The Riddle of Christian Mystical Experience: The Role of The Humanity or Jesus

Theological Studies, Dec, 2005 by Joseph F. Chorpenning

THE RIDDLE OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE: THE ROLE OF THE HUMANITY OF JESUS. By Paul Mommaers. Louvain Theological and Pastoral Monographs, no. 29. Leuven: Peeters, 2003. Pp. 292. $30.

The book is a revision of the Martin D'Arcy Lectures delivered at Campion Hall, Oxford, in 1998. As the title indicates, the particular question Mommaers addresses is: what is the role of the humanity of Christ in mystical experience? This question's urgency is underscored by the New Testament proclamation of Christ as "the image of the invisible God" (Col 2:9) and "the one mediator between God and humanity" (1 Tim 2:5).

While Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure, and Teresa of Avila were vigorous promoters of devotion to the humanity of Christ, they do not succeed, in M.'s estimation, in satisfactorily explaining its place in mystical experience. M. briefly suggests that Francis de Sales's "ecstasy of action" and Marie de l'Incarnation's "ecstatic condition" are more effective in integrating Christ's humanity with the mystic's lived experience; this idea merits further investigation. M.'s primary interest lies elsewhere, in Flemish mystical literature, which is "probably the richest and most illuminating source" (164) for answering the question at hand. In this regard, especially fine is M.'s exposition of Ruusbroec's descriptions of mystical experience in Christocentric terms, intensely eucharistic spirituality, and insistence on the corresponding movements of human ascent and divine descent in mystical experience.

No less rich is M.'s discussion (in chap. 1) of the biblical notion of the Creator as an image-maker, whose own image is not bodily but life itself; thus, the divine image is best communicated by hearing Yahweh's word and feeling his form rather than by seeing his figure (hence the Old Testament prohibition of images). There are many connections to be made here. To give one example: it is precisely this biblical theology of the divine image and encounter that informs Ruusbroec's spirituality, which in turn had a formative influence on the Christian humanism of Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuits that was transmitted to Francis de Sales at the College de Clermont in Paris.

This thoughtful and sometimes dense book will be of interest to scholars in Christian spirituality, art history, and medieval and early modern studies.

JOSEPH F. CHORPENNING, O.S.F.S.

Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia