether we love God, although
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
there may be strong reasons for thinking so, but
there can be no doubt about whether we love our
neighbour or no " (The Interior Castle, p. 117).
(3) Service and Ecstasy— As, the inward joy of the
life with God is so dwelt upon by the Mystics, we
might expect them to teach that nothing should ever
be allowed to interrupt this holy fellowship. The
hours of devotion, these surely, they will tell us,
must be kept sacred for God and the soul alone. Let
us hear their own answer :
" Even if a man were in rapture such as Paul
experienced, and if he knew of a person who needed
something of him, I think it would be far better out
of love to leave the rapture and serve the needy
man."
This is Eckhart's teaching, and it is followed by
others. Thus Ruysbroeck writes :
" Interior consolation is of an inferior order to the
act of love which renders service to the poor. Were
you rapt in ecstasy like St. Peter or St. Paul, or
whomsoever you will, and heard that some poor
person was in want of a hot drink, or other assistance,
I should advise you to awake for a moment from
your ecstasy to go to prepare the food. Leave God
for God ; find Him, serve Him in His members ;
you will lose nothing by the exchange " (Reflections
from the Mirror of a Mystic, p. 54).
The solitary life, he teaches, is not in outward
condition, but in spirit, for " none can prevent him
who seeks and tastes God in all things, from being
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Practical Mysticism
a solitary amid all multitudes and multiplicities
whatsoever." " He lives in the market place as if it
were a church or a cell." " The same spirit should
accompany a spiritual man everywhere." This also
was Eckhart's teaching before him. For them the
division of hfe between the sacred and the secular
was altogether unspiritual.
Here, again, the words of St. Teresa are very
direct :
" When I see people very anxious to know what
sort of prayer they practise, covering their faces and
afraid to move or think, lest they should lose what
tenderness and devotion they feel, I know how little
they understand how to attain union with God, since
they think it consists in such things as this. No,
my sisters, no ; our Lord expects works from us !
If you see a sick sister whom you can relieve, never
fear losing your devotion ; compassionate her ; if
she is in pain, pity her, and when there is need, fast
so that she may eat, not so much for her sake, as
because you know your Lord asks it of you. This
is the true union of our will with that of God. . . .
Beg of our Lord to grant you perfect love for your
neighbour and leave the rest to Him. . . . Forget
your self-interests for theirs, however much nature
may rebel ; when there is an opportunity, take some
burden upon yourself to ease your neighbour of it "
(The Interior Castle, p. 119).
That there are serious omissions in the teaching of
the Mystics is indeed true. To them the very idea
of the Kingdom of God as a social regeneration was
an impossible conception, so intent were they upon
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proclaiming the Kingdom of God within. The
tendency of rehgious thought in our own time is in
the opposite direction ; so intent are we upon the
regeneration of social life that we are in danger of
undervaluing its essential condition, the regeneration
. of the soul itself. One fact should be remembered,
a fact full of significance for our Christian teachers
to-day. All their compassion was inspired by the
thought and spiritual realisation of the sufferings of
Christ. This is strikingly illustrated in Margery
Kempe of Lynn, of whom it is said :
" When she saw the Crucifix, or if she saw a man
had a wound, or a beast, or if a man beat a child
before her, or smote a horse or-another beast with a
whip, if she might see it or hear it, she thought she
saw our Lord beaten or wounded, like as she saw in
the man or in the beast " (The Cell of Self -Knowledge,
P- 54)-
" And then I saw that each kind compassion that
man hath on his even-Christians with charity, it is
Christ in him. . . . He suffereth with us."
So wrote Julian, Anchoress at Norwich.
The teaching of the Mystics is, in a very true sense,
practical, and in life they fulfilled their own words.
They were deeply in earnest, seeking the true well-
being of all. Why else did they write their books ?
It was the desire to help others into and along the
Way that moved them to tell the story of their own
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Even in their " calling," all were not priests, or
monks. Many were simple laymen, engaged in
common toil. Such, for the most part, were " The
Friends of God," who " formed small groups, or local
societies, gathered about some spiritual leader or
counsellor." Tauler, himself one of these leaders,
says : " I know a man who has the closest walk with
God of any I ever saw, and who has been all his life
a husbandman — for more than forty years, and is so
still." Baron von Hiigel writes of St. Catherine of Genoa
as, " amongst formally canonised Saints, a rare
example of a contemplative and Mystic who, from
first to last, leads at the same time the common life
of marriage and of widowhood in the world " (The
Mystical Element of Religion, I., p. 248).
The story of her activities is remarkable. " For
eleven years she worked among the sick as but one
of their many nurses." Throughout this period "she
never was without the consciousness of her tender
Love, nor again did she, because of this consciousness,
fail in any practical matter concerning the Hospital."
Later she was appointed Matron of the whole institu
tion. " During the six years in which she held this
office, she had much administrative business and
responsibility weighing upon her. Large sums of
money passed through her hands, and she always
managed to spend and account for them with the
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greatest care and success" (I., p. 143). During the
great Plague of 1493 she was untiring in her devotion.
She organised tent wards, appointed doctors, nurses,
priests and attendants. " Throughout the weeks
and months of the visitation she was daily in their
midst, superintending, ordering, stimulating, steady
ing, consoling, strengthening this vast crowd of
panic-stricken poor and severely strained workers "
(I., p. 144).
But the Mystics who may be said to have devoted
themselves wholly to the Contemplative life were not
inactive. The story of many of them is that of
toilsome labour in the service of the Church, and of
religion. Many of them were evangelists, in the
literal sense of the term, and some also in the ordi
nary meaning of that term.
A notable example is found in Gerard Groote,
styled by his contemporaries " the first father of our
Reformation " and " founder of all our modern
devotion." His first awakening was through the
instrumentality of an unknown, unnamed " Friend
of God," who whispered to him : " Why standest
thou here ? — thou oughtest to become another man."
Later, with his heart on fire, he went forth to preach
the love of God, and such was the general awaken
ing, that had he not been silenced by the Church
authorities, Luther's great work might have been
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As it was he founded the new order of " The
Brethren of the Common Life."
" The members took no permanent vows, they
mingled freely in the world for purposes of service,
and lived from their manual labour (copying and
beautifying manuscripts) without any resort to
begging. They wore a simple grey garb and followed
a very simple manner of life — it was an effort to
make daily life spiritual. Their emphasis was on
practice rather than on contemplation. The most
visible social service which came from the movement
was the impetus it gave to practical education, in
which direction Gerard was the prime mover.
Through his brotherhoods he provided not only
copies of the Scriptures and other holy books for the
people, but what was still more important, he pro
vided for the instruction of the common people,
especially the children. His brothers gave free
teaching in their communities to the poorer people,
teaching them to read and write, and creating in
their minds an appreciation of the real meaning of
their religion " (Mystical Religion, p. 320).
The influence of Gerard the Great was far-reaching.
In his book, The Founders of the New Devotion,
Thomas a Kempis speaks of himself as " first
launched for the services of God, and in the fulness
of time steered to the haven of the monastery " —
by " Florentius, that Reverend Father of pious
memory, Priest of the Church of Deventer, and once
a disciple of that Master Gerard of whom I have told
above." The fellowship was more than is thus
indicated ; it was one of spiritual sympathy, as his
Life of Gerard shows. Indeed Dr. Rufus Jones goes
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so far as to say that Gerard is the " true spiritual
father of the author of the Imitation."
Reference has been made to education, and much
might be added. In Germany it was the Mystics
who founded schools. Because of his great work as
a teacher of poor children, Gerson gained for himself
the title of " Doctor of the people, and Doctor of
little children." It was thus that the Mystics
prepared the way in Germany and the Low Countries
for the revival of letters, art and science.
It is impossible, within our limits, to complete the
tale. The story of four of the great Mystics is one
of active devotion to the reform of religion. The
great work which St. Catherine of Siena set herself
was to restore the spiritual power to the Church.
St. Ignatius was the founder of the Society of Jesus,
a Missionary Society in its first great purpose.
St. Teresa was the great reformer of her Order of
Carmelites, infusing new life therein. In this work
she had the help of her disciple, St. John of the Cross.
It is needless to press the case further. The charge
of mere dreamery will not bear investigation. In
the measure of the vitality of religious experience, a
life of service must flow therefrom.
" Far from being the unpractical, dreamy persons
they are too often conceived to have been, they have
weathered storms, endured conflicts, and lived
through water-spouts which would have over
whelmed souls whose anchor did not reach beyond
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the veil. They have discovered an inner refuge,
where they enjoy the truce of God, even amid the
din of the world's warfare. They have led great
reforms, championed movements of great moment
to humanity, and they have saved Christianity
from being submerged under scholastic formalism
and ecclesiastical systems, which were alien to
man's essential need and nature " (Mystical
Religion, p. xxx.).

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CHAPTER IX
A TYPICAL MYSTIC
I have purposely refrained from giving lengthy
quotations from the writings of Walter Hilton, so
that I might be free to devote one chapter entirely
to this great English Mystic and to illustrate more
fully from his teaching some of the questions
considered. But little is known of his active life, beyond the
fact that he was a Canon of Thurgarton, in Notting
hamshire. In his brief reference, entirely sympa
thetic, Dr. Rufus Jones has this paragraph, which
will serve well as our starting-point :
" Walter Hilton is the best known of the popular
writers of mystical literature in England in the
fourteenth century. He was, as was Rolle, an
Oxford scholar and a contemporary of Wyclif —
the probable date of his death being 1395. He was
a man of rare and saintly life, ' travailing busily
with all the powers of his soul to fulfil the truth of
good life.' A very strong case has been made out
for settling upon him the authorship of the Imitation
of Christ, and, though it is practically certain that
he did not write it, it is high praise to say, what
critics generally admit, that he might have written
it " (Studies in Mystical Religion, p. 338).
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The Scale of Perfection, of which there are five
MSS. in the British Museum, was often printed.
In recent times two editions have appeared, one of
which was re-issued by the Art and Book Company,
in 1908. In this edition the Treatise written to a
Devout Man is included. There is also a short
treatise Of the Song of Angels included in The Cell
of Self-Knowledge (Chatto & Windus). The refer
ences throughout are to The Scale of Perfection.
The personal notes, though few, are suggestive.
They are like little windows through which we catch
glimpses of a rich landscape beyond. Once and
again he states that his words, often most searching,
have a double purpose, " both for thy profit and my
own." He writes for the guidance of a " Contem
plative," an Anchoress whom he addresses as
" Ghostly Sister in Christ Jesus," though his words
have often a wider reference. In fellowship with
all saintly souls, he has a very lowly opinion of
himself. Dwelling upon " the endless mercy of
our Lord," it is of mercy " to thee and to me and to
all sinful caitiffs." In another place he describes
himself as " a wretched caitiff, living in sin." He
never writes in a dictatorial spirit, but always by
way of guidance and direction :
" This is my opinion herein ; do thou better if
thou canst." " Not that I would by these discourses
limit God's working by the law of my speaking, as
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to say God worketh thus in a soul and no otherwise.
No, I mean not so, but I speak after my simple
feeling that our Lord worketh thus in some creatures
as I conceive. And I hope well, also, that He
worketh otherwise, which passeth my wit and my
feeling" (p. 235).
Nor does he write in any self-righteous spirit,
claiming himself to be and to do all that he teaches.
Like St. Paul, he too knows that he has not yet
attained, nor is yet made perfect. After writing
of the Contemplative life, what it is, and of the ways
thereto, he adds :
" Not as if I had it myself in feeling and in
working, as I have it in talking. Nevertheless, I
would by this writing of mine (such as it is) first
stir up my own negligence to do better than I have
done ; and also my purpose is to stir thee, or any
other man or woman that hath taken the state of
life Contemplative, to travail more diligently and
more humbly in that manner of life, by such simple
words as God hath given me grace for to say "
(pp. 131— 2).
The guide and teacher in spiritual things must
always lay himself open to the charge of urging upon
others duties which he himself but imperfectly
fulfils. His duty is to set forth the best he knows,
the ideal life, and it is no shame to himself if that
ideal life has not been realised in his own, provided
always that he " follows the gleam." Imperfection
is not always inconsistency. No true Christian
ever claimed to be perfect. He is inconsistent
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when he ceases to " follow after " — that he may
attain. Here is Hilton's statement :
" In answer to that which thou saidst, that I
spake too high of prayer, I grant well that I spake
more than I myself can or may do. Nevertheless,
I spake it for this intent that thou shouldst know
how we ought to pray ; and when we cannot do
so, that we should acknowledge our weakness with
all humility and God's mercy " (p. 43).
If others attain where he fails, he will rejoice :
" God knows I speak more than I do myself.
But I pray thee do thus as I say, by the grace of
God, if thou canst, or any other man that will, for
it would be a comfort to my heart — though I have
it not in myself that which I say — that I might
have it in thee, or in any other creature, which
hath received more plenty of His grace than I "
(p. 105).
Of the gracious beholding of Jesus, and the virtue
and graces of the soul whose spiritual eye is opened
to the vision of His glory, he writes : "I am afraid
to speak anything of it, for me thinketh that I
cannot, it passeth my attempt, and my lips are
unclean " (p. 273).
" A beautiful soul " — this term has rarely found
more justification. There is a tenderness, a lowli
ness of mind, and openness and teachableness of
spirit, which win our trust and reverence. If
Walter Hilton is in any sense a fair type of f ourteenth-
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century piety, and we know he is not alone, then we
shall have to revise some of our estimates of those
times, and learn to think more worthily alike of our
fellow-Christians, and of the enriching grace of God.
Personal religion was a reality to him. This is his
essential Mysticism, a vital experience of God, and
of God in and through Jesus Christ. Voices and
visions, and the abnormal generally, have no attrac
tion for him. He knows the danger in these, and,
as we have seen, knows how to bring all these to
the test.
For himself he declares :
" Verily I had rather feel and have a true and clean
desire in my heart to my Lord Jesus Christ, though I
see little of Him with my spiritual eye, than to have
without this desire all the bodily penance of all men
living, all visions, all revelations of Angels appearing,
all songs and sounding to the ear, all tastes and
smellings, fervours or any delights, or bodily
feelings, and (to be brief) all the joys of heaven and
earth which are possible to be had, without this
desire to my Lord Jesus " (p. 69).
To his " dear brother in Christ," the devout lay
man for whose instruction he is writing, he says :
" Seek and nourish only this desire for God
Himself, and seek not after any feeling in thy
corporal senses, external or internal, nor any
sensible sweetness or devotion, neither by the ear
nor by the taste of thy palate, nor by any wonderful
light or sight of thy eyes, nor seek the sight of
Angels, no, though our Lord Himself would appear
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A Typical Mystic
in His body to the sight of thy eyes, make no great
matter of that " (p. 338).
Following the usual division, Hilton writes of
" two manner of lives in which a Christian is to
be saved " — Active and Contemplative. The Active
life is for all, to be practised " according to their
best knowledge and ability, and as reason and
discretion shall require." The Contemplative life
belongs especially to those who have withdrawn
themselves from " outward businesses, and wholly
given themselves soul and body to the service of
God, by exercises of the soul."
But these two fives are not incompatible — they
can be, and ought to be, united by Christian men
and women. " Thou shalt mingle the works of
active hfe with the spiritual works of the contem
plative life, and then thou dost well," is the advice
to " a Devout Man." This mixed hfe " belongeth
to Prelates of holy Church, and to pastors and
curates." " And this mixed life did our Lord in
Himself exercise, and show in the same manner,
for an example to all other men that have taken on
them the state or condition that requireth the
exercise of the said mixed life " (p. 324).
As Hilton holds Jesus Christ in supreme rever
ence, we cannot doubt that he counts the " mixed
hfe " as the highest. This life he himself followed,
and though his Scale of Perfection was written for
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a " Contemplative," and though he holds this life
in great reverence, believing that therein a special
fulness of spiritual joy is found, yet he knows also
this separated life is for the few whom God calls
thereto. " Let every man wherein he is called,
therein abide with God " — such, it seems to me, is
Hilton's teaching. " For thou must think, that
since He hath put thee into that charge and estate of
life, that it is the very best for thee, and that thou
canst not do better than in performing what belongs
thereto in the best manner and with all the willing
ness and gladness of mind that thou art able "
(P- 330).
For the most part, Hilton's teaching is practical.
Once and again he touches speculative questions,
hinting, as it were, that he was familiar with these
matters, and could, if so minded, deal with them,
but his controlling purpose is to be definitely and
practically useful. Thus of sin he says : " Verily
it is nought, or no real thing." But at once he
realises that his words wiU convey no clear meaning,
and proceeds to speak of sin as " a false inordinate
love of thyself," out of which flow the seven deadly
sins, "pride, envy, anger, sloth, covetousness, glut
tony and lechery," and of each of these he writes at
length. In one passage he shows his knowledge of
the speculative doctrine of " Union." " He who
by ravishing of love is become united to God, God
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and that soul are not now two, but both one. And
surely in this Oneing consisteth the marriage which
passeth betwixt God and the soul, that shall never
be dissolved or broken " (p. 10). But this thought
is not dwelt upon further.
So also he is familiar with the mystical doctrine
of interpretation of Scripture, which, when the
spiritual eye is opened, and Jesus is Himself the '
teacher, " is expounded and declared literally,
morally, mystically, and heavenly, if the matter will :
bear it." His own use of Scripture, which is full, is
always appropriate, with little trace of allegorising.
The only instance of really poor and unsatisfactory
symbolism is, when following St. Gregory, he writes
of Rachel and Leah as types of " the two kinds of
lives that are in the holy Church " (p. 331/.). He
also speaks of the Sisters of Bethany in the usual
way, urging his disciple to be " sometimes busy with
Martha . . . and sometimes with Mary ... at
the feet of our Lord with humility, in prayers and
holy thoughts and in Contemplation of Him " (p. 320).
For Hilton, the one great truth is " the uncreated ',
love of God," and communion with Him in love and ¦
humihty. " Ask, then, of God nothing but this 'j
gift of love, which is the Holy Ghost. For among
all the gifts that our Lord giveth there is none so
good, nor so profitable, so worthy, nor so excellent
as this is. For there is no gift of God that is both
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the giver and the gift, but this gift of love " (p. 254).
It is the love of God which " cleanseth us from our
sins," and " stirreth us up to exercise ourselves "
in all virtues.
The assertion that the Mystics, in finding God,
" leave Jesus behind," is wholly inapplicable to
Hilton. In his teaching, as in his experience, the
desire for God and for Jesus are one.
" He worketh this desire in thee, and giveth it
thee ; and He it is that desireth in thee, and He it
is that is desired ; He is all, and He doeth all "
(p. 198). " Jesus is endless might, wisdom and
goodness, righteousness, truth, holiness and mercy "
(p. 299). "He is all-sovereign might and all-
sovereign verity and all-sovereign goodness "
(p. 250). " Jesus Christ, that blessed Person, God
and Man, Son of the Virgin Mary — that is all good
ness, endless wisdom, love and sweetness, thy joy,
thy glory, and thy everlasting bliss, thy God, thy
Lord, and thy salvation " (p. 67). " For wot thou
well, that what thou feelest of Him, be it never so
much, yea, though thou wert ravished with St. Paul
into the third heaven, yet hast thou not found
Jesus as He is in His joy ; know thou, or feel thou
never so much of Him, He is still above it " (p. 68).
Hilton's guidance into and along the " Mystic
Way " is at once clear, direct and practicable. He
knows full well that
" neither grace alone, without the full working of
the soul so far as it can, nor the man's working
alone, without grace, bringeth the soul to the reform
ing in feeling, the which reforming consisteth in
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A Typical Mystic

