and long continued. The writings of its author were translated, annotated and paraphrased, centuries after his death. As there is no effect without an adequate cause, there must have been power in this system and an adaptation to the cravings of a large class of minds.
Causes of the Influence of the Writings of the pseudo-Dionysiu8. To account for its extensive influence it may be remarked : (1.) That it did not openly shock the faith or prejudices of .the Church. It did not denounce any received doctrine or repudiate any estab- lished institution or ordinance. It pretended to be Christian, It undertook to give a deeper and more correct insight into the mys- teries of religion. (2.) It subordinated the outward to the inward. Some men are satisfied with rites, ceremonies, symbols, which may mean anything or nothing ; others, with knowledge or clear views of truth. To others, the inner life of the soul, intercourse with God, is the great thing. To these this system addressed itself. It proposed to satisfy this craving after God, not indeed in a legit- imate way, or by means of God's appointment. Nevertheless it was the high end of union with him that it proposed, and which it professed to secure. (3.) This system was only one form of the doctrine which has such a fascination for the human mind, and which underlies so many forms of religion in every age of the world ; the doctrine, namely, that the universe is an efflux of the life of God, — all things flowing from him, and back again to him from everlasting to everlasting. This doctrine quiets the conscience, as it precludes the idea of sin ; it gives the peace which flows from fatalism ; and it promises the absolute rest of unconsciousness when the individual is absorbed in the bosom of the Infinite.^
§ 3. Mysticism during the Middle Ages. A. General Characteristics of this Period.
The Middle Ages embrace the period from the close of the sixth ?entury to the Reformatio^. This period is distinguished by three marked characteristics. First, the great development of the Latin Church in its hierarchy, its worship, and its formulated doctrines, as well as in its superstitions, corruptions, and power. Secondly, the extraordinary intellectual activity awakened in the region of speculation, as manifested in the multiplication of seats of learning,
1 See Rixner's Geschichte der Philosophie, vol. i. §§ 168-172. Ritter'8 Geschichte der Chrittlichen Philosophie, vol. ii. pp. 115-135. Herzog"s Encykhpadie.
74 mTRODUCTION. [Ch. lY. — Mysticism.
in the number and celebrity of their teachers, and in the great multitude of students by which they were attended, and in the interest taken by all classes in the subjects of learned discussion. Thirdly, by a widespread and variously manifested movement of, so to speak, the inner life of the Church, protesting against the for- malism, the corruption, and the tyranny of the external Church. This protest was made partly openly by those whom Protestants are wont to call " Witnesses for the Truth ; " and partly within the Church itself. The opposition AA-^ithin the Church manifested itself partly among the people, in the formation of fellowships or societies for benevolent effort and spiritual culture, such as the Beguines, the Beghards, the Lollards, and afterwards, " The Breth- ren of the Common Lot ; " and partly in the schools, or by the teachings of theologians.
It was the avowed aim of the theologians of this period to justify the doctrines of the Church at the bar of reason ; to prove that what was received on authority as a matter of faith, was true as a matter of philosophy. It was held to be the duty of the theologian to exalt faith into knowledge. Or, as Anselm^ expresses it : " ra- tionabili necessitate intelligere, esse oportere omnia ilia, qure nobis fides catholica de Christo credere praecipit." Richard a St. Victore still more stx'ongly asserts that we are bound, " quod tenemus ex fide, ratione apprehendere et demonstrativae certitudinis attestations firmare."
The First Class of Medioeval Theologians.
Of these theologians, however, there were three classes. Firsi;^ those who avowedly exalted reason above authority, and refused to receive anything on authority which they could not for .them- selves, on rational grounds, prove to be true. John Scotus Erigena (^Eringehorne, Irish-born) may be taken as a representative of this class. He not only held, that reason and revelation, philosophy and religion, are perfectly consistent, but that religion and philos- ophy are identical. " Conficitur," he says, " inde veram philoso- phiam esse veram religionem conversiraque veram religionem esse veram philosophiam." ^ And on the crucial question. Whether faith precedes science, or science faith, he decided for the latter. Rea- son, with him, was paramount to authority, the latter having no force except when sustained by the former. " Auctoritas siqui- dem ex vera ratione processit, ratio vero nequaquam ex auctoritate. Omnis autem auctoritas, qua9 vera ratione non approbatur, infirma videtur esse. Vera autem ratio, quum virtutibus suis rata atque
1 Cur Deus Eomo, lib. i. cap. 25.
a De PrcBdest. cap. i. 1, Migne, Pair. vol. cxxii. p. 358, a.