Synsperspektiewe en spekulatiewe mistiek in Andrew Murray se teologie

Abstract

The ontology of Neoplatonic mysticism has a sincere interest in the introvertive life of the spirit, the juxtaposing of man’s natural existence and the higher spiritual life in the heart, and the spiritual knowledge of God’s deep love for the soul. Neoplatonic mystical spirituality had a lasting impact on Andrew Murray’s theology. Firstly, he pursues the avenue that on its mystical quest, the soul must concentrate all its faculties on its very self, upon the invisible and intangible, and that all visible things are forgotten. All the scattered faculties must be called in by a deliberate exercise of will and the mind of its swarms of images and thoughts. For the mystical encounter with the One, it must sink into that blank abode where Reason cannot enter. The whole of this process, this gathering up and turning inwards of the powers of the self and gazing into the depth of the soul, is what for Murray is mystical introversion. The deliberate practice of introversion is tightly bound up with the sense of Divine Immanence. Its emphasis is on the indwelling God Who may be found by a spiritual journey towards the centre. The One is more truly our own who is not only with us but in us. To Murray contemplation establishes communion between the soul and the Absolute by way of two complementary modes of apprehension of the One: The flight to God, and the transcendence of the natural faculties. The end of the mystic introvertive journey is the mysterious fusion of divine and human life. Following the Neoplatonic mystical tradition through Gerhard Tersteegen’s quest for the introvertive life, Murray’s mystical theology shows signs of meaningful influence by the Neoplatonic mystical tradition.