perfect love and charity. But that both joined
together, bringeth into a soul the blessed feeling of
perfect love. The which grace cannot rest fully, but
only on humble souls that be full of the fear of
God" (p. 183). -—'The which grace, for its part,
is most willing and ready to shine to all creatures,
and enter into the souls of men, that will but be
willing to receive it, even as the sun shineth upon
all creatures bodily, where it is not hindered "
(p. 172).
" A soul that would know spiritual things needs!
first to have the knowledge of itself." " Withdraw I
thy thoughts from all bodily things outward, and
from minding of thy own body, also from all thy five
senses, as much as thou canst, and think on the
nature of a reasonable soul spiritually, as thouwouldst 1
think for to know any virtue, as justice, humility)
or any other. Right so think that a soul is a life
immortal, invisible, and hath in itself a power to know
the sovereign verity, and for to love the sovereign
goodness which is God ; when thou seest this, then
feelest thou somewhat of thyself " (p. 227). " Never
theless, I say not that thy soul should rest still in
this knowing, but it shall by this seek a higher
knowledge above itself, and that is the nature of
God, for the soul is but a glass in the which thou
shouldst see God spiritually " (p. 228). " For thy
soul and my soul and every rational soul is an image,
and that a worthy one, for it is the image of God "
(p. 133). " It behoveth thee to delve deep in thy-r
heart, for therein Jesus is hid, and cast out perfectly;
all loves, and likings, sorrows and fears of all earthly!
things, and so shall thou find wisdom, that is;
Jesus " (p. 70). " See then the mercy and courtesy
of Jesus. Thou hast lost Him, but where ?
Soothly in thy house, that is to say, in thy soul,
that if thou hadst lost all thy reason of thy soul by
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
its first sin, thou shouldst never have found Him
again : but He left thee thy reason, and so He is
still in thy soul, and never is quite lost out of it.
Nevertheless thou art never the nearer Him till
thou hast found Him. He is in thee, though He
be lost from thee ; but thou art not in Him till
thou hast found Him. This is His mercy also,
that He would suffer Himself to be lost only there,
where He may be found, so that thou needest not
run to Rome, nor to Jerusalem to seek Him there,
but turn thy thoughts unto thy own soul, where
He is hid " (pp. 71 — 2).
By humility and love, the soul finds God.
" Humility saith, I am nothing, I have nothing ;
Love saith, I covet nothing, but one, and that is
Jesus " (p. 188). And by prayer, the soul is made
ready and able to rejoice in God.
" Not that thou shouldst thereby make our Lord
know what thou desirest, for He knoweth well
enough what thou needest, but to dispose thee and
imake thee ready and able thereby, as a clean
i vessel, to receive the grace which our Lord would
freely give thee, which grace cannot be felt till thou
!be exercised and purified by the fire of desire in
.devout prayer. For though it be so that prayer is
not the cause for which our Lord giveth grace, never
theless it is a way or means by which grace freely
given cometh into the soul " (p. 34). " For prayer
is nothing else but an ascending or getting up of the
desire of the heart into God, by withdrawing of
it from all earthly thoughts " (pv 35). " And
though thou be at prayer, or at thy devotions,
that thou thinkest loth to break off, for that thou
thinkest that thou oughtest not leave God for to
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A Typical Mystic
speak with anyone, I think not so in this case, for
if thou be wise thou shalt not leave God, but thou
shalt find Him, and have Him, and see Him, in thy
neighbour, as well as in prayer, only in another
manner " (p. 119).
In reading the books of the Mystics many, I
think, must have felt confused and troubled by the
use of unfamiliar terms for spiritual experience.
Again and again it seems as though some secret
of life were about to be disclosed, and yet the
secret, if such it be, is illusive. This, I am sure, is
especially true of Theosophy, and indeed must be, for
its secret whatsoever it be, is revealed only to the
fully initiated. But pure, religious Mysticism is
not of this character. Its secret is an open one ;
it is the mystery of love, hid indeed from the
unloving, and not to be known by reason, or scholar-1
ship, but only by loving. Where love is, all else!
is that is vital to true religion ; where love is not,
then ah is wanting.
This is the Mysticism of Walter Hilton. He
recognised the possibility of confusion and troubled
thoughts through the use of strange terms, and he
guarded himself against this, using, for the most
part, simple and homely terms, and where other
terms are used explaining them with care. Here is
a passage which illustrates what I mean. He has
been speaking of how love opens the spiritual eye
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by cleansing the soul from all deadly sins ; and
he adds :
" This opening of the spiritual eye is that light
some darkness and rich nought that I spake of before,
fand it may be called purity of spirit and spiritual
rest, inward stillness and peace of conscience, highness
of thought and loneliness of soul, a lively feeling of
grace and retiredness of heart, the watchful sleep of
the spouse and tasting of heavenly savour, burning
in love, and shining in light, the gate of Contemplation
and reforming in feelings. All these expressions are
found in holy writings of divers men, for every one
of them speaketh according to his feeling in grace.
And though all these be divers in show of words
yet are they all one in meaning and verity ; for
that soul which through visiting of grace hath one
of them hath all " (pp. 273 — 4).
The difficulty of terms may repel some, and so
bring to an abrupt conclusion their study of the
Mystics, though the really serious difficulty is of
another character — we are hindered by our own
sloth. Others there are who have to fight with
their own fears and self -distrust. To these Walter
Hilton speaks. He bids all who are " in the way "
beware of their enemies. Certain temptations are
peculiar to earnest souls ; and against these he
forewarns. These are — the backward look, which
would recall past sins unconfessed, or but imper
fectly confessed ; the sense of unworthiness of the
love of God, anticipations of failure, the fear and
opposition of man, flattery and vain pleasing. Under
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each of these heads, Hilton has very wise and
helpful counsel (p. 192^). But the two deadly
sins against which those who have been enlightened
are most earnestly warned, are : " presumption and
exalting of himself " and " the down-putting and
disdaining of his neighbour " (p. 209).
"It is no mastery to watch and fast till thy
head ache ; nor to run to Rome or Jerusalem on
pilgrimage upon thy bare feet ; nor for to stir about
and preach, or if thou wouldst turn all men by thy
preaching. Nor is it any mastery to build churches
or chapels, or to feed poor men and build hospitals.
But it is mastery for a man to love his neighbour in
charity, and wisely hate his sin and love the man "
(P- 93)-
Upon all, the duty of ceaseless endeavour after
richer and fuller spiritual life is solemnly urged — " for
a soul cannot stand still always in one state, for it
is either profiting in grace, or decaying through sin."
Much more might be written, but enough, I hope,
has been given to attract serious students of Mysti
cism to Walter Hilton. One further word only
must be added. Hilton was a loyal son of his
Church, himself in its official ministry, and faithful
to all its observances. A firm faith in all the
Articles and Sacraments of the Church, and obedi
ence to all the laws and ordinances of prelates and
rulers, is, as we should expect, unhesitatingly
enforced.
115 h 2

CHAPTER X
SPIRITUAL RELIGION
Mysticism is the experience of God, the immediacy
and reality of God in us, and of God as known to
us in and through Jesus Christ. The inward
experience must be based upon and controUed by
the outward Revelation ; only thus can it be freed
from aberrations. This is the Mysticism not of
thought or of feeling alone, but of inspiration and
of power ; and this, as I hold, is the true religious
Mysticism, as witnessed to by the great Christian
Mystics. It is the realisation of the eternal truth ;
" Ye are a Sanctuary of God, and the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you."
" There in that Supreme Region and sacred
Temple of the Soul the Highest Good delights to
dwell, to manifest Himself and to give Himself to
the Creature, in a way above sense and all under
standing." — so writes the author of The Spiritual
Guide. In another place he quotes the words of
St. Augustine :
"I, Lord, went wandering like a strayed sheep,
seeking Thee with anxious reasonings without,
whilst Thou wast within me. I wearied myself
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Spiritual Religion

much in looking for Thee without, and yet Thou
hast Thy habitation within me. I went round the1
streets and squares of the City of this world seeking
Thee ; and I found Thee not, because in vain I j
sought without for Him who was within myself."
This is the message of the Mystics, their discovery
for themselves and their testimony to us. Whatever
their outward condition of life, whether that of the
Monk, the Priest, or the Layman, and whatever
their ecclesiastical beliefs and observances, this
was their one vital unity, a religion of the Spirit,
the experience of God as Spirit in direct fellowship
with the spirit which man also is ; and this fellow
ship is in love, with God who is Love, and in the
love of God, a love which is known best, and always
expressed, in love one to another. " The Holy
Ghost is Love " — so they found, and taught. God
and His gift are one, for " God is Love." This is
the truth of their experience, but they had not
known it thus without the " Sacred Humanity " —
meditation upon which was practised and enforced
by all. Indeed, in their experience, no distinction
is known between Christ and God. " It is all One,"
is their witness.
We reach the same conclusion as to the essential
element in their Mysticism from their doctrine of
Prayer. It has to be confessed that their
terminology and their systematisings are very
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
bewildering. There is no general agreement, at
least I have found it impossible to draw up any
common method for prayer. Nor is this to be
regretted ; we are thrown back upon the underlying
unity. The one truth which has to find a place in
our thought of prayer is its universality for life —
we are to " pray without ceasing."
Once and again this Apostolic injunction arrests
attention when prayer is being discussed. Hence,
over and above all instructions as to methods of
prayer, we find definitions which cover wider
ground. Thus it is said : " Prayer is an elevation
of the mind to God " — " the desire of the soul
turned to God " — " the application of the heart to
God and the inward exercise of love." And when
the hindrances to special times and acts of prayer
are thought of, the true spirit of prayer, which
should inspire and control all life, is at once perceived,
and it is said : " True prayer consists when the soul
loves " and is found " in recognition of the Will of
God." The terse saying of the Lady Julian gathers up
the whole truth : " Prayer oneth the soul to God."
With this in mind it will not appear strange to us
that in a book like the Imitation, there is no special
instruction as to Prayer. The soul " oned "
to God needs no further guidance. All else in the
devout life will follow naturally. So again we
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Spiritual Religion

reach our conclusion. " To enjoy God without \
intermediary," the first-hand experience of God, i
is the essential truth of Christian Mysticism.
We are then, as it seems to me, thrown back upon
the Bible as the one sure and best guide in the
Mystic Way. Even in the Hebrew Scriptures we
have Mysticism of the finest type. It was out of
an intense and vital religious experience that the
great Prophets spoke and wrote. God was a reality,
a present reality, to them. The Word of the Lord
was " as a fire in their heart," a very " burden "
upon the soul.
It is, however, in one or two of the Psalms that
the utterance of personal experience is most direct.
The soul that had the experience of God which the
CXXXIXth Psalm described was a Mystic of a true
type. He speaks of a dual life of which he is
conscious, of a Presence that follows him every
where, and from which there is no possible escape.
A Presence, moreover, not by his side, haunting him
like his own shadow, but a presence within, where
thought works, and feeling is stirred, searching the
heart, trying the thoughts, judging every life
movement at its secret spring. A second self, an
uprush of " the subliminal consciousness " — not
that, nor anything like it. It is a greater than self,
greater and holier, with august authority. Not a
law simply ; law is impersonal, inarticulate. Not
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
a voice merely, but a Righteous Will, as truly
personal as is the soul itself. A Power, an Authority,
a Will which encompasses his life ; a Presence which
besets him behind and before and lays its hand
upon the centre of his life. Resisted it may be,
and silenced, at least for the moment, but only to
re-assert its authority in the first calm hour of self-
communion. Forgotten in sleep, but with him
again the moment he awakes from sleep, searching
him through and through, dealing out blame and
praise with impartial judgment. Had we written
the Psalm, we should have spoken of " Conscience,"
and under a mere name concealed our ignorance.
This Mystic speaks of God. This, he tells us, is
God's Presence in the Soul. God is found there,
bound up with the soul's hfe.
But the highest Mysticism is not possible except
where there is the richest content in the name God.
The experience does not give the revelation of
Truth, it turns knowledge into Life and belief into
Faith. Hence the place of Jesus Christ in Mystical
Religion — the Christ of History, and the Christ of
Faith, for the two cannot be separated. It is in
the life of Jesus that we must study Mysticism at
its highest. In His Life we see what perfect com
munion with God is, the Human and the Divine
perfectly at One.
And the power of that Life continues. That was
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Spiritual Religion

the experience of the first Apostles, and it has been
the experience of His followers through the centuries.
The great mystical sayings of St. Paul have this
for their significance. " I live, yet not I, Christ
liveth in me." " Alive unto God in Christ Jesus."
" Your hfe is hid with Christ in God." " I can do
all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
" Christ in you the hope of glory." It is not in the
extraordinary raptures of the great Apostle that we
find his Mysticism, but in this full and rich personal
consciousness of union with Christ. For him " the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord "
was the great Faith. Through all his wonderful
activities it was " the love of Christ " which con
strained him. For him love was the fulfilling of
the law. To him we owe the inspired chapter on
Christian Love.
The Mystic Way is ever the Way of the Cross.
" He that would come after Me let him deny himself,
and take up his cross and follow Me." To live the
Christ-life was the one hope and prayer of the
Mystics. " I am not now asking you to meditate
on Him nor to produce great thoughts, nor to feel
deep devotion : I only ask you to look at Him.
Who can prevent you turning the eyes of your soul
on our Lord ? " It is St. Teresa who so bids us
" consider Christ." " If you feel happy, think of
Him at His Resurrection. If you have trials to
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
bear, if you are sorrowful^ watch Him on His way
to the garden." " Christ who is our life," the Way
for us to walk in, the Truth for us to experience,
the Life to reproduce His life in ours — it is thus we
know what life truly is, " the realisation of human
personality as characterised by, and consummated
in, the indwelling reality of the Spirit of Christ,
which is God " (Atonement and Personality, p. 312).
He who would quicken that life in others must
know it in himself. This is the strange, mystic
power of preaching, and we welcome its reappear
ance in the preaching of our own day. In every
great religious revival this has been the secret
force. It was the appeal and persuasion of personal
experience which drew crowds to listen to Gerard
the Great, and which arrested men of all classes,
and turned their lives into better ways. " He
preached out of his own life — what he knew." It
was this power which was behind the pre-ref ormation
[ in England. " God is our best Master, and ready
| to teach true men all things profitable and needful
1 for their souls " — so wrote Wyclif, and out of this
direct teaching he, and his itinerant preachers,
appealed to the people.
It was this power which Luther knew, and used.
His own vital religious experience urged him
forward in all his great work. He discovered for
himself, and preached as the Gospel for all, the true
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Spiritual Religion
. Mystical Faith, that nothing is received from God \
because we are worthy, but we receive God's grace i
in Christ that we may become worthy. All is of '
God, of His great Love in Christ — the forgiveness of
sins, the cleansing of His Spirit, the gift of Himself —
and taking His gifts and Himself, for Giver and gifts
are one, the soul that so experiences God is moved
to all spiritual endeavour, and freely gives itself in
love. " He is our justification " was Luther's
great saying. " Christ in you the hope of glory "
is the Mystic faith. It was this power of personal
experience and personal appeal which was in the
movement of the Wesleys, as their hymns show.
It was not until after his own deeper, more real and
personal experience of the things of God that
John Wesley's great work became possible. The
story bears repetition. At a meeting of a Moravian
Society in London " there entered into his soul, as
by a flash of light, a joyful assurance that his sins
were freely forgiven." So he testified everywhere
of the Grace of God which might be experienced in
renewing power anywhere and everywhere where
God and the soul might meet.
And this is the message our age calls for. On
every hand there is the cry of a great need. Religion,
it is felt, has again become too formal, and unspiri-
tual ; activities abound, interesting, even eloquent,
preaching is not lacking, but the note of urgency and
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
reality is missing. The need is for " religion in its
most acute, intense, and living stage." The rebuke
of Thomas a Kempis rests upon us : " We are glad
to see others perfect : and yet we mend not our
j own faults." We are so busy in religious things
\ that we have no time for serious religion. The
machinery is there, and " up-to-date," but the
moving power is whoUy inadequate.
St. Teresa's criticism of the preachers of her own
day is, I fear, only too true of many in ours :
" They have a good intention, and their work
is good ; yet still few amend their lives. But how
is it that there are not many who, in consequence of
these sermons, abstain from public sins ? Well, I
think it is because the preachers are highly sensible
men. They are not burning with the great fire of
the love of God, as the Apostles were, casting
worldly prudence aside ; and so their fire throws out
but little heat " (Life, p. 131).
During the last few years I have had opportunities
of hearing preachers in many parts of Great Britain,
and, with notable exceptions, the impression left
upon my mind is that preachers generally do not
seem to take their great work seriously to heart.
They are " highly sensible men," and can write
very interesting essays, but too often they have no
message, no " burden of the Lord " which they
must deliver. They sound no note of Mysticism, and
rarely speak out of an intense personal experience.
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Spiritual Religion

" Wanted is what ? "^-i believe the almost
unanimous answer to that question by our religious
leaders would be : the revival of personal religion.
" What we want is not to know Truth, Beauty,
and Goodness — though that is necessary by the way ;
it is to be true, beautiful, and good. We want God
in us and with us — not immanently and naturally
as He is in everything, but personally and tran-
scendently as He is only in those who are themselves
in Him, whose faith and hope and love are in Him,
and whose holiness, righteousness, and life are His
in them " (The Constructive Quarterly, March, 1913,
p. 14).
As the same writer puts the need in his
valuable preface to Liberal and Mystical Writings
of William Law : " We want a real God, the living
Christ, not only in meditation but in action, not in
our retreats only, but in our furthest advances, in
our most active enterprises and our most enter
prising activities."
"Not only in meditation," true; but first, and,
at the present time, most surely in our meditation.
It is this which is most lacking. We must feed the
fires of the Divine within.

125

CHAPTER XI
THE MYSTIC LIFE
Since the foregoing chapters were written a new
contribution to the question before us has appeared.
The author of Mysticism has again laid all students
of the subject under obligation by her serious
consideration of the relation between Mysticism and
Christianity, which is discussed in her new book,
The Mystic Way.
The position held is clearly stated. " All the
doctrines and all the experiences characteristic of
genuine Christian Mysticism can be found in the
New Testament ; and I believe that its emergence
as a definite type of spiritual life coincides with the
emergence of Christianity itself, in the person of its
Founder " (Preface, p. vii.). This statement is indeed
most important. It has this obvious advantage —
it narrows the question, and by defining the field of
discussion, makes possible definite issues. Mysticism,
in the wide field of Christian history, is far too large
a subject for adequate treatment in any book, or
indeed by any single writer. But the Mysticism of
the Founder of Christianity can be so considered,
and its very earnest study is pressed upon every
thoughtful Christian. 126

The Mystic Life

The really vital question is thus raised — What is
the very heart and essence of Christian Mysticism ?
The author rejects, and rightly rejects, the idea
that " Christian Mysticism is no integral part of
Christianity." The attainment of the " Kingdom "
is urged upon all. " He that would come after Me
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow
Me " is the way of Discipleship, the only way. It
is not possible to escape the conclusion that what
Christianity meant for its Founder it means also
for all who are called by His Name.
This was Apostolic Christianity. That " Christ
is our Life, to reproduce His life in ours " — is the
uniform teaching of St. Paul. This was his own
most earnest prayer and endeavour, and it was ever
his Gospel message. He counted himself and his
fellow- workers as " stewards of the mysteries of
God," mysteries " kept in silence through times
eternal, but now manifested," " the mystery which
hath been hid from all ages and generations : but
now hath it been manifested to His saints . . . which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Not for
Himself alone, but for all " saints," for " all that
call upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ in
every place, their Lord and ours," the " life in
Christ " was and is an essential element in their
religion. This is Christian Mysticism, not a stage in,
but an essential element of, any life which is truly

Studies in Christian Mysticism
Christian. It is just this which we mean by the
statement that Christianity is a Life, a vital experi
ence of religion, the direct personal and all-control
ling, all-inspiring fellowship of the Spirit of Christ
and the spirit which is man.
It is exceedingly desirable that we should under
stand the terms we use in any discussion, and most
of all in this discussion. " I give and demand change
for phrases," was the test principle of Maurice. It
is very necessary to apply the test to the term
" Mysticism." Far too often it is used as a synonym
for mystery or mystification, " a dreamy contempla
tion on ideas that have no foundation in human
experience," to quote a dictionary definition. This,
I think, must be insisted upon ; the " Mystic
Way " is not to be identified with Mysticism. A
form of experience, its interpretation, or sequence,
is not the experience itself. Life is ever more than
its forms and manifestations.
In the book now before us is the following state
ment :
" The great Christians of the primitive time, the
great Mystics in whom their spirit has lived on,
exhibit, one and all, an organic growth, pass through
a series of profound psychic changes and re-adjust
ments, by which they move from the condition of
that which we like to call the ' normal man ' to
that state of spiritual maturity, of an actually
enhanced power of dealing with circumstances,
which they sometimes call the ' Unitive Life.'
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The Mystic Life

This sequence of psychological states is the ' Mystic
Way,' which gives its title to my book " (Preface,
p. viii.).
As a matter of fact, it is not possible to justify
this absolute statement. There are great Mystics
concerning whose personal life we know too little
to be able to speak thus of them. Their writings we
know, but their experience we do not know. This
is especiaUy true of " The Johannine Mystic." This
our author has to admit. She writes :
" In the fourth Gospel we see nothing of this
' process of becoming,' though the life presented is
the Pauhne life mirrored in a different temperament.
This book is written from the standpoint of one in
whom the ' great work ' of readjustment is already
accomplished ; and who has ' entered the Kingdom '
and knows himself a member of a new order, in
habited by a new life " (p. 219).
Whether or not this Mystic " passed through a
series of profound psychic changes and readjust
ments " it is quite impossible to say. He knew
" The Life "—and that is everything. What that
life was we can also say ; and in declaring it we
define true Christian Mysticism. Itwas the ' ' Eternal
Life," or again to change the phrase, Spiritual Life,"
a life in closest fellowship with the Eternal Spirit.
A " sequence of psychological states " is not
Mysticism, however marked that sequence may be
in the experience of certain Mystics. As in Theology,
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
so also in Mysticism, the craving after a weU-defined
and orderly system is fatal. It is now generaUy
recognised that no systematic theology can be built
up out of the Christian Scriptures. The same
conclusion in regard to Mysticism is forced upon
us by a somewhat wide study of the writings of the
Mystics. The endeavour to force aU through the
same mould of experience utterly fails. Some of
us can recaU the time when this was the method
foUowed with regard to Conversion, and Christian
Discipleship. The method broke down utterly in
face of the facts of life. Now it is just here, I think,
where the author of the Mystic Way altogether
fails. With the assertion that Christian Mysticism
must find its highest iUustration in the person of its
Founder, we are in fuUest agreement, but this is
not to say that each and aU of the stages of the
Mystic Way, as usuaUy described, and as illustrated
in the fives of some Mystics, must be found in the
Life of Christ. Yet this is Miss UnderhiU's con
tention. In the Scale, or Ladder of Perfection, we are told,
are these stages : Conversion, Purgation, IUumina-
tion, the Dark Night of the Soul, the State of Union.
In the life of Jesus these are said to correspond to
the Baptism ; Temptation in the Wilderness ; the
Early Ministry culminating in the Transfiguration ;
the Way of the Cross — Gethsemane and Calvary ;
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The Mystic Life

the Cross and Resurrection. Such a scheme breaks
down utterly in face of the Gospel narratives. The
impression which that Life makes upon us is not
thus to be systematised. Jesus appears before us,
from the first, as equal to His task. That the
Baptism meant much to Jesus Himself we cannot
doubt — but we cannot believe that then, for the
first time, " the strange, new life latent in Jesus of
Nazareth suddenly flooded His human conscious
ness. That consciousness was abruptly lifted to
new levels ; suddenly became aware of Reality, and
of its own complete participation in Reality " (p. 87).
The thirty years of silence were not thus empty and
unspiritual. The Baptism was the Ordination of one
already prepared, the solemn and public dedication
of Himself to the great work over which He had long
brooded. The Temptation itself turns upon this pre
vious spiritual preparation. It was essentiaUy related
to His Mission, how that Mission now entered upon
should be fulfiUed, and in each of the three great
trials of faith, victory was won by the life in and with
God already attained. The Transfiguration also has
the like significance. The " decease which He
should accomplish at Jerusalem " was the subject of
His meditation and prayer. That there were great
crises in the life of Jesus is clear indeed, but these
were always incident to His Mission, and how they
were met reveals the Mind of Christ ; for great
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
critical moments do not fashion the soul — they reveal
it, prove what has been and is. Even so Gethsemane
and Calvary express the victory of the wUderness.
So, as I read the Story, the impression throughout
is of One equal to His Task, " made perfect through
the things which He suffered," but perfect most of
aU as Saviour and Redeemer of men.
Even in the skilful hands of the author, this
scheme, as applied to Jesus, breaks down altogether.
The admissions are significant — and fatal to the
scheme. Thus she writes : " There is one deeply
significant difference between this psychological
crisis in the life of Jesus and its lesser equivalent in
the lives of Christian and other Mystics. I mean
the total absence of the ' sense of sin ' " (p. 89). Again,
we read : " His growth in the Transcendent Order
was of an unequalled swiftness, that a personal and
impassioned consciousness of unbroken union with
Reality was from the first the centre of His secret
life " (p. 145). The words which I have emphasised
are, I think, a tacit admission that the endeavour
to interpret the one Supreme Experience by any
experience less than itself has failed, and must
fail. The same conclusion is forced upon us by the
following comparison of the experience of St. Paul
with that of Jesus : " Once more we see the enormous
difference in quality between the nature of Jesus
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The Mystic Life

and that of His first and greatest successor. With
Him, the stress and effort which is felt behind all
Paul's attainments are concentrated into the two
swift and furious battles of the Wilderness and of
Gethsemane " (p. 172).
From a careful study of the author's third chapter :
"St. Paul and the Mystic Way," I have been forced
to the same conclusion as to the supreme importance
of distinguishing between a " sequence of psycho
logical states " and Christian Mysticism. The
Mysticism of Jesus was His Oneness with the Father,
a life whoUy " oned," to use the common mystic
term. The Mysticism of St. Paul was expressed
by himself : " Christ liveth in me." The peculiar
form of certain of his experiences was determined
by his individual psychical constitution.
With this qualification, the assertion may be
accepted that St. Paul " is the supreme example of
the Christian Mystic ; of a ' change of mind ' result
ing in an enormous dower of vitality : of a career
of impassioned activity, of ' divine fecundity '
second only to that of Jesus Himself " (p. 159).
When, however, it is said that his conversion " was
of course characteristically mystical " we must
exercise caution. " The light, the voice, the blind
ness," are accidents, not essentials of that " vivid
consciousness of a personal and crucial encounter
with the spiritual world " (p. 160). Every true
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
conversion is a mystical experience, but there is no
one form of the experience which is to be looked for
in every case. She " whose heart the Lord opened "
experienced conversion as truly as did St. Paul.
Again, when it is said : " St. Paul's proceedings
after his conversion are no less characteristic of
the peculiar mystic type. His first instinct was an
instinct of retreat " (p. 163), we must press the
question of the significance of this retreat for
St. Paul himself. His own words tell what this was :
" that I might preach Him among the Gentiles."
It was for preparation for his fife-work that he
withdrew into seclusion. Nor may the period of
self-discipline be limited to any definite part of his
career. AU through his life, and up to its close, he
" counted not himself to have apprehended ; " but
ever " pressed on toward the goal . " One iUustr ation
of how this attempt to work the Apostle's experience
into the mould of the Mystic Way is characteristic
of all systematisers — the facts are more or less
forced to fit the theory. Much that the author has
to say of the Apostle's inward life as revealed in his
successive letters is helpful and suggestive, but the
inferences are by no means convincing.
The Epistle to the Romans holds a critical place,
and a very special and individual interpretation of
the 7th and 8th Chapters is essential, if the author's
contention is to be established. The experience
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The Mystic Life

described in these chapters must fit in with one
critical period in the Apostle's life, one stage of his
spiritual development — " the last purification of
personality," " the very frontier of the new life,"
" the moment of supreme attainment." Somewhat
full quotation is necessary to do the writer justice :
" The epistle to the Romans appears to be the
literary expression of the last phase in Paul's long
struggle for transcendence. In the 7th and 8th
chapters of that most wonderful of letters, we seem
to see the travail of his interior life coming to its
term, the new state towards which his growth was
directed established at last " (p. 183).
And again, writing of the contrast between the
experiences described in the two chapters :
" The sudden wild happiness of the spirit caught
up to supreme communion with the Absolute has
seldom found finer expression than this : here
another personality seems to speak from the heart
broken prisoner who had cried but a page or two
earlier, ' Who shall deliver me from the body of
this death ? ' " (p. 185).
All turns upon the assumption that the experience
of the 7th Chapter is the Apostle's own experience,
and at one definitely defined period in his life, and,
further, upon the assumption that the confidence
and gladness of the 8th Chapter foUow that experi
ence almost immediately. This most important
fact, as it seems to me, has been overlooked : the
experiences of the 7th Chapter are not summed up
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
in the cry of seeming hopelessness and despair,
" Who shall deliver me out of (R.V.) the body of
this death ? " That cry does not end the chapter,
and very certainly it does not complete the Apostle's
thought. Drawing upon his knowledge of himself,
and upon his insight into human life, he gathers up
and concentrates in a single portraiture " aU the
struggles of the natural man with temptation," his
conflict before Christ has " shined upon him," and
then, in one triumphant outburst, he proclaims his
Gospel — " I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord." This is the only possible conclusion of the Apostle's
description, and to omit this is to miss the very aim
and purpose of all that has gone before. Up to this
point, in that finely imaginative and dramatic
picture, there is no word of Christianity, and for
him to write of human sorrows and conflicts without
one word of hope was altogether impossible. Indeed
the 7th Chapter of Romans has its text in an earlier
letter : " The sting of death is sin ; and the power
of sin is the law : but thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ." However we may interpret his words in the
7th Chapter, whether of his own actual experience,
or of that of the " natural man," it is quite certain
that for the Apostle himself, when he wrote his
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The Mystic Life

Epistle, the conflict was long ended, ended indeed in
its bitterness and severity of inward strife when he
" saw the Lord," and yielded himself His servant
to do His will. He who could say, out of the fulness
of his own personal experience, " I have been
crucified with Christ ; yet I live ; and yet no
longer I, but Christ liveth in me," has already
rejoiced in that freedom wherewith Christ makes
His people free.
For, and this is the very Gospel which the Apostle
preached, Christ brings deliverance from this
terrible inward conflict, wherever and whenever
He is known in His saving grace.
The abnormal experiences of the Apostle are too
Well known to need detaUed reference. But I must
again protest against an appeal to these as proving
their necessary association with Christian Mysticism.
" Visions and revelations of the Lord," ecstatic
utterances, gifts of tongues, and of healing, found
their place in his life. In this connection his
personal testimony may be quoted : "I thank
God I speak with tongues more than you all." But
it is altogether to misjudge the case if we omit to
quote the words which foUow : " Howbeit in the
Church I had rather speak five words with my
understanding, that I might instruct others also,
than ten thousand words in a tongue."
The Apostle's " thorn in the flesh " is counted " a
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
more human mark of his thoroughly mystical
temperament " (p. 174), an evidence that he experi
enced that " mystic iU health " which, we are told,
is " the natural result, and not the pathological cause,
of the characteristic activities of the Mystics."
The breakdown of the physical constitution has
often been the penalty of altogether excessive and
unwise self-discipline, against which many of the
Mystics warn their disciples. Out of this excess
and consequent " ill health " have come aU manner
of abnormalities, exaggerations and superstitions,
but surely it is an assumption to connect the
Apostle's "thorn in the flesh" with this condition.
It is not necessary to discuss the origin of St. Paul's
bodily affliction, concerning which it is quite
impossible to come to any conclusion. It were
strange indeed if one who had endured aU the
labours, and afflictions, and sufferings recounted in
his second letter to the Corinthians should know no
permanent disability.
Of this " mystic iU-health," there is no trace, no
hint, in the life of Jesus, nor can we admit the
thought of it when speaking of His experience, a
further evidence that the systematising of that
Divine Life is impossible.
It becomes evident that in this discussion of
Mysticism, we really approach a far more vital
question, the question as to Christianity itself,
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The Mystic Life

what it is, and especially what makes a Christian.
FundamentaUy different answers to this question
cannot but result in divergent ideas as to Chrsitian
Mysticism. If, for instance, it is held " that men
become Christians, in the first instance, by incorpora
tion into one visible Christian society, and then, after
that, are bound to realise individually their Christian
privileges," then, of course, the mystical experience
belongs to some and not to all who are " in Christ."
Underlying the discussion of Mysticism there is
thus discovered the old controversy of " Justifica
tion by Faith."
With this statement I am in fullest agreement :
" By ' faith ' man centres himself in the spiritual
order, identifies himself with its interests, and thus
justifies himself as a spiritual creation ; for the
essence of Pauline faith is not ' belief ' but awareness
of, attention to, union with the ' Kingdom ' — con
vinced consciousness of a life lived in the atmosphere
of God" (p. 199).
It is even so, but with this added truth : " Without
faith it is impossible to please God," and without
faith there is no Christian man, and faith is essentially
mystical. It is this " new kind of life," this " new
type of human consciousness," which is bound up
inseparably with Christianity in its personal element.
Far then from being " the few chosen out of the
many caUed," or a " thin bright chain of the Christian
Mystics stretching across the centuries," the true
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
Mystics are a multitude which no man can number
through all the Christian centuries ; the salt of the
earth, and the light of the world, because " with
unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the
Lord," they have been " transformed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord
the Spirit."
Christianity has been defined as " eternal life in
the midst of time, by the strength and under the
eyes of God." The definition is not complete, but
it is so far true, for Christianity is a life, the life
of faith and of love, of love to God and love to man.
Where this life is known, there is the Christian,
where it is not known Christ is Himself unknown.
Here the terms " initiate " and " uninitiated," as
used in the old Mystics, cannot apply as defining
two degrees of Christian life. The life is there or
it is not, and in the measure that it is known, in
that measure is the life itself mystical, spiritual.
The conclusion at which we arrive has been thus
stated :
" The Mystics who have enriched the content and
meaning of religion, insist that true Mysticism is
neither passive nor negative nor theoretical. It is
a type of religion, according to them, in which all
the deep-lying powers of the personal life come into
positive exercise and function, so that there results
an experience, not merely emotional, not merely
intellectual, not merely volitional, through which
the soul finds itself in a love-relation with the Living
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The Mystic Life

God. There are all possible stages and degrees of
the experience of this ' relation,' from simple aware
ness of the soul's Divine Companion to a rapt
consciousness of union with the One and Only
Reality. The term ' mystical ' is properly used for
any type of religion which insists upon an immediate
inward revelation of God ^within the sphere of
personal experience " (The Beginnings of Quakerism,
Preface by Dr. Rufus M. Jones).

