Bernard McGinn:
Mysticism in the Reformation, 1500-1650, Part 1

From its emergence as a comparative discipline
in the
mid-nineteenth century, the study of mysticism has been a lightning rod for many
of the controversies that haunt religious studies. From spirited debates
between proponents of perrenialist and constructivist approaches, to charges of
orientalism and disputes over the validity of comparativism, the study of
mysticism can be almost as mystifying as its object. For this
reason—among others—students of the history of mysticism owe a debt to
Bernard McGinn for his lucid and elucidating treatment of the
intellectual and social history of mysticism in the western Christian tradition.
Since 1991, McGinn has produced five massive works in his series,
The
Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism.
The present
work, Mysticism in the Reformation 1500-1650, constitutes part
1 of volume 6; parts 2 and 3 are forthcoming.

McGinn’s command over a bewildering amount of materials, his philological
expertise, and his ability to make complex subject matter accessible have done
much to historicize our understanding of the mystical component of Western
Christianity. In the present volume, McGinn trains his expert eye on the
relationship between this heritage and the complex intersection of events,
individuals, and ideas grouped heuristically under the rubric of the
Reformation. While subsequent parts will focus on Catholic mystics, here McGinn
limits his exploration to a diverse group of Protestant mystics, mystically
inclined theologians, and contemplative poets.

A significant amount of scholarship separates us from when the Anne Fremantle
and
W. H. Auden felt compelled to mount a careful refutation of W. T. Stace’s
insistence that „there are no Protestant mystics“ (The Protestant
Mystics, Weidenfeld and Nicholson,1964). However, much work still needs to
be done to tease out the complexities of the relationship between the history of
Protestantism and the inheritance of the ancient and medieval mystical
traditions. The present volume marks an important step forward. McGinn argues
eloquently against those „who contend that the Protestant branch of Christianity
was not favorable to mysticism and therefore had few, if any, important mystics“
(301). He leaves no doubt—at least in this reader’s mind—that Protestant
mysticism is at once „a necessary category,“ and a field of study that promises
to richly reward the patient scholar (301).

In line with his previous studies, McGinn champions an understanding of
mysticism that is historically contextual, inextricable from the theologies,
doctrines, and rituals in which it is embedded. However, this is not to imply
that McGinn is concerned with deconstructing the category of mysticism itself.
While forays into perrenialist speculation and the phenomenology of mystical
experience are eschewed, McGinn does treat mysticism as a phenomenon qualified
by a certain amount of continuity between its local expressions. McGinn presents
the „mystical element“— a turn of phrase that underscores his commitment to
avoiding language that isolates mysticism from its immediate historical
context—as „the aspect of religious life that seeks a deep and transformative
sense of the direct presence of God“ (3). Subsequently, McGinn avoids reducing
mysticism to the „monolithic phenomenon“ of unio mystica, the ecstatic
union between creature and creator, which allows him to consider a broader range
of subjects (4).

In the first chapter, McGinn treats the towering figures of Martin Luther and
John Calvin. The relationship of these foundational reformers to mysticism has
been a subject of considerable debate: assessments range from assertions that
both were mystics of the first order to blunt disavowals. McGinn contends that
Luther’s relationship with the heritage of the mystical tradition was a
complicated affair, characterized by a sic et non attitude, while
Calvin, despite employing certain mystical tropes, was far less amenable to the
mystical. By examining each reformer’s relation to mysticism as an intellectual
and textual tradition, McGinn avoids knotty issues regarding whether or not his
subjects may have experienced states that could be termed „mystical.“

In chapter 2, McGinn employs the rubric of the „Radical Reformation“ to
explore
Andreas Karlstadt, Thomas Müntzer, Hans Denck, Sebastian Franck, and
Valentine Weigel. Weigel, who synthesized Neoplatonic, Hermetic, and alchemical
ideas with his native Lutheranism to create an interiorized vision of
Christianity, as critical of institutional religion as it was mystical, emerges
as an especially interesting figure. McGinn concludes that, while one cannot
speak of a homogeneous strain of mysticism proper to the radical reformers, they
developed various forms of mystical Christianity that combined a focus on
interiority with a wariness of orthodoxy.

The penultimate chapter focuses on Johann Arndt and Jacob Boehme, two
fascinating seventeenth-century figures. The complexity of these two writers
makes them challenging to cover in the scope of a single chapter. It is
therefore all the more impressive that McGinn manages to outline the key points
of their theologies as well as assess them within the framework of his own study
to demonstrate that, despite entrenched stereotypes, both figures „testify to
the power of the mystical element in Lutheranism“ (196-97). As an aside,
McGinn’s recognition, despite being justifiably included within the history of
Christian mysticism, that Boehme does not fit comfortably into any one
„tradition“ of thought is insightful. However, as it is pertinent to the work of
both his subjects, the chapter could have benefitted from a more sustained
engagement with how Western esoteric discourses such as alchemy, Hermeticism,
and Kabbalah helped transform elements of the medieval mystical tradition.

The last chapter explores the mystical dimensions of the English Reformation,
treating both the work of those who aligned themselves with the Elizabethan
Settlement that established the Anglican Church and the so-called Puritans, who
distanced themselves from this development. Though it is unfortunate that the
chronological parameters of the volume necessarily exclude such fascinating
seventeenth-century figures as John Pordage (1607-1681) and Jane Lead
(1624-1704), McGinn provides a fascinating glimpse into the mystical dimensions
of Anglican poets such as John Donne, George Herbert, and Henry Vaughan. These
poets do not fit the conventional paradigm of the mystic without qualification:
while their poetry undoubtedly treats metaphysical and mystical themes, how
„mystical“ one ultimately concedes these writers to be depends upon how
intimately one imagines mysticism to be bound up with claims to supranormal
experience. McGinn adroitly justifies the inclusion of these poets within the
history of mysticism, while avoiding essentializing claims.

In conclusion, McGinn contends that the German and English Protestants who
appropriated elements of the mystical tradition did not so much change „the
traditions of mystical teaching themselves,“ but rather „the relation of
mysticism to the other elements of religion in the complicated world of
1500-1650“ (3). Most significantly, an element of anti-institutionalism was
added to the discourse of mysticism.

Mysticism in the Reformation 1500-1650 will be valuable to students
of mysticism and the history of Christianity, as well as those working more
generally within this milieu. Additionally, McGinn’s work will be of relevance
to those interested in complicating simplistic bifurcations of the history of
Catholic and Protestant religiosity. Due to McGinn’s talent for matching
erudition with clear, lucid prose, both specialists and more general readers
will no doubt find much of interest here.