141

CHAPTER XII
QUAKERISM
A careful study of Quakerism, especially in its
beginnings, is essential to the right understanding
and interpretation of Religious Mysticism. This
study is now greatly facilitated by the publication
of The Beginnings of Quakerism, by William C.
Braithwaite, B.A., LL.B., and to this book I am
greatly indebted, and any references, not otherwise
stated, are to this publication.
In all writings on Mysticism reference has to be
made to George Fox, and his most striking experi
ences. Readers of The Varieties of Religious
Experience wiU recall how these experiences are
pressed in evidence. One sentence, however, should
not be overlooked. " The Quaker religion,"
writes William James, " is something which it is
impossible to overpraise. In a day of shams,
it was a religion of veracity rooted in spiritual
inwardness, and a return to something more hke
the original Gospel truth than men had ever known
in England." It was out of this sense of the
unreality of religion as witnessed on every hand
that Quakerism had its origin. 142

Quakerism
The experience of Fox himself in this respect,
and his own personal testimony, are well known.
The mere profession of religion, joined as it might
be, with great learning, was not enough. From all
hope of help from priests and ministers of religion,
Fox withdrew more and more into solitude. Rebuked
for his absence from the Church Services, he replied :
" There was an anointing within man to teach
him, and that the Lord would teach His people
Himself." " When aU my hope in them and in aU
men was gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to
help me, nor could teU what to do, then, O then I
heard a voice which said, ' There is one, even Christ
Jesus, that can speak to thy condition,' and, when
I heard it, my heart did leap for joy. . . . Then the
Lord did gently lead me along, and did let me
see His love, which was endless and eternal, and
surpasseth all the knowledge that men have in the
natural state or can get by history or books : and
that love did let me see myself as I was without
Him "(p. 34)-
This was Fox's spiritual discovery — the disclosure
of the Divine Presence within, himself taught
directly of God, himself God's Sanctuary. Hence
his great doctrine of the Inward Light, " the Light
that lighteth every man," and his call to all was to
live in the Light. His own experience of newness
of life, through the indwelling Spirit, was the ground
of his confidence for others. Out of this inward
compulsion <a,U his activities proceeded.
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
Nor does Fox stand alone. He found prepared
groups in many places. " They were composed
mainly of persons who had already dissociated
themselves from established Churches, but had
found living union with one another because of
common convictions and a common search " (p. 131).
Their earliest name was " Children of the Light " —
a name " due to Fox preaching the light of Christ
as the guide to eternal life " (p. 44). The origin of
the designation " Quakers " is somewhat uncertain.
" Fox says that Justice Bennett gave the nickname
because Fox had bidden him tremble at the name
of the Lord " (p. 57), but there is an earlier use of the
nickname, and for other than the Friends, their
self-chosen name, which arose naturally from their
fellowship together.
When Quakerism is studied mainly in the life
of its founder there is great danger of confusion
and misleading conclusions. The principle, already
insisted upon, must here be strongly urged. Allow
ance must be made for temperament and circum
stances. In his admirable preface to The Beginnings
of Quakerism, Dr. Rufus M. Jones dweUs upon
Fox's " peculiar psychical traits," and concludes :
" His psychical constitution was thus plainly of a
very unstable sort, and if he had not found near the
end of his adolescent period an organising, centra
lising, and constructive power, his story would have
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Quakerism
been vastly different. But fortunately he did
find the centralising power — ' the Key,' as he
calls it, ' which opened life to me ' " (p. xxxi.).
But this " centralising power " was lacking in some
of the early Quakers. ' ' The fresh sense of indwelling
spiritual life, which betrayed Fox himself into
occasional extravagances, sometimes worked havoc
in less stable characters " (p. 147). Most important,
therefore, is it that we should understand the truth
at the heart of Quakerism, making every aUowance
for the weakness and fallibility of the human mind,
and for the fixed ideas of the age in which they
lived. In the first chapter of his Journal Fox has himself
gathered up the truths and principles for which he
stood. Of his own experience he writes :
" The Lord God opened to me by His invisible
power, ' that every man was enlightened by the
divine light of Christ ' ; and I saw it shine through
all ; and that they that believed in it came out of
condemnation to the light of life, and became the
chUdren of it ; but they that hated it, and did not
believe in it, were condemned by it, though they
made a profession of Christ. This I saw in the pure
openings of the light, without the help of any man ;
neither did I then know Where to find it in the
Scriptures, though afterwards, searching the Scrip
tures, I found it."
His Divinely-appointed mission was " to turn
people to that inward light, Spirit, and grace, by
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
which all might know their salvation, and their
way to God " ; to call all people away from trust
in human teachers, and from all the world's worships :
" to know the Spirit of Truth in the inward parts,
and to be led thereby."
In his Sermon in Court, during the sessions at
Lancaster, Fox gives, in greatest fulness, his message,
which is found in briefer form in many places in the
Journal. He tells us that what he was moved to
declare was this :
" That the Holy Scriptures were given forth by
the Spirit of God, and all people must first come to
the Spirit of God in themselves, by which they
might know God and Christ, of whom the prophets
and the apostles learnt ; and by the same Spirit
know the Holy Scriptures ; for as the Spirit of God
was in them that gave forth the Scriptures, so the
same Spirit of God must be in all them that come
to understand the Scriptures ; by which Spirit they
might have fellowship with the Son, and with the
Father, and with the Scriptures, and with one
another ; and without this Spirit they can know
neither God nor Christ, nor the Scriptures, nor have
right fellowship one with another."
This fundamental principle of Quakerism is so
vital that its fuller illustration from Fox's Journal
must be given. Here Quakerism and Mysticism
speak with one voice. Alike in both the faith that
God speaks directly to the spirit and that genuine
religion is essentially of this first-hand type, is
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Quakerism
taught. The real Presence can be, must be, directly
known, and immediately experienced. In every
soul there is the witness for God, a Divine Light,
which recognised and obeyed cleanses and iUu-
minates and sanctifies. Again and again does Fox
thus exhort the people " to come off from aU these
things "—the mere externals of religion — and directs
them " to the Spirit and grace of God in themselves,
and to the light of Jesus in their own hearts, that
they might come to know Christ, their free teacher,
to bring them to salvation, and to open the Scrip
tures to them." In another place he writes : "So
I preached repentance to the people, and directed
them to their inward teacher, Jesus Christ." Again,
we read, " the people were mightily satisfied that
they were directed to the Lord's teaching in
themselves." " I opened Christ's parables unto them, and
directed them to the Spirit of God in themselves,
that would open the Scriptures unto them." " To
the light of Christ in you I speak." " The Scrip
tures were opened to them, and their objections
answered. They were directed to the light of Christ,
the heavenly man ; that by it they might all see
their sins, and Christ Jesus to be their Saviour, their
Redeemer, their Mediator, and come to feed on
Him, the bread of life from heaven."
This is the ever-recurring note in all his preaching,
and it is the very keynote of Quakerism and of
Mysticism.
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
In the teaching of Fox, while the Inward Light
is accepted as absolute in authority, there is yet
the necessary correction of subjective revelations
by comparison with the Scriptures, and also by
conference one with another, and fellowship together
in the things of Christ. Upon Scripture his appeal
is based, and the interpretation and verification of
Scripture is the true work of the Spirit within.
It has to be admitted that Fox himself was not
free from serious errors of judgment. He urges,
indeed, that the mind should not be let go out from
the Spirit of God into their earthly wiUs, and their
own notions. But this did not cover the whole
ground. " Infirmities of judgment and gusts of emotional
impulse and nervous exaltation beset the religious
enthusiast in his hours of supremest self-devotion
as well as in his moments of self-willed wisdom —
the imperfections of his human personality intrude
themselves even when he is bearing the Cross. The
high doctrine of spiritual guidance held by the early
Friends did not allow for this " (p. 148).
This frank admission covers a wide ground, but
over against any extravagances and unwise actions
may be set the singularly sane and practical advice
and teaching as to the duties and responsibilities of
ordinary life and affairs. The unworldliness of the
Quakers, for example, in their conduct of their
ordinary avocations, is indeed notable. - It was the
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Quakerism
direct vision of God, the experience of " Christ in
you," which made the early Quakers reformers of
society, and re-makers of the world.
Thus Quakerism, in its Mysticism, was the very
opposite of that dreamy, visionary, impracticable
religion, too often associated with the term Mysti
cism. Indeed the danger, so far as Quakerism is
concerned, has been the opposite, that of overlooking
or neglecting the Mysticism therein, because of the
very practical aspect of the movement. For this
reason, I dwell the more upon its spiritual
significance. The witness abundantly supplied in Fox's Journal
may be indefinitely supplemented. Here are three
additional testimonies. Francis Howgill, leader
among the Westmorland Seekers, writes :
" Return home to within : sweep your houses
all, the groat is there, the little leaven is there, the
grain of mustard seed you will see which the Kingdom
of God is like . . . and here you will see your
Teacher not removed into a corner, but present
when you are upon your beds and about your
labour, convincing, instructing, leading, correcting,
judging, and giving peace to all that love and foUow
Him" (p. 97)-
Edward Burrough, one of the earliest of the
" Publishers of Quaker Truth," of whom it is said
that " during the ten years of his brief life-work, he
never spent one week to himself," writes : " We
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
met together often and waited upon the Lord in
pure silence, from our own words and all men's
words, and hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and
felt His word in our hearts to burn up and beat
down all that was contrary to God ; and we obeyed
the Light of Christ in us " (p. 130) . Isaac Penington
— eldest son of Sir Isaac Penington, Lord Mayor, and
representative of the City in the Long Parliament
— who after prolonged and anxious search, at last
found the light, writes :
" Some may desire to know what I have at last
met with. I answer, ' I have met with the seed.'
Understand that word, and thou wilt be satisfied,
and inquire no farther. I have met with my God, I
have met with my Saviour, and He hath not been
present with me, without His salvation, but I
have felt the healings drop upon my soul from under
His wings. I have met with the true knowledge,
the knowledge of life, the living knowledge, the
knowledge which is life ; and this hath had the true
virtue in it, which my soul hath rejoiced in, in the
presence of the Lord " (p. 505).
The story of the beginnings of Quakerism is full
of help in the interpretation of Mysticism. " The
Founders of Quakerism were mastered by the
conviction that they had discovered God in their
own souls, and that they were dealing directly with
Him " (Social Law in the Spiritual World, p. 147).
They had " felt the presence and power of the
Most High," and their proclamation was ever of
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Quakerism
this direct and personal experience. But it is not
to the Founders alone that we may turn for this
witness, for it is of the essence of Quakerism in
aU its living stages. To impress this truth upon
the mind, it is well to study other lives. The
personality of George Fox is so strong and individual,
and the power of his appeal so forceful, that we are
in danger of attributing to the man himself much of
his remarkable success.
The best correction will be found in a Quaker of
a later age. In The Journal of John Woolman,
aU the essential truths are clearly taught, and in
John Woolman himself we find an example of
saintliness unsurpassed, even in the annals of
Quakerism. " John Woolman's gift was love " —
that is the simple and final word. Here are some
of the constantly repeated phrases which he uses
to express his sense of direct guidance and help.
" I was taught to watch the pure opening ; the opening
of truth ; the movings of His Holy Spirit ; a motion
of love ; baptised into a feeling sense of all conditions ;
I found drawings in my mind ; I found a concern
on that account ; I felt a stop in my mind ; my
mind was frequently covered with inward prayer."
These and many other sayings are the more significant
because they are simple and unstudied expressions
of experience. There is no attempt to explain
or justify his words. He speaks as the varying
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
circumstances prompt him, in a language all his
own. But behind and beneath all there is the
confident assurance of direct guidance.
What the conditions of this inward guidance are,
and how it is to be sought and discovered, we learn
from other sayings. The requirement of inward
stillness is frequently insisted upon.
" We were taught by renewed experience to
1 labour for an inward stillness ; at no time to seek
1 for words, but to live in the spirit of truth and utter
that to the people which truth opened in us."
" The case being new and unexpected, I made no
answer suddenly, but sat a time silent, my mind
being inward." " For several days, my mind was
drawn into a deep inward stillness, and being at
times covered with the spirit of supplication, my
heart was secretly poured out before the Lord."
" In these opportunities my mind, through the
mercies of the Lord, was kept low in an inward
waiting for His help."
This is the Positive condition, the lowly waiting
upon God ; but there is also a Negative condition,
the demand of which is equally urgent. Thus he
speaks of " being unclothed of our own wisdom,
and knowing the abasement of the creature " ; of
watching diligently " against the motions of self
in my own mind " ; of the danger of " looking at
the example of others " ; of the necessity of depend
ing " upon the daily instructions of Christ," rather
than " upon a concern " previously felt.
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Quakerism
But the first and fundamental requirement is
that of detachment from aU outward gains and
honours. This aU the Mystics insist upon. Forj
many it meant the withdrawal altogether from allj
the activities of social and business life. Fori
John Woolman it meant the relinquishing of what
promised to be a prosperous business career. " The
way to large business appeared open, but I felt a
stop in my mind," he writes. " I saw that an'
humble man, with the blessing of the Lord, might j
live on a little, and that, where the heart was set!
on greatness, success in business did not satisfy the;
craving ; but that commonly, with an increase of
wealth, the desire of wealth increased." Relin
quishing his trading, he worked as a tailor — by
himself and without apprentice ; and cultivated
"a nursery of apple trees." It was thus out of;
his own life he could urge upon others to " dwell \
in humility ; and take heed that no views of outward
gain get too deep hold of you, that so, your eyes
being single to the Lord, you may be preserved in
the way of safety." This may sound in our ears
as " a counsel of perfection," impossible of attain
ment. But he does not urge his way of life upon
all. How the truth within will work in other lives
he sees clearly, and here his words have guidance for
us :
" If Friends who have known the truth, keep in
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
that tenderness of heart where all views of outward
gain are given up, and their trust is only in the Lord,
He will graciously lead some to be patterns of deep
'. self-denial in things relating to trade and handicraft
labour ; and others who have plenty of the treasures
of this world will be examples of a plain frugal life,
and pay wages to such as they may hire, more
liberally than is now customary in some places."
In John Woolman' s religious experience Love is
the one inspiring life-principle. " When we love
God with all our heart and with all our strength, in
this love we love our neighbour as ourselves ; and
a tenderness of heart is felt towards all people for
whom Christ died." To him was given to see that
cruelty to animals was a sin against God. " I
believe," he writes, " where the love of God is
verily perfected, and the true spirit of government
watchfully attended to, a tenderness towards all
creatures made subject to us will be experienced,
and a care felt in us that we do not lessen that
sweetness of life in the animal creation, which
the great Creator intends for them under our
government." In another passage the influence
of the love and reverence of God is widened to
include all God's works : "As the mind is moved
by an inward principle to love God as an invisible
incomprehensible Being, so by the same principle
it is moved to love Him in aU His manifestations
in the visible world." 154

Quakerism
Though there are many references to " inward
prayer," yet we find no prayer for special personal
favours. He was, to use his own words, " mixed
with his fellow-creatures in their misery, and could
not consider himself a distinct and separate being."
How close this identification of himself with others
was is evidenced by his concern for their well-
being. Very early in his life he came to the conclu
sion that slave-keeping was " a practice inconsistent
with the Christian religion." This was his great
burden, his life-long testimony. With surprising
gentleness he laid his message before the Friends,
making many and long journeys for this purpose.
When entertained by slave-holding planters, he
dechned to receive as a gift food and lodging which
to him were the gain of oppression ; he either left
the pay for his entertainment to be distributed
amongst the slaves, or gave it them himself. Through
the labours of Woolman, slavery was at last cast
out from Quaker circles, and through this action, in
great measure the final work of Emancipation was
begun. " These are the souls for whom Christ
died, and for our conduct towards them we must
answer before Him who is no respecter of persons " —
such was Woolman's testimony.
It is not possible to cover the whole ground of
Woolman's activities and " concerns " for the good
of men. Enough has been said to prove beyond
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
question that in his case " foUowing the inward
light " did not mean mere subjectiveness. The
union of spiritual religion and active philanthropy
for which Quakerism through all its history has
stood is the practical Mysticism we need to-day.
In all the Churches there is the activity, ever more
and more developing. What is lacking is the
spirituality, the waiting upon God, the inward
inspiration, the motive power. It is this which
Mysticism stands for. " Be stiU and know that
I am God " is the message to the Churches, as to
the individual. " They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength."

156

CHAPTER XIII
THE HIDDEN LIFE OF THE SOUL
The fact of Divine Inspiration is an integral part
of Religious Mysticism. With one voice the Mystics
declare that they have experienced " the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit," cleansing, spiritualising, quicken
ing the whole life in love and in service. In that
experience the Holy Spirit is "no mere influence,
derived, secondary, impersonal and vanishing, but
is no other than God Himself in vital contact and
communication with the spirits of men whom He
has made." This is the Christian Doctrine of the
Holy Spirit, as taught by all the great leaders of
Christian thought. Hence any and every writer on
the work of the Spirit is and must be essentially
mystical. This is weU illustrated in the truly great book of
Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections, in
which, as it has been said, there is " asserted for all
time the inwardness and spirituality of true re
ligion." This is his statement of the simple yet
profound Christian truth :
" The Scriptures represent the Holy Spirit not
only as moving and occasionally influencing the
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
saints, but as dwelling in them as His temple, His
proper abode, and everlasting dweUing-place. And
He is represented as being so united to the faculties
of the soul, that He becomes there a principle of new
nature and hfe."
Here then is the justification of Dr. Moberly's
assertion that if aU Christians had but understood
and lived up to their professed belief in the Holy
Spirit " they would aU have been Mystics : or in
other words, there would have been no Mysticism "
(Atonement and Personality, p. 316). For aU, the
truth remains, not only as the truth of Mysticism,
but as the truth of vital religion : " God is no
otherwise your God, but as He is the God of your
hfe, manifested in it : and He can be no otherwise
the God of your life but as His Spirit is living within
you " (William Law, Letters).
Once and again we have been brought face to face
with a possible objection to this high doctrine, which
demands fuUer discussion. I refer to the theory
that the thoughts, impulses, emotions which spring
up into conscious hfe, and which are counted " fruits
of the Spirit," may be but the incursions from the
deeper, hidden life of the soul itself, and therefore,
that self suggestions are mistaken for Divine inspira
tions. This objection I propose now to consider.
The doctrine of the Sub-conscious, though now
taught by all psychologists, is yet in the experi
mental stage. In a memorial notice of F. W. H.
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
Myers, highly appreciative in its tone, William
James wrote :
" For half a century now psychologists have fully
admitted the existence of a sub-liminal mental
region under the name either of unconscious cerebra
tion or of the involuntary life ; but they have never
definitely taken up the question of the extent of
this region, never sought explicitly to map it out.
Myers definitely attacks this problem, which, after
him, it wiU be impossible to ignore."
In his last publication, Human Personality and its
Survival of Bodily Death, which, to the regret of aU
students, he did not live to complete and finally
revise, Myers uses the suggestive analogy of the
visible solar spectrum beyond each end of which
there are ether waves of which our eyes have
no cognisance. So consciousness, the ordinary
mentality of normal life, has its spectrum, at both
ends of which there are activities, mysterious,
unmeasured. Beyond the lower end, where con
sciousness merges into mere organic operation, there
are organic processes not subject to normal control
which make the very foundation of our physical
being, and beyond the higher end, where conscious
ness merges into reverie or ecstasy, there are mental
activities, mysterious, transcendental, which occa
sionally emerge into " that supra-liminal current of
consciousness which we habitually identify with
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
This is not the ancient doctrine of the divided
soul — Plato's " chariot-soul," drawn by two horses
pulling different ways — the Jacob-Israel character,
in which two natures wrestle for mastery — St. Paul's
law in the members warring against the law of the
mind — Tennyson's two voices, doubt and faith,
fear and hope — Clough's Dipsychus, the tender
| conscience and the world-spirit in conflict — Steven
son's Dr. JekyU and Mr. Hyde. This inner conflict
is known in some measure by all men. Perfect
unity of personality is not a present possession.
Even our self-knowledge is very partial — knowledge
of self in detachments as it were, different and vary
ing sides of a many-sided self. No man is always
at his best. We know ourselves, and are known to
others, as often inconsistent. In those moments
when we are drawn by strong conflicting impulses
we seem broken into fragments. " In your patience
ye shall win your souls," is a saying full of signifi
cance. Not alone by external attractions and
antagonisms, but even more by inward impulses and
inclinations, we are pulled in different directions, and
only as we hold fast to one worthy, centralising
interest can we attain strong and stable character.
In a large sense, covering the many activities
of life, " getting and spending we lay waste our
powers." Self-direction along a chosen path, and
concentration of our powers, the detachment and
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
attachment of the Mystics, is the law of all noble
life. It is not, however, a doctrine of two selves, a
higher and a lower, which we are considering, but
the doctrine that the self of which we are normally
conscious is only a part, perhaps a small part, of the
true self or soul, so that " no self of which we can
here have cognisance is in reality more than a
fragment of a larger self — revealed in a fashion at
once shifting and limited, through an organisation
not so framed as to afford it full manifestation."
It is not necessary to follow Myers through the
manifold evidences he adduces in support of this
doctrine. That intelligent operations take place
below the waking consciousness is a familiar expe
rience. There is " unconscious rumination," an
" unconscious mental process of digestion and
assimilation." Men of genius confess that their j
best was not theirs in any consciously purposive j
sense. It was given to them ; it flashed upon them, l
They cannot reproduce or match at will their]
greatest works. It was a tide of the spirit, a gift of J
the larger self, "an uprush of the sub-liminal."i
On a higher plane, Myers instances the " Demon " of
Socrates, the sudden emergence of an inward
authority as guidance in practical life, a voice of
restraint, which, from chhdhood, had been a con
trolling influence in his life ; and the voices and
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visions of Joan of Arc, all calling to the purest
heroism, from the first summons in her girlhood to
be good, to the great deeds of her womanhood.
The step from these experiences to the inward
guidance and illumination of the Mystics is easy,
and the question is urgent — how are we to dis
tinguish, is it possible to distinguish, between self-
prompted thoughts and the word of God ? What
is the relation of the doctrine of the sub-liminal to
conversion and inspiration, and to the mystical
experience generaUy ? For, let it be again started,
the sub-conscious is not the mere store-chamber of
past mental activities. There is active mental work
done of which we are not immediately conscious,
and the possibility of the emergence into full
consciousness of thoughts and impulses which have
their origin in that hidden fife of the soul must be
reckoned with.
Whatever may be our final conclusion, one thing
is certain — we must give to this larger self work to
do, and opportunities of making itself actively
known. If no other fact were known to us than
this — that in the sub-conscious are aU our stores of
memory, the duty of letting the mind turn in, as it
were; upon itself would be clear. But the fact goes
far beyond this. There are mental activities of a
surprising richness, almost compelling us to believe
that the sub-liminal is " the more real and more
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
noble, more comprehensive, more inteUigent self, of
which the supra-liminal development is but a
natural and healthy and partial manifestation."
The mystic call to meditation " to enter the silence," '
to shut close the doors of the senses that thoughts!
and visions not sense-born may arise, has, so far
at least, a psychological basis. True there is a
moraUy higher and lower in the hidden life, as in
the conscious. An " uprush of the sub-liminal "
may be an uprush of animal instincts and passions,
which are never wholly subjected. It is, however,
only the undisciplined mind which is carried away
by unreasoning impulses, and self-discipline is
included in the Mystic's call to meditation. It is to
the " spiritually minded " that the call to " enter
the silence " is addressed, and " he that is spiritual
judgeth all things."
How this principle of self-communion may act is
well iUustrated in the case of Woolman. His words
have already been quoted, but they well repay more
careful study. An official request was made to him
" to provide lodging and entertainment for two
soldiers, and that six shiUings a week per man would
be allowed as pay for it." Believing, as he did,
that " wars are inconsistent with the purity of the
Christian religion," he was placed in a difficulty.
He describes his action thus : " The case being new
and unexpected, I made no answer suddenly, but
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
sat a time silent, my mind being inward." The
issue is not the point before us, though it is exceed
ingly interesting. His reply was, " If the men are
sent here for entertainment, I believe I shall not
refuse to admit them into my house, but the nature
of the case is such that I expect I cannot keep them
on hire." This was his idea of what he speaks of as
" a passive obedience to authority." Now, assum
ing that this inwardness of mind was an appeal to
the sub-liminal, to the wisdom of his own deeper
self, the method was justified by the result, and is
an object lesson for many of us who impulsively
rush into speech on any provocation. To give time
for the inner workings of thought is surely wise.
Indeed there is wisdom in the familiar advice, " to
sleep on it," for there are activities of sleep, mental
activities other than our foolish dreams would
imply. " Drafts upon the energy of the spiritual
world," so sleep has been described. How other
wise can we account for its strange reparative
powers, and its resultant clearness of thought ?
In other ways the possible emergence of the sub
conscious finds illustration. The power of mind
over body is now generally admitted. Out of this
has arisen many systems and cults. Healing by
" suggestion " is now taught and practised ; and
" suggestion," in the words of William James, " is
only a name for a successful appeal to the sub-liminal
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
consciousness." The curative phenomena of
hypnosis, as certified by well-qualified medical
practitioners, afford remarkable evidence of the
power of that deeper current of mental life. After
much experimenting it is found that all the ways of
inducing the hypnotic state can be reduced to that
of suggestion, and, in the final analysis, to self-
suggestion, the appeal to the sub-liminal self, either
by the practitioner or by the subject himself, for
self-hypnotism is common. A study of hypnotism
impresses one with the importance of cultivating
" suggestion," of insisting to one's self upon the ends
desired, of summoning to one's aid all the energies
of the soul, thus using to the full whatever powers
lie hidden within. Two different currents of mental
life are ours, one deeper, and the other shallower,
and the appeal to the deeper is best made while the
usual active mentality is in abeyance. This much
of psychological truth is there in the Mystic's
" StiUness." But, it will be urged, are there not dangers in
this teaching ? What of the strange medley of
phenomena, illusions, hallucinations, and what not,
which are associated with hypnotism — strange
phenomena indeed, associated not only with hypno
tism, but also with Mysticism. Here, as in all else
in life, the test principle is, " by their fruits ye
shall know them." All human faculties have their
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aberrations, but not therefore do we despise or
denounce them. The ruling power is ours to
discern between the morally higher and lower.
" If the fruits for life of the state of conversion are
good, we ought to idealise and venerate it, even
though it be a principle of natural psychology ; if
not, we ought to make short work with it, no matter
what supernatural being may have infused it " —
so wrote William James, and that, as it seems to me,
is after all the final word.
I have dwelt somewhat fully upon this doctrine
of the sub-conscious, the more to accentuate the
importance of the question as to the relation of this
doctrine to the mystical experience. Is " the
inward light " a higher life of the soul itself, or is
it, as the Scriptures declare, the Indwelling Spirit ?
One answer to this question has arrested wide
attention. In a recent publication Dr. Sanday has
suggested, as a tentative theory, that " the proper
seat or locus of all divine indwelling, or divine action
upon the human soul, is the sub-liminal conscious
ness " (Christologies Ancient and Modern, p. 159).
This statement in the text is qualified in a foot
note :
" Some stress is laid upon ' proper,' for which I
might almost have written ' primary.' I do not,
of course, mean to deny that this divine element
makes itself felt, and at times directly felt in con
sciousness. But it seems to come up (as it were)
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
unto consciousness, as if from some lower and
deeper sphere."
This theory has been subjected to much adverse
criticism, and some confusion has arisen through a
misunderstanding of the special terms lower and
higher. Thus it has been suggested that we should
use the term super-consciousness, rather than sub
consciousness, for aU that is morally good, as
though a moral quality was implied in the terms,
which of course is not the case. The sub-conscious
includes all activities " closed off from the ordinary
waking consciousness."
Dr. Sanday's theory is worthy of serious con
sideration. It has been anticipated, in part, by
William James, who wrote :
" Just as our primary wide-awake consciousness
throws open our senses to the touch of things
material, so it is logically conceivable that if there be
higher spiritual agencies that can directly touch us,
the psychological condition of their doing so might
be our possession of a sub-conscious region which
alone should yield access to them. The hubbub of
the waking hfe might close a door which in the
dreamy Subliminal might remain ajar or open "
(The Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 242).
This is the cautious, balanced statement of a
psychologist, not the less important on that account.
Myers goes much further ; for to him " the super
normal faculties of the sub-hminal take us into the
cosmic environment." Here the spiritual world is
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
open to us, " upon which we are enabled to make
drafts of power by virtue of our connection with our
sub-liminal." That influences other than those consciously
recognised enter into and mould life and character
is indeed certain. Not a httle of what is attributed
to heredity is, in reality, due to these unnoticed but
potent influences. The influences of mind on mind
are far too subtle to be tabulated — unconscious
influences, alike in the agent and in the recipient.
Thought-transference is no mere dream theory.
If, then, from those about us in the visible world,
spiritual influences enter our lives, and we can touch
one another in the hidden depths of the soul, it is
surely reasonable to conclude that Divine influences
may penetrate our lives, influences other and
richer than we are consciously aware of.
We recognise this in our moral judgments. That
they are our judgments we must assert, but that is
not the final word. In all our highest moral moments
there is a sense of authority above and beyond the
self. At the lowest, we infer God from our sense of
moral obligation. The very absoluteness of duty
implies a higher authority that is claiming us.
That a soul should be haunted by the shame of its
own wrong-doing, that all self-excusings and special
pleadings should avail not at all to silence the
condemning voice, is all a dark mystery unless a
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
Greater than self is striving within, and searching
the most secret life. And in the opposite experi
ences, when, having taken a firm stand in righteous
ness, we find that opposition and condemnation of
our fellows result, how other than as the approval
of a Higher than they can we account for the inward
peace and confidence which remain unmoved by
the storm about us ? So is it also in all our highest
and best. Those finest impulses, those flashes of
moral insight, those movements of kindness and pity,
of generosity and charity, which surprise ourselves,
and bow the soul in reverence and obedience, whence
do they come ? The treasure-house of these joys
cannot be the sub-liminal self — they spring from a
Diviner source, and are linked with " the unsearch
able riches of Christ."
The recognition of this Divine Influence is of the
very essence of Mysticism. The Christian Mystics
believed and knew that the Apostolic teaching is the
very truth of God and of life — " the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control," and
this, as no mere influence, working upon the soul,
but as an Indwelling Spirit, communicating His own
nature. This is the true mystical experience —
conscious fellowship with God. " I have met with
my God " — such is the testimony. In the words of
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
" With the same self-evident certainty as you
know that you think, and are alive, you know that
there is goodness, love, benevolence, meekness,
compassion, wisdom, peace, joy. Now this is the
self-evident God, that forces Himself to be known,
and found, and felt, in every man, in the same
certainty of self-evidence as every man feels and
finds his own thoughts and hfe."
It may be that the mystical faith of the Divine
element in human nature itself has to be included
in the doctrine of the sub-liminal. There, in that
innermost depth of the soul's essential life is the
"seed," the "spark" Divine. But this truth is
the necessary inference from the experience of
direct and personal fellowship with God. Only as
God and man are of one spiritual nature is such
communion possible. The fruit of the Spirit must
be spiritual fruit, and can only issue from a spiritual
nature. If there is an essential difference in kind
between the human and the Divine then the words
become absolute truth : " God is great and we know
Him not." Man can only really know one nature,
his own, and it is and must be from true self-know
ledge, knowledge of the true self, that we rise to the
knowledge of what God is.
The one final appeal, then, must be to life. This,
as we have seen, was the test of the Mystics for all
supposed Divine visions and voices. Nothing that
enfeebles the will, clouds the judgment, deadens
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
moral sensibility, can be of God. Communion with
God must result in an intensifying of all that is best
and noblest. " Assurance is not to be obtained so
much by self-examination as by action." Not only
of the teaching of Jesus recorded in Scripture, but
of every word of God to the individual, the life test
must be applied : "If any man willeth to do His
will, he shaU know of the teaching, whether it be of
God, or whether I speak from myself." In the
obedience of life all Divine inspirations must verify
themselves. Only in their fruits is it possible to
compare spiritual things with spiritual. " How
shaU I know," asks William Penn, " that a man does
not obtrude his own sense upon us as the infallible
Spirit ? " His answer is " By the same Spirit."
Every gracious leading of the Spirit consists in two
things : " partly in instructing a person in his duty
by the Spirit, and partly in powerfully inducing
him to comply with that instruction " — so wrote
Edwards, enforcing the test of obedience.
Here, once again, we see the essential place of the
Christian Scriptures, and of the Church as the great
company of the saints, in Religious Mysticism. In
the life and teaching of Jesus, and the Christian
experience of His first disciples, we have the source
of our religion, not indeed to override, but to
perfect our own experience. The life of the Vine is
to be the very life of all the branches, and in all our
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
interpretation of Scripture, and in all our religious
life, we should be guided by the unfoldings of truth
in the saintly lives of all ages. The Christian
feUowship is essential to the Christian life. No
worthy life is possible in isolation, religious life
least of all. We are members one of another. All
feelings are deepened and enriched by contact with
others who share them. Our most assured convic
tions receive added sanction as we recognise them
as the controlling faiths of others. While, then,
for the cultivation of a devout and sensitive spirit
times of silence and solitude are essential, yet for
the fulness of attainment and assurance there must
be fellowship one with another. Failure in either
direction is fatal to the possession of the Fulness of
the Spirit.
To-day, as surely as in any former age, God
speaks. Revelation is not a bygone story. Inspira
tion is not of Hebrew Prophet and Psalmist, or of
Christian Apostle alone. God has withdrawn from
no nearness into which He has ever come to men.
It is the listening ear, the lowly mind, the waiting
spirit and the obedience of life which are lacking in
us. The multiplicity of our activities is endangering
our spiritual life, and must do so, unless our activities
are the promptings and expression of our secret life
with God. Then, indeed, we become practical
Mystics, living a twofold life — the life of communion
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The Hidden Life of the Soul
with God in spirit and in truth, and the life of the
service of man inspired by love — twofold, yet, even
as the two great commandments, one in inner
meaning and one in that unified spiritual life which
is the very Kingdom of God.

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CHAPTER XIV
ASCETICISM
It is not possible to overlook the essential place
which self-discipline holds in the life of the Mystics,
and frequent reference has been made thereto, as
the special matter under consideration seemed to
demand. But the importance of the subject, and
the prevalence of serious misunderstanding, alike
of Asceticism itself, and of its relation to Mysticism,
call for fuller and separate treatment.
An Ascetic is defined as " one who retires from the
customary business of life, and devotes himself to the
duties of piety and devotion ; one who practises
excessive rigour and self-denial in religious things — a
hermit, a recluse." The terms Ascetic and Mystic
are by no means synonyms for one and the same type
of life. There have been many Ascetics who were
not Mystics, but every Mystic is, in a true sense, an
Ascetic, indeed the dictionary definition as above
given could be justified from the annals of Mysticism.
What has been written of Asceticism is equally true
of some phases of Mysticism :
" The times of revived asceticism are periods of
natural disorder and social disruption. Gentle and
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Asceticism
thoughtful souls found world-flight the only seeming^
refuge amidst the wrecks of aU that makes life really j
attractive, and in the extreme symbolic self-renuncia
tion of self-torture the only hope for the devoted
lives of those who saw the evil " (Encyclopedia of
Religion and Ethics, " Asceticism ").
That there have been Mystics whose discipline of
the body amounted even to extreme torture, is
indeed the case, as we shall see ; but this is the very
opposite of the truth regarding others, and just as
we reject, as pure assumption, the definition of
Mysticism in terms of its abnormal phases, so we
refuse to define Asceticism by its extreme forms.
As, in ancient Greece, Asceticism meant the discipline
undergone by athletes whfie training, so, in the early
Christian centuries, the word was used for the
physical and moral discipline of the Christian who
would " run the race " and " fight the good fight,"
and " win the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus."
It is not necessary to consider the place and power
of Asceticism in aU religions and in all worthy life,
but there are fundamental facts of experience which
should not be forgotten. The intimate and subtle
connection between over-indulgence of bodily
appetites and sloth, physical, mental, and spiritual,
is an old world experience, and some measure of self-
denial, some contradiction of natural desires, has
ever been found necessary for any high achievement.
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
The self-discipline, physical and in a measure moral,
which has made possible, and must accompany, great
proficiency in our national games, is a matter of
common knowledge. The same principle rules for
all attainments, and most expressly, in the life of the
Spirit. The deliberate judgment of a great psycholo
gist, whose study of human life and thought, and
whose knowledge of affairs, were alike profound, may
be accepted as the simple and final truth of life :
" Representatively and symbolically, and apart
from the vagaries into which the unenlightened
intellect of former times may have let it wander,
asceticism must, I believe, be acknowledged to go
with the profounder way of handling the gift of
existence " (The Varieties of Religious Experience,
P- 364)-
Such then, as it seems to me, is the spirit which
moves and controls the religious Ascetic. He takes
life seriously, seeing the goal, and the hindrances, the
dangers and the foes to be encountered in the way ;
and every step must be taken, every life-movement
controlled, by faith in the supreme value and
abiding joy of the spiritual and eternal realities.
For him, the mortifications of self, the crossings of
natural desires, the refusals of even innocent delights,
are in order that he may engage in the fuller and
richer activities of the moral and spiritual man.
This is Asceticism at its best, and in its highest
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Asceticism
exercise. Historically considered, however, we have
to include under this term all grades of severity
from simple abstinence as in fastings, to the most
painful forms of bodily torture which a misdirected
ingenuity could devise. There are writers who use
stronger words of censure of the terrible penances
which even Christian Mystics have inflicted upon
themselves ; and others, who would be charitable
in their judgments, think and speak of these acts as
those of madmen ; indeed the charge of insanity is
made to cover a wider field, as in this quotation :
" It is not now difficult for the modern psychiatrist
to recognise in the standard saints' stories of the
Middle Ages many impulses familiar to him from his
experience in the Insane Hospital, but which were,
of course, at that time regarded only as evidence
of piety and distinguished fellowship with God."
(Encyclopcedia of Religion and Ethics, " Asceticism ").
It is true that in the records of Asceticism we meet
with manifestations which agree, in form, with those
of the Insane Hospitals, but the conclusion that
these Ascetics were therefore insane would be surely
a very hasty judgment. Caution is always neces
sary in drawing inferences as to springs of action
from the action itself, since identical outward acts
often have wholly dissimilar motives. In the
impulses of the insane, to which the writer refers,
there is admittedly no moral element — in the
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corresponding impulses of the saint there may be the
very highest moral purpose. True the saint may
mistake his own impulses for the Divine will, but if
he is acting upon the highest and best as known to
hiffl, then, while we may judge his act unwise, we
dare not condemn the doer.
A good illustration of what I mean is found in the
life of St. Catherine of Genoa, who endured severe
self-imposed penances " so that all her senses were
mortified." Asked why she did these things she
said: " I do not know, but I feel myself drawn
inwardly to do this . . . and I think it is God's
will." St. Catherine, as we have seen, was a woman
of remarkable energy and business ability, and no
one who reads the story of her life can tolerate even
the suspicion of insanity in her case. We must take
her words to mean just what they say, and conclude
that she acted in simple obedience to the highest
impulses which controlled all her wonderful life.
This consideration of the conscious motive and end
must guide our judgment even when we are face to
face with the most extreme cases of self -discipline.
A typical example is found in the life of Henry Suso
(1300 — 1365), who, in his insatiable love of pain and
suffering, subjected himself to an unrelenting martyr
dom extending over almost a quarter of a century.
The story of his austerities is too long and too painful
for recapitulation here. As an instance of unbalanced
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Asceticism
and excessive Asceticism, Suso is pre-eminent
amongst Christian Mystics, and yet, in his case also,
the charge of insanity has no justification whatso
ever. AU was done deliberately, in order, as he tells
us in his autobiography, that he might " conquer the
lively nature of his youth " and that he might know
in full reality " the fellowship of Christ's sufferings."
The acts of Suso can only be understood, and must
certainly be judged, from his own standpoint, and
not from ours. When the whole story of his life is
known, and aU that he was and did is before us, we
shall not withhold our reverence :
" The spirit of kindly love, the passion for the
redemption of sinners, the utter loss of selfish
interest, the sweet consciousness of Divine love, and
the complete obedience of will to the heavenly lead
ing which mark this Friend of God, must cover for
us the blindness and error which were mainly due to
his intellectual environment and to the subtle
influences of suggestion " (Studies in Mystical
Religion, p. 291).
In the lives of other Mystics, and especially in
their teaching, Asceticism assumes a far more
inward form. The self-discipline remains severe, but
it is directed to the complete spirituafising of thought,
affection and will. St. John of the Cross may be
taken as our type of this Asceticism, for though his
own observance of the stricter Rule of the Carmelite
Order, which he entered at the. age of twenty-one,
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
would doubtless involve what we should count
austerities, yet he does not dwell upon these in his
writings, but rather upon the " subduing of our
desires." For this he gives definite " instructions,"
which may be thus summarised :
The imitation of Christ, and in order thereto,
meditation upon His Life.
" To do this well, every satisfaction offered to the
senses, which is not for God's honour and glory, must
be renounced and rejected for the love of Jesus
Christ." " In order to mortify and calm the four natural
passions of joy, hope, fear, and grief," he adds
these " instructions " :
" Strive always, not after that which is most easy,
but after that which is most difficult."
" Not after that which is most pleasant, but after
that which is most unpleasant."
" Not after that which is consoling, but after that
which is afflictive."
" Not after that which ministers repose, but after
that which ministers labour."
" Not after great things, but after little things."
" Strive not to desire anything, but rather
nothing." " Seek not after that which is better, but after
that which is worse, and desire to be detached from
all things, empty and poor for Christ's sake " (The
Ascent of Mount Carmel, p. 56/.).
Whatever judgment may be passed upon these
directions, their intention is evident and the aim
lofty. To be conformed to the likeness of Christ,
every thought brought into captivity to His
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Asceticism
obedience, and aU hfe's activities inspired and
controlled by His Spirit, such was the ideal of St.
John of the Cross, and it is Christianity.
I have already called attention to the fact that
many of the great Mystics were members of one or
other of the Monastic Orders. As these Orders, in
great part at least, arose as a protest against the
increasing worldliness of the Church, it is only what
we should expect that their Rules should be formu
lated with the definite purpose of cultivating self-
mortification. In some Orders, it is true, there are
no prescribed bodily penances beyond what may be
covered by the threefold vow of Chastity, Obedience,
and Poverty, but in others severe austerities are
enjoined — for such they appear to us, though it may
well be that what appeals to us as very distressing
may not have been accounted excessive privation in
a former age. But monastic life, even under the
strictest Orders, could not secure freedom from
searching temptations, and each faithful soul had
still to work out its own salvation, and exercise its
own self-discipline.
The Recluse, especiaUy, did accomplish the flight
from the world, but it was only from the world
without, not by any means from the greater spiritual
world within, where every battle has to be fought
and the victory won. The Confessions of a Recluse
written, as St. Augustine wrote, in all sincerity of
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
self-revealing, would unveil spiritual conflicts upon
which we could only gaze in reverent awe. Even
The Lady Julian, Anchoress at Norwich, whose
singularly pure and feeble selfhood must have
spared her the severity of many conflicts, has to fight
against " despair or doubtful dread," " sloth and
losing of time," " unreasoning heaviness and vain
sorrow," the sins of Accidie, that insidious spiritual
malady which saintly men in all ages have known.
Julian does not teU us how she overcame her beset
ting sins, indeed she had no word of ascetic counsel,
but only of the " Revelations of Divine Love " to
her. Was this of design ; did she realise all needed
strength and freedom in her visions of Love ? We
may weU believe it was even thus in her experience,
and that she tells her visions in the hope that others
may share her joy. " The love of Christ con-
straineth us " — the Love which Christ reveals and is,
and the answering love He quickens in us— in this
joy of love is victory and peace.
This I believe to be the final word and witness of
the Christian Mystics, the inspiring and regulating
wisdom in all Christian Asceticism, the beginning
and the end of " The Mystic Way."
I do not say there are to be no " mortifications of
our members," no urgent calls to " crucify the flesh
with its affections and lusts." This is not the teach
ing of the Mystics, and could not be in face of the
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Asceticism
facts of all Christian experience. What, however,
some of the Mystics do realise is, that direct attack
is not the surest way to victory, that the real enemy
is in the soul itself, and can only be conquered by
Holy Love. This is the teaching of the unknown
author of The Cloud of Unknowing, or as the edition
before me is titled, The Divine Cloud. One passage,
in which the cleansing and enriching power of love is
contrasted with ascetic practices, may be given :
" Fast thou never so much, watch thou never so
long, rise thou never so early, lie thou never so hard,
wear thou never so rough garments, put out thine
eyes, if it were lawful (as indeed it is not) , cut out thy
tongue, stop thine ears and nose never so fast, cut
off also thy members if the law of God would bear
it (as in truth it will not), put thy body to all the
pain and penance that thou canst devise ; and all
that shall avail thee little or nothing. For when
thou hast done all that thou canst do, yet will the
stirring and rising of sin remain in thee. Yea (and
which is more), weep thou never so much for sorrow
for thy sins, or else for the Passion of Christ, have
thou never so much mind of the joys of heaven, and
of the glory of all the holy Angels and Saints, what
shall it help or avail thee ? Undoubtedly much
good, much help, much profit, and much grace shalt
thou win by that exercise. But in comparison of
this blind stirring of love, all is but little that is done,
or may be done, without this. . . . This not only
destroyeth the ground and root of sin, but also
getteth all virtues."
It is interesting to note that this unnamed Mystic
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Studies 'in Christian Mysticism
of the fourteenth century saw the truth which
Browning has so beautifuUy expressed :
Let us not always say
" Spite of this flesh to-day
I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole! "
As the bird wings and sings,
Let us cry, " All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps
soul!"
This is what the Mystic writes : " God forbid that
I should separate what God hath joined together, to
wit, the body and the spirit." And again: "Whoso
had this work it would govern him full seemly, as
well in body as in soul, and make him graceful to the
eye of each man or woman that looked upon him."
- In this thought we have the negation of all the
extreme forms of Asceticism, in bodily self-torture.
This, also, is the teaching of Father Baker, who wrote
a Preface and Notes to The Divine Cloud. In his
own Directions, compiled from " more than forty
treatises " by his contemporary Father Cressy, and
given to the world under the title Holy Wisdom,
Asceticism is essentially moral and spiritual. " The
only subject of mortification," he writes, " are our
affections, and not any other faculties but only in
order to our affections." He speaks also of mortify
ing the passions " by transcending them, that is, by
elevating and uniting the spirit to God." Hence,
" prayer is in itself the most exalted and effectual
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Asceticism
mortification." His knowledge of life leads him to
conclude that " the mortifications which come in the
natural course of life " will provide all that is needful
for the soul's discipline.
The truth that Divine Love is the one effective
cleansing energy, has, as its correlative truth, the
fact that self is the one corrupting agent, that self-
ness is the one all-inclusive sin, and self can only be
mortified as love reigns. This, I think, is the root
idea in the Imitation, and in the Theologia Germanica,
and in this doctrine of Love and of Sin the Mystics
do but teach the pure Christian truth, and bid us
return to the fountain-head of spiritual direction in
the Christian Scriptures.
The one saying of the Lord, upon which all
Christian Asceticism, and, indeed, Christian Mysti
cism itself, is based, is reported by St. Mark thus :
" If any man would come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For
whosoever would save his life shall lose it ; and
whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the
gospel's shall save it." By some of the Mystics, as
by many devout Christians in our own day, this
searching condition of true discipleship of Christ has
been confused and misapplied. The intensity and
comprehensiveness of the teaching have been
obscured by its applications to particular acts and
duties, as though Jesus said, " Deny thyself this or
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
that " — " take/up this or that cross." This is not
the meaning of the Divine word. It is the self that
is to be denied, self-will, self-pride, self-pleasing, self
as life's centre and ruling principle, and this, unto
the final test of obedience, unto the taking up of the
cross. The disciples' love and loyalty to Christ is
to be unto the uttermost, unto the carrying of the
cross to the place of crucifixion, " obedient even
unto death, yea, the death of the cross." Such
complete self-renunciation is possible only in the joy
of love, for Love's sake, " for My sake." He only,
who has seen His Glory, can ever be thus " faithful
unto death," but that vision realised, the heart and
mind and will, the whole man, is thenceforward
" the bond-servant of Jesus Christ."
In the Teaching of Jesus, as it has so often to be
insisted, there are no rules for conduct given, but
life principles only. Of course this does not mean
that there is no right conduct, but that each of His
followers is left to determine what this is in the light
of the ruling principle. Even so, the truth that the
real mortification is of the self, does not mean that
there are no individual acts of self-denial. The life
of St. Paul, as revealed to us in his Letters, is the
best corrective of this possible misrepresentation.
In his example and teaching we find the fullest
enforcement, and the just limitations of Christian
Asceticism. 186

Asceticism
The mortifications which St. Paul Experienced in
the course of his great life-work rftight well be
deemed sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the
severest self-discipline, and yet he writes : " Every
man that striveth in the games is temperate in all
things. ... I buffet my body and bring it into
bondage." He who, as a spiritual athlete, subjects himself to
bodily training that he may win the prize of perfect
Christ-likeness is thereby justified in saying to
others : " Mortify your members which are upon the
earth." " Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil
the lusts thereof." " If ye live after the flesh, ye
must die ; but if by the spirit ye mortify the deeds
of the body, ye shall live."
This opposition to, and suppression of, bodily
desires, does not arise out of any false dualism, any
doctrine of the inherent evil of man's physical
nature, as some forms of Speculative Mysticism
imply, but from the great faith that the body itself
is to be presented " a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God." " Know ye not that your bodies are
members of Christ ? " " Or know ye not that your
body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you ? "
The sublimest truths are thus linked by the
Apostle with the common duties and acts of the
physical life, and with the crossing or exercising of
natural desires. This is the spring of all true self-
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
discipline and wise " mortifications," and a hfe thus
animated and controlled will reach the goal. " Walk
by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the
flesh." " They that are of Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts
thereof." Here, then, we reach our final conclusion. All
that is helpful and obligatory in Christian Asceticism
is bound up inseparably with the central truths of
Christian Mysticism, the faith of the Divine Indwell
ing, the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, the Love of
God, the life which is " hid with Christ in God."

188

CHAPTER XV
THE INDWELLING SPIRIT
In his lectures on " The Historic Faith," Bishop
Westcott wrote : " The belief in the Holy Spirit
is characteristic of our Christian creed." " We are
all now living under that dispensation which is
essentially the dispensation of the Spirit. Our
whole attitude towards the fact of life is determined
by the devout conviction with which we hold it." The
sentence which I have emphasised is very far-reach
ing in its force and applications. Between belief,
which may be mere formal assent, and devout
conviction, which is ever life-controlling, there is
a difference which may include the extremes of
irreligion and the most saintly life.
" I believe in the Holy Ghost " is the confessed
faith of the Christian Church, but, after the earliest
centuries, there is little evidence of any " devout
conviction." Can we hope for the revival of the
Church's faith ; is this the direction in which our
thoughts are tending ? The conception of the
Divine Immanence, the nearness of God, the
kinship of God and man, are truths which are now
enforced.. Much serious thought must precede any
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
reconstruction of Christian Doctrine, but already
the thoughts of many are bearing fruit in a new
faith in the reality of the Spiritual, and in a _ richer
" communion of the Holy Ghost."
In the Christian Scriptures in this, as in all vital
religion, we shall find our surest guidance and help,
and for this reason I have thought it well to conclude
this series of essays with a brief study of the place
which the Holy Spirit held in the life and teaching
of St. Paul. It is not my purpose to attempt to
formulate a doctrine of the Spirit from the Apostle's
writings, if indeed they contain any doctrine as
such. Written, as his letters for the most part were,
to meet special needs, and expressed in the unstudied
language of experience, it is increasingly recognised
that exposition of doctrine was no essential part of
the Apostle's purpose in writing. His belief in the
Holy Ghost was indeed convinced and central
alike in his own personal life, and in his teaching,
but it is by no means easy, if indeed it is even
possible, to determine what his belief was as to the
Spirit's nature.
This element of uncertainty — or shall we say
comprehensiveness? — in St. Paul's thought finds
illustration in the names and titles he uses. Thus
in the four Letters, Romans, ist and 2nd Corin
thians, and Galatians, the simple term " the Spirit "
occurs most frequently ; indeed, in Galatians this is
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The Indwelling Spirit
almost uniformly the case. In Romans, and the
Corinthian Letters, we have " the Holy Spirit,"
" the Spirit of God." So far the Apostle follows
the Old Testament usage, and we might conclude
that his standpoint was that of the older faith, in
which the Spirit of God corresponds to the spirit of
man, the term being used to express " the fulness
of vital power, and all the activities of vital energy,
whether, as we might say, emotional, or intellectual,
or moral — whether temporary or permanent " (The
Theology of the Old Testament, A. B. Davidson, LL.D.,
p. 119).
The wider study of St. Paul's teaching wiU show
how inadequate and misleading such a representa
tion of his thought would be, though it has to be
admitted that in one passage (1 Cor. ii. 11) there is
some justification for the conclusion. The more
distinctively Christian element in his thought, which
fills the term " Spirit " with all that is expressly
and definitely personal, is found in almost all that
the Apostle wrote.
In this connection, there is one very remarkable
usage of terms by the Apostle which must not be
overlooked. He writes : " Now the Lord is the
Spirit : and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty " (2 Cor. iii. 17), and in the following
verse : " the Lord the Spirit." This identification
of the Spirit with the exalted Christ is probably
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
based upon the Apostle's personal experience ; this
is what the Spirit meant in his life, conscious fellow
ship with the Lord. Nor does this passage stand
alone. The indwelling of the Spirit of God, the
possession of the Spirit of Christ, " Christ in you,"
are spoken of together as, apparently at least,
identical (Rom. viii. 9—10). In another Letter he
speaks of " the Spirit of Jesus Christ " (Phil. i. 19).
The Trinity of the Apostle's faith was essentiaUy
a practical and personal experience. " Through
Christ we have access in one Spirit unto the Father."
All is of God, and all ends in God. Whether
through Christ, or by the Holy Spirit, it is ever
" God which worketh in you both to wiU and to
work, for His good pleasure."
In our study of the mind of the Apostle, it will
prove helpful to classify his teaching under definite
heads, not at all by way of formulating a system of
thought, but simply for greater convenience and
fulness of treatment.
(1) The Indwelling Spirit. — To the faith that
" God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
Himself," there must be added the faith : God is
in man transforming the spirit which man is into
His own likeness. " Washed, sanctified, justified,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the
Spirit of our God " — this is St. Paul's doctrine ol
the Christian life. 192/

The Indwelling Spirit
In three passages in the Corinthian Letters, the
truth of God's indwelling is explicitly stated, but
it is implicit in all St. Paul's thought. " Ye are
a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you" (i Cor. iii. 16, also vi. 19; 2 Cor. vi. 16).
In other passages it is the Indwelling Christ, or
Spirit of Christ, which is spoken of : " Know ye not
as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you ?
unless indeed ye be reprobate" (2 Cor. xiii. 5).
Reference has already been made to the passage
in Romans, one part of which adds a further truth :
" If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of His " (viii. 9 — 10). This very definite
statement, as also the stern rebuke " unless ye be
reprobate," would justify the conclusion that all
Christians, as such, have the Spirit dwelling in them,
not necessarily in the same conscious fulness, but
each in his own measure. The Christian life is
essentiaUy a life in the Spirit.
This intimacy of feUowship, Spirit with spirit,
is the foundation truth of all St. Paul's thought,
the fundamental fact in his own religious life, and
it is of the utmost importance that we should
enter into the fulness of his faith. In part, at least,
this is the common faith of all Christians. It is
not difficult to believe that a Divine power is working
in us, a gracious influence of truth and goodness,
but this power is often thought of only as impersonal
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
spirit, a radiation, as it were, from God, who Him
self remains distant and unapproached. The term
itself, by reason of its manifold uses, increases the
danger of resting in general ideas, even when we
speak of the Spirit of God. We think of some
principle, some activity of God, rather than of God
Himself as Spirit. Further, spirit is itself a physical
term, easily lending itself to nature-symbols as
iUustrations of God's indwelling, as of the air in
which man fives and which may be said also to
live in man.
Only as we learn to know our own nature and fill
the term spirit with the essential qualities of per
sonality — thought, affection, will — shall we rise to
any worthy realisation of the sublime truth : " God
is Spirit." And just as thought is where its power
is, and will is where it acts, and love is where it
rests, so the Holy Spirit who is Truth, and Will,
and Love, is where His truth, His moral will, His
love, inspire and control. God, who is Spirit, ever
works in closest fellowship with the spirit which
man also is, and which He creates, sustains, and
would perfect in His own likeness — this I believe
to be St. Paul's teaching.
(2) The Spirit of Life. — This is implied in the
simplest title, The Spirit, so frequently used by the
Apostle. The Spirit quickens life because He is
life, hence the phrase, " the Spirit of the Living
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The Indwelling Spirit
God" (2 Cor. iii. 3), and this, "the law of the
Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus" (Rom. viii. 2).
Arising necessarily out of this truth is the doctrine
of the " new birth," the beginning of the new hfe
in the Christian, " the birth from above," " the
Baptism of the Spirit " — " for in one Spirit were
we all baptised into one body, and were all made
to drink of one Spirit " (1 Cor. xii. 13).
(3) The Spirit of Sonship. — The new birth is the
awakening of love, the quickening of the conscious
sense of sonship. " When it was the good pleasure
of God to reveal His Son in me " (Gal. i. 16) is the
Apostle's statement of his conversion. This son-
ship, like the natural human relation, is based upon
essential kinship — " Because ye are sons, God sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father " (Gal. iv. 6). And just as the realisa
tion of our natural sonship in all that is tender and
true therein is, as it were, a second birth, quickened
by the unfolding of mother-love, so also is our
Divine sonship the gift of God, who by the revelation
of His Fatherhood awakens the response of love ;
thus is " the love of God shed abroad in our hearts
through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us "
(Rom. v. 5). This recognition and response of
sonship is " the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father" (Rom. viii. 15). And this recogni
tion is mutual, " the Spirit Himself beareth witness
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
with (conjointly with the witness of) our spirit,
that we are children of God " (Rom. viii. 16). This
is " the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus "
which delivers from sin and death, and establishes
in true freedom, for " where the Spirit of the Lord
is there is liberty," the inward spirit of love freeing
from the bondage of mere outward rules.
(4) The Spirit of Power. — Once and again St. Paul
uses the phrase " the power of the Holy Spirit "
(Rom. xv. 13 and 19 ; 1 Cor. ii. 4 ; 1 Thes. i. 5),
and the idea is never absent from his thought.
The " diversities of working " of the Spirit enu
merated by the Apostle (1 Cor. xii.) indicate the
manifestation of extraordinary powers in the earliest
Christian Societies. The particular character and
spiritual significance of these endowments has been
and must continue to be the subject of much
discussion. Modern psychology has thrown some
light thereon, but the Apostle's definite statement
that these " powers " were gifts of the Spirit remains.
The most important guidance is found in St. Paul's
own conclusions, first, that there are " the greater
gifts " to be earnestly desired, and second, that there
is " a still more excellent way." The thirteenth
chapter of First Corinthians, over and above its
own Divine message, serves, as indeed it was
designed, to direct our thought not to that which
is special in the Christian life, but to the Christian
196

The Indwelling Spirit
life itself, as the highest demonstration of the
Spirit. (5) The Spirit of Truth. — St. Paul declares that
his preaching was " not in words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth ;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual " (1 Cor. ii.
13). Apart from the inward iUumination of the
Spirit there is, he declares, no knowledge of the
things of God. " The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God : for they are foolish
ness unto him ; and he cannot know them, because
they are spiritually judged" (1 Cor. ii. 14). The
natural man represents human nature apart from
God ; the spiritual man is human nature enlightened
by the indweUing Spirit. Man is by nature spiritual,
as he is by nature a son of God, but just as the
response of sonship is awakened by the Spirit, so
also is spiritual discernment quickened and developed
by the Spirit, though not without human effort, as
we shall indicate later.
In a very real sense the Spirit's work must be
thought of as entering into aU realms of truth.
" The interest of God in our life is as broad as life
itself." St. Paul, however, is writing expressly of
the religious life, and of religious truth, and in this
realm he indicates that there are boundaries and
limitations of the work of the Spirit. It is not
all truth, but particular truths, which the Spirit
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
teacheth, " things which eye saw not and ear
heard not," but which are revealed through the
Spirit (i Cor. ii. 9 — 10), that is to say, the things of
Christ which the Apostle preached, " the mind of
Christ." The evidence of the Spirit's absence is
an unglorified Christ ; the witness of the Spirit's
presence is Christ known and obeyed (1 Cor. xii. 3) .
To interpret and enforce the truth of God revealed
in Jesus Christ, to continue and complete His work,
is the mission of the Spirit of Truth.
(6) The Spirit of Holiness. — The Church, with one
consent, accepts the name " The Holy Spirit " as
best expressing her faith and hope. The Holiness
of the Spirit is the full and perfect Christian Life.
" The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness,
self-control " (Gal. v. 22, 23). The Kingdom, for
the coming of which the whole Church unites in
daily prayer, is " righteousness, peace, and joy in
the Holy Spirit " (Rom. xiv. 17). The Spirit is
God Himself, and God is Love. So holiness is " the
love of the Spirit " (Rom. xv. 30), and the Christian
life is " love in the Spirit " (Col. i. 8), or simply,
and aU-inclusively, Love (1 Cor. xiii.).
The surpassing grace of Love, in all its energies
and activities, is told in the Apostle's inspired words
in his lyrical ode to Love, but how true it is that
" love never faileth " finds illustration in his tender
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The Indwelling Spirit
appeal to those in whom the Spirit of Love dwells,
to care for the erring : " Brethren, even if a man be
overtaken in any trespass, ye which are spiritual,
restore such a one in a spirit of meekness" (Gal. vi. i.).
(7) The Spirit of Hope. — Amongst all the Bene
dictions there is none surpassing this : " The God
of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the
Holy Spirit " (Rom. xv. 13). The Christian Hope,
in all its fulness and inspiration, is a work of the
Spirit. This attribute of God is the truth of the
Spirit, who is ever and in all, the Spirit of Hope.
" We through the Spirit, by faith, wait for the hope
of righteousness" (Gal. v. 5). The very life of
prayer, aU askings, all the unuttered voices of need
and longing, are of the Spirit, who " maketh inter
cession for the saints according to the will of God "
(Rom. viii. 26/.).
In an outburst of confident and triumphant faith
St. Paul exclaims : " If God is for us, who is against
us ? " Realising what the Holy Spirit works and
is in the Christian's life, we may well repeat his
question. The answer is direct and searching :
" Quench not the Spirit." The Holy Spirit of Life
and of Power dwells with us and in us, but the
integrity of human personality is unimpaired, the
spirit of man is not crushed, but strengthened,
ennobled, conformed to the Divine Will, and yet
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
in all and through all conscious of his own indepen
dence and choice. " Our obedience is not God's
but ours ; but though it be not God's, yet it is God
Himself in us, enabling us to be ourselves, and to
render to Him what is ours."
That this was St. Paul's doctrine aU his rebukes
and exhortations prove. The call is ever to personal
effort, to unceasing and whole-hearted endeavour.
In all his Epistles this note is heard, but it is the
very keynote of the Epistle to the Galatians, who
" having begun in the Spirit," thought to be " per
fected in the flesh." " Sow to the Spirit," be " led
by the Spirit," " walk by the Spirit," " live by the
Spirit" — so the Apostle exhorts them. The weakness
of the flesh, our human infirmities, the difficulties,
hindrances, temptations and consequent conflicts
which meet us in the Way, all are recognised by
the great Apostle, and because of these and for their
overcoming, he calls for heroic efforts of self-
devotion and unceasing endeavour. But not alone,
unfriended and unhelped — that could not be his
gospel who so realised the real Presence of the
Holy Helpful Spirit. Rather does he say that
much of this inward striving is occasioned by that
Holy Presence. " The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; for these
are contrary the one to the other ; that ye may not
do the things that ye would " (Gal. v. 17). The
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The Indwelling Spirit
restraints of the Spirit are, in many lives, the wonders
of Divine Grace.
And in this life of effort, help is to be found in the
Christian Society. It is not a merely individualistic,
isolated life which the Spirit inspires. The full life
is a " feUowship in the Spirit " ; and the Benediction
of the Church, in which each member is called to
share, is " the Communion of the Holy Spirit."
But neither in any single life, nor in the whole
Body, is the fulness of the Spirit known ; all is in
the making, and what is now enjoyed is but " the
first fruits of the Spirit," " the earnest of the Spirit,"
the pledge of the richer inheritance which is ours in
Christ. Thus, very inadequately and with many omissions,
is St. Paul's teaching summarised, but behind the
teaching is the Mystic-saint himself. How shall we
gain feUowship with the life behind the thought, and
enter into the experience out of which all his teaching
flows ?
The Christian missionary and preacher, in whose
heart is burning the passion for Christ and the
" ache for souls " will find the inner fire kindled to
flame, fanned to white heat as he studies the inter
pretation of the Apostle's mystic life in Saint Paul,
by Frederic W. H. Myers.
In this wonderful poem we are swept along
tumultuously from mood to mood of the great
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Studies in Christian Mysticism
Apostle, ascending with him to unspeakable heights
of rapture and plunged again with him into the
depths of self-humiliation, weakness and suffering.
In the splendid imagery of the poet, in the haunting
music of a rhythm fuU of passion, abrupt change,
swift movement, sudden force melting into sweet
ness and tenderness, every phase of feeling, every
throbbing purpose, every brooding thought becomes
ours. Here we have — the passionate devotion to Christ,
the beginning and the end, and the Only One, that
surrenders every human tie, every realised good for
His sake — the yearning desire to bring all men to
Christ and to give Christ to all, which pours itself
out in service and love to the uttermost — the
acceptance of the Cross, the fight with the flesh and
daily dying of self — the sensitive suffering in the
neglect and indifference and persecution from those
he loved — the withdrawal of the soul into the inner
shrine where Christ abides, the holy place of healing
and renewal, of light and stiUness and peace :
"Then with a ripple and a radiance thro' me
Rise and be manifest, O Morning Star !
Flow on my soul, thou Spirit, and renew me,
Fill with Thyself, and let the rest be far.
Safe to the hidden house of Thine abiding
Carry the weak knees and the heart that faints."
Now the vision of rapture and then the cloud —
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The Indwelling Spirit
then the whispers of faith and hope, the certainty
of a Love which cannot fail, which is present even
in the darkness and pain —
" Then thro' the mid complaint of my confession,
Then thro' the pang and passion of my prayer,
Leaps with a start the shock of His possession,
Thrills me and touches, and the Lord is there."
" Whoso has felt the Spirit of the Highest
Cannot confound nor doubt Him nor deny :
Yea with one voice, O world, tho' thou deniest,
Stand thou on that aide, for on this am I."

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32

JAMES CLARKE AND CO.'S

INDEX OF TITLES

PAGE 21

6 9
24
28 2828

1313 1110
2619

Abbey Mill, The
America in the East
Among the Malagasy .
Ancient Musical Instruments
Animal Gambols
Animal Playtime
Animals in Fun-Land
Anne Killigrew
Apocalyptical Writers, The
Messages of the
Apostles, The Messages of the
Aspects of the Spiritual .
Asquith, The Right Hon. H.
M.P.
At the Gates of the Dawn
Atonement and Progress
Atonement In Modern Thought.
The 
Augustinlan Revolution In
Theology . . . 16
Aunt Agatha Ann . . 3(1
Authority and the Light Within 19
Awe of the New Century, The 27
Baptist Handbook, The . . 18
Barrow, Henry, Separatist . 4
Beads of Tasmer, The . 13, 21
Beatitudes and the Contrasts,
The  16
Between Two Loves . 13, ai
Bible Definition of Religion,
The . . .27
Birthday of Hope, The . . SO
Black Familiars, The , 6, 20
Border Shepherdess, A . .13
Bow of Orange Ribbon, The 21, 31
Britain's Hope . .24
Brudenelle of Brude, The . 21
Burning Questions . , 24
Canonbury Holt . . .21
Challenge, The . .17
Character through Inspiration 25
Chats with Women on Every
day Subjects . . .23
Children's Pace, The . . 24
Children's Paul, The . . 20
Christ in Everyday Life . 16
Christ of the Children, The . 20
Christ or Chaos 1 ... 9
Christ that is To Be, The . 12
Christ, the Church and the
Child, The . .10
Christ, The Private Relation
ships of ... 7
Christ Within, The . 25
Christ's Pathway to the Cross . 22
Christian Certitude . . . 10
Christian Life, The . . 25, 30
Christian Life and Belief , . 16
Christian of To-day, The , . 16

PAQK
Christian World Pulpit, The 8
Christian World Album of Sacred
Songs, The - ... 25
Christianity in Common Speech 29
Chrystabel . . . 13, 21
Church and Modern Life, The . 10
Church and the Kingdom, The 24
Church and the Next Genera
tion, The . . 19
Church Questions of Our Time 14
Cinderella . . 6, 20
City of Delight, The , . 6
Comforts of God, The . . 28
Common Life, The . . 12
Concerning Conscience . . s
Conquered World, The . 25, SO
Conquering Prayer . . 17
Constructive Christianity . . 15
Courage of the Coward, The . 11
Crucible of Experience, The . 22
Darwin, Charles, and other Eng
lish Thinkers .... 7
Daughter of Fife, A . 21, 31
Days of Old .... 9
Debt of the Damerals, The . 21
Divine Satisfaction, The . 28
Dutch in the Medway, The . 12
Earlier Prophets, The Messages
of the .... 13
Earliest Christian Hymn, The 19
Early Pupils of the Spirit . 20
Ecce Vir  26
Education of a Soul, The . 15
Emilia's Inheritance . . 21
England's Danger . . 30
Epistle to the Galatians, The 19
Esther Wynne . . 13, 21
Eternal Religion, The . . 12
Eucken and Bergsen . . .15
Evangelical Heterodoxy , . 10
Everychild . . .25
Evolution, Life and Religion . 7
Evolution of Old Testament
Religion, The . . 10
Exposition, The Art of . , 9
Ezekiel, The Book of . . 8
Faces In the Mist ... 6
Facets of Faith . . . .22
Faith and Form , , .23
Faith and Verification . . 7
Faith of a Wayfarer, The . 23
Faith the Beginning, Self-Sur
render the Fulfilment, of the
Spiritual Life . . 25, 30
Family Prayers for Morning Use 12
Father Fabian . .21
Fifty Years' Reminiscences of a
Free Church Musician , 15

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS

33

PAGE
Fighters and Martyrs for the Free
dom of Faith ... 9
Ftroside Fairy Tales . . 28
First Christians, The . . 11
Flower-o'-the-Corn . 8, 20
Flowers from the Master's Garden 26
Forgotten Sheaf, The . .24
Fortune's Favourite . . 21
Fortunes of Cyril Denham, The 21 SI
"Freedom of Faith" Series,
The .... 22
Friend Olivia , . . e
Gamble with Life, A . . 12
Garrisoned Soul, The . . 26
Gloria Patri .... 12
Glorious Company of the
Apostles, The . . .20
Good New Times, The . . 19
Gospel of Grace, The . . 9
Grey and Gold ... 21
Grey House at Endlestone, The 21
Growing Revelation, The 7
Hampstead, Its historic houses ;
Its literary and artistic associa
tions  4
Harvest Gleanings . .18
Health and Home Nursing . 29
Health in the Home Life . 17
Heart of Jessy Laurie, The . 6
Heaven and the Sea ... 8
Heavenly Visions ... 9
Heirs of Errington, The . .21
Helgs Lloyd .... 5
Helps to Health and Beauty . 29
His Next of Kin . . 13, 21
History of the United States, A 4
Holidays in Animal Land . 28
Holy Christian Empire . . 31
Holy Spirit, The ... 26
House ol Bondage, The . . 21
House ot the Secret, The . 5
How to Become Like Christ . 25
How to Cook . . .25
How to Read the Bible . . 28
Husbands and Wives . .21
Ideals for Girls . .19
Ideals In Sunday School Teach
ing ¦ • • .23
Illustrations from Art for Pulpit
and Platform .... 8
Immanence of Christ in Modern
Life, The
Imperishable Word, The
Impregnable Faith, An
Incarnation of the Lord, The
Infoldings and Unfoldings of
the Divine Genius
Inner Mission Leaflets, The
Inner Mission Pamphlets, The
Inspiration in Common Life
Interludes in a Time of Change

17 15
15 7
25
23 19 22
10

PAQB
Invisible Companion, The 23
Inward Light, The .11
Israel's Law Givers, The Messages
of  13
Jan Vedder's Wife . . 21, 31
Jealousy of God, The . 25
Jesus and His Teaching , . 10
Jesus and tbe Seekers . .16
Jesus or Christ ? . , . 23
Jesus : Seven Questions . . 10
Jesus, The First Things of . 10
Jesus, The Messages of, Accord
ing to the Gospel of John 13
Jesus, The Messages of, According
to the Gospel of Paul . 13
Jesus, The Messages of, Accord
ing to the Synoptists . .13
Joan Carisbrooke . . 21
Joshua, The Book of . . 4
Jowett, J. H., M.A., D.D. . 22
Judges of Jesus, The . . 19
Judges, The Book of . . .4
Kid McGhie . . 5, 20
Kingdom of the Lord Jesus,
The . . .25, 30
King George and Queen Mary . 16
Kit Kennedy : Country Boy 5, 20
Lady Clarissa . . . .21
Last of the MacAllisters, The 13, 21
Later Prophets, The Messages
of the .... 13
Leaves for Quiet Hours . . 17
Let us Pray . . 24
Letters of Christ, The . . 22
Letters to a Ministerial Son . 16
Liberty and Religion 18
Life and Letters of Alexander
Mackennal, The 8
Life and Teaching of Jesus,
Notes on the 23
Life and the Ideal .11
Life, Faith, and Prayer of the
Church . . . .26
Life in His Name . . 10
Life of the Soul , . , .11
Life's Beginnings . . 16, 22
Lifted Veil, A . . . .15
Living Pleasures . . .14
Looking Inwards . . . .14
Loves of Miss Anne, The 5, 20
Lynch, Rev. T. T. : A Memoir 7
Lyrics of the Soul . . .17
Main Points in Christian Belief,
The  15
Making of Heaven and Hell,
The  23
Manual for Free Church Minis
ters, A . . . 26
Margaret Torrington . 21, 31
Marprelate Tracts, The , . 3

34

JAMES CLARKE AND CO.'S

PAGE
Martineau's Study of Religion 25, 30
Merry Animal Picture Book,
The  28
Merry Times in Animal Land 28
Messages of Hope ¦ . .15
Messages of the Bible, The . 13
Millicent Kendrick . .21
Ministry of the Modern Church,
The  15
Miss Devereux, Spinster . 21
Model Prayer, The . .20
Modern Minor Prophets . .15
Modern Theories of Sin . . 10
More Tasty Dishes . . .29
Morning and Evening Cries . 18
Morning Mist, A ... 21
Morning, Noon, and Night . 28
Mornington Lecture, The . . 7
Mors Janua Vital . . .26
Mr. Montmorency's Money . 13, 21
My Baptism . . . .20
My Belief .... 10
My Neighbour and God . . 18
New Evangel, The . . . 17
New Mrs. Lascelles, The . 21
New Testament in Modern Speech,
The  18
Nineteen Hundred ? . 13
Nobly Born . . .21
Nonconformist Church Buildings 19
No Room in the Inn . . 22
Old Pictures In Modern Frames 25
Old Testament Stories in Modern
Light 22
Oliver Cromwell . . .27
Oliver Westwood ... 21
Our City of God ... 12
Our Life Beyond . . . .26
Our Girls' Cookery . . .27
Our Protestant Faith . . .14
OurselveB and the Universe, 12, 31
Outline Text Lessons for Junior
Classes . . . .28
Overdale . , . . 13, 21
Passion for Souls, The . . 22
Paton, J. B., M.A., D.D. . 8
Paul and Christina . .13
Paul, The Messages of . .13
Pearl Divers of Roncador
Reef, The . . .12
Person of Christ in Modern
Thought, The . . 5
Personality of Jesus, The . . 14
Peter in the Firelight . . .15
Pilot, The . . . .17
Poems. By Mme. Guyon 14
Poems of Mackenzie Bell, The 17
Poets, The Messages of the 13
Polychrome Bible, The 3, 4
Popular Argument for the Unity
of Isaiah, A ... 19

PAGE
Popular History of the Free
Churches, A . . 6, 18
Practical Lay-Preaching and
Speaking to Men . 17
Prayer .... 22
Preaching to the Times . . 12
Price of Priestcraft, The . . 27
Pride of the Family, The . 21
Problems and Perplexities . . 15
Problems of Immanence , 15
Problems of Living .12
Prophetical and Priestly His
torians, The Messages of .13
Psalmists, The Messages of the 13
Purpose of the Cross, The . 19
Quickening of Caliban, The 13
Quiet Hints to Growing Preachers
in My Study . . .14
Reasonable View of Life, A . 22
Reasonableness of Jesus, The . 23
Reasons Why for Congrega-
tionalists . . .23
Reasons Why for Free Church
men  26
Reform In Sunday School Teach
ing . . .24
Religion and Experience . 12
Religion and Miracle . . 9
Religion of Jesus, The 20
Religion : The Quest of the
Ideal ... 16
Religion that will Wear, A . 28
Resultant Greek Testament,
The ... .18
Rights of Man, The ... 7
Rise of Philip Barrett, The . 6, 19
Robert Wreford's Daughter . IS
Rogers, J. Guinness ... 4
Rome from the Inside . . 27
Rosebud Annual, The . 8, 14
Ruling Ideas of the Present
Age ... .8

Sceptre without a Sword, The
School Hymns . . .14,
Scourge of God, The
Sculptors of Life ;
Secret of Living, The
Seed of the Kingdom, The
Sermon Illustration, The Art of
Sharing His Sufferings
She Loved a Sailor
Ship's Engines, The
Short Talks to Boys and Girls .
Sidelights on Religion
Simple Cookery
Simple Things of the Christian
Life, The
Singlehurst Manor . . IS,
Sissie . . 13,
Sister to Esau, A . . .
Small Books on Great Subjects 25,

27
312115 112510
2313
30 281120
222121-2130

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS

35

PAGE
Smith, John, the Se-Baptist,
Thomas Helwys, and the
First Baptist Church in
England .... 7
Social Salvation ... 8
Social Worship on Everlasting
Necessity . . . 25, 30
Spoken Words of Prayer and Praise 9
Squire of Sandal Side, The . 13, 21
St. Beetha's . .21, 31
Storehouse for Preachers and
Teachers . . .24
Stories of Old ... 20
Story of Congregationalism In
Surrey, The . . .10
Story of Joseph the Dreamer, The 19
Story of Penelope, The . . 21
Story of the English Baptists, The 11
Story of the Twelve . . 14
Studies of the Soul . 12, 31
Sunday Afternoon Song Book 27, 31
Sunday Morning Talks with Boys
and Girls ... 18
Sundy Memories of Australasia 24
Supreme Argument for Chris
tianity, The ... 25
Tale of a Telephone, A . .30
Talks to Little Folks , 29
Taste of Death and the Life of
Grace, The . . . 25J 30
Tasty Dishes .... 29
Ten Commandments, The . 19
Theology and Truth ... 7
Theophilus Trinal, Memorials of 7
Things Most Surely Believed . 17
Thornycroft Hall . . .21
Thoughts for Life's Journey . 16
Through Science to Faith . 6
Town Romance, A . . 21
Transfigured Church, The . 9
Trial and Triumph . . .24

True Christ, The
Types of Christian Life
Unfettered Word, The
Ungilded Gold . . .17,
Unique Class Chart and Register
Universal Over-Presence, The
Unknown to Herself
Unveiled Glory, The ; or, Side
lights on the Higher Evolution
Uplifting of Life, The
Value of the Apocrypha, The .
Value of the Old Testament
Vida 
Violet Vaughan . 1.8, 21,
Voice from China, A . .
Voices of To-day : Studies of
Representative Modern Preachers
Waiting Life, The ; By the Rivers
of Water ....
Warleigh's Trust
Wayfarer at the Cross Roads, The
Way of Life, The . . 25,
Way of Prayer, The .
Wayside Angels . . .
Web of Circumstance, The .
Westminster Sermons . .
What is the Bible ?
Who Wrote the Bible ?
Why We Believe
Winning of Immortality, The
Wisdom of God and the Word
of God, The
Woman's Patience, A
Women and their Saviour .
Women and Their Work . .
Words by the Wayside
Working Woman's Life, A
Woven of Love and Glory 13,
Toung Man's Ideal, A . ¦
Young Man's Religion, A ,

PAGE
. 16
. 25

INDEX OF AUTHORS

PAGE
Abbott, Lyman 7, 11
Adeney, W. F. 11, 28
Aked, C. F. . 11
Allin, T. . . 16
Andrews, C. C. . 21
Angus, A. H. . 23
Antram, C. E. P. . 26
Armstrong, R. A. 25, 30
Barr, Amelia E.
6, 13, 21, 31
Barrett, G. S. . 19
Barrows, C. H. . 14
Becke, Louis . 12
Begbie, H. . . 25
Bell, Mackenzie . 17
Bennett, Rev. W. H. 4
Betts, C. H. 14, 15, 16

PAGE 23

Blake, J. M. 22,
Blomfleld, Elsie
Bloundelle-Burton J.
Blue, A. H. .
Bonner, Carey
Bosworth, E. I.
Bradford, Amory H. 11
Brierley, J. 11, 12, 31
Briggs, C. A. .7
Brown, C. 9, 22, 23
Brown, C. R. . 15
BurforU, W. K. . 29
Burgess, W. H. . 7
Burgin, Isabel . 6
Burns, Rev. J. . 8
Button, E. , 14

PAGE

Cadman, S. P.

7

Campbell, R. J

11

Carlile, J. C.

U,
28
?M
Cave, Dr.
11
Caws, Rev. L.
W.
14
Cleal, E. E. .
in
Clifford, John
25,
30
Collins, B. G.
19
Cowper, W.
14
Crockett, S. R.
'",
20
Cubitt, James
19
Cuff, W.
24
Darlow, F. H.
24
Davidson, Gladys
28
Dods, Marcus
11.
23
Ellas, F.
8.
10
36

JAMES CLARKE AND CO.'S CATALOGUE

PAGE
Ellis, J. . . 24
Evans, H. . .27
Farningham, Mari
anne, 9, 13, 17,
18, 23, 26
Farrar, Dean . 11
Finlayson, T. Camp
bell . . 30
Fiske, J. . . 4
Forsyth, P. T.
11, 25, 30, 31
Foston, H. . 14, 16
Fremantle, Dean . 11
Furness, H. H. . 3
Garvie, A. E. . 16
Gibbon, J. Morgan 10, 19
Giberne, Agnes . 21
Gladden, Washington
8, 10, 11, 23, 24
Glover, R. . .26
Godet, Professor . 11
Gordon, George A. 9
Gouid, G. P. . 26
Greenhough, J. G.
18, 25
Griffls, W. E. . 6
Griffith- Jones, E. 7, 25
Grubb, E. . 19, 23
Gunn, E. H. M. 14, 31
Guyon, Madame . 14
Hampden-Cook, E. 18
Harnack, Professor 11
Harvcy-Jellie, W. 9
Haupt, P. . 3
Haweis, H. R. . 19
Heddle, Ethel F. 21
Henson, Canon H.
Hensley . 9, 12
Hermann, E. .15
Hill, V. A. . .4
Hocking, S. K. . 12
Hodgson, J. M. .16
Horder, W. Garrett 25
Home, C. Silvester
6, 11, 15, 18, 24
Horton, R. F. 10,
11, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30
Houlder, J. A. . 9
Hunter, John . 11
" J. B. " of The
Christian World 27
J. M. G. . 12
Jefferson, C. E. 14
Jeffs, H.
8, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19
John, Griffith . 11
Jones, J. D. 8, 9,
17, 20, 22, 23, 26, 30
Jowett, J. H. 9, 22, 23
Kennedy, H. A. 27, 31
Kennedy, John , 19
Kent, C. F. 13

PAGE
Kenyon, Edith C. 23
Kirk, E. B. .7
Knight, W. A. 15, 22
Lansfeldt, L. . 21
LaTouche.E.D. 5, 10
Layman, A. . 26
Lee, E. 5
Lee, W. T. . 18
Leggatt; F. Y. . 23
Lewis, E. W. . 23
Llewellyn, D. J. . 24
Lyall, David 6, 19
Lynch, T. T. .7
Lynd, William . 24
Macfadyen, D. 8, 14
MacFadyen, J. E. 22
Macfarlane, Charles 12
M'Intyre, D. M. . 10
Mackennal, Alex
ander . 25, SO
Manners. Mary E. 30
Man of the World, A 16
Marchant, Bessie 21
Marchant, J. . 8
Marshall, J. S. . 25
Marshall, N.H. 7, 16,19
Martineau, Jas. 25, 30
Mason, E. A. 30
Mather, Lessels . 29
Matheson, George
16, 16, 17, 24, 27
Maver, J. S. . 21
Maxwell . . 4
Meade, L. T. . 21
Metcalfe, R. D. . 27
Meyer, F. B. . 26
Michael, C. D. . 20
Miller, Elizabeth . a
Minshall, E. .15
Moore, G. F. . 4
Morgan, G. Camp
bell . . 19, 22
Morison, F. . 22
Morten, Honnor . 17
Mountain, J. . 20
Munger, T. T. 11, 25
Neilson, H. B. . 28
Orchard, W. E. 10, 15
Palmer, Frederic . 9
Paton, J. B.
14, 19, 23 28
Peake, A. S. , 24
Pharmaceutical Chemist, A. .29
Picton, J. Allanson 20
Pierce, W. . .3
Piggott, W. C. . 15
Powicke, F. J. . 4
Prlngle, A. 22, 23
Pulsford, John . 28
Reid, Rev. J. 10, 14
Rickett, Sir J.
Compton 12, 13, 20

PAGE
Riddette, J. H. . 31
Robarts, Rev.F. H. 18
Roberts, R. . 19
Rogers, J. Guinness 4
Roose, Rev. J. S. 14
Russell, F. A. 22
Sabatier, A. . 11
Sanders, F. K. . 18
Schrenck, E. von 10
Scottish Presbyte
rian, A . .28
Shakespeare, J. H. 26
Shepherd, J. A. 28
Shillito, Edward , 14
Sinclair, H. . .8
Sinclair, Archdea
con . . 25, 30
Smyth, Newman . 8
Snell, Bernard J.
11, 19, 22
Souper, W. . 15
Steuart, J. A. 6
Stevenson, J. G.
15, 17, 19, 20
Stewart, D. M. 15, 26
Storrow, A. H. . 14
Street, J. . 2.1
Stuart, Duncan . 6
Sutter, Julie . 24
Swan, F. R. 17
Swetenham, L. 17
Tarbolton, A. C. 19
Thomas, H. Arnold 25
Tipple, S. A. 9
Toy, Rev. C. H. 3
Tymms, T. V. 7
Tynan, Katharine 5
Tytler, 8. . .21
Varley, H. . 23
Veitch, R. . 10, 11
Wain, Louis 28, 30
Walford, L. B. 6, 20
Walker, W. L. . 16
Walmsley, L. S. . 9
Warschauer, J.
9, 10, 15, 17, 23
Warwick, H. . 16
Waters, N. McG. 18
Watklnson, W. L. 22
Watson, E. S. . 9
Watson, W. 15, 22
Weymouth, R. F. 18
White, W. . . 7
Whiton, J. M.
10, 12, 20, 28
Williams, T. R. 22, 25
Wilson, P. W. , 18
Winter, A. E. . 26
Worboise, Emma
J. 12, 21, 31
Yates, T. . .15

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