THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
phenomena in the realm of mysticism — the pseudo- Dionysian writings (see Dionysius the Areofagite), which represent Neo-Platonism in Christian guise. The type of thought here set forth found its full development in the strictly orthodox Maximus Confessor (q.v.), who taught symbolic meaning for the entire liturgy and gave the pseudo-Dionysian writings their authorized position in the Eastern Church. In the eleventh century a new element was first clearly introduced by Simeon the New Theologian (q.v.), whose teachings of a mystic light may well have given rise, despite many differences, to the peculiar doctrines of the Hesychasts (q.v.), themselves defended in one of the most important productions of the mysticism of the Eastern Church, the " Discourses of the Life in Christ " of Nikolaos Kabasilas (see Kabasilas).
In the West, except for the mystical element present in occidental as well as in oriental Christianity from the first, illustrated by passages in Tertullian and Cyprian, it was Augustine who laid the foundations for the mysticism of 2. Scholastic later ages; although for a time he here and lacked followers, so that a long time Monastic elapsed before mysticism became an Mysticism, independent phenomenon in the theological literature of the western Church. [Anticipations of the coming intensity of interest in the inner life are frequently to be discovered before the time of full bloom, as in the case of Ekkehard (known also as Eckhart the Younger), a monk of St. GaU (c. 980-1036), who left a treatise on parts of the church service, benediction prayers, and also on the chronicle of St. Gall (in MGH, Script., ii. 75-147).] It was not until the twelfth century that mysticism became a real factor in the western Church. Here, as in the East, mysticism and monasticism were closely related, not only in Anselm and Peter Damian (qq.v.), but preeminently in Bernard of Clairvaux and Hugo of St. Victor (qq.v.). The characteristic element, new to a certain extent, in the mysticism of Bernard was the love of Jesus, particularly as the bridegroom of the soul, set forth in his homilies on Canticles. The position of Hugo of St. Victor, while in great measure the same as that of Bernard, was more scholastic and dialectic; and his positing of a fixed way by which the soul is to gain ultimate union with God forms the basis of that scholastic mysticism which mainly dominated the Middle Ages and was continued in the post-Tridentine Church of Rome. Victor's first distinguished successor was Richard of St. Victor (q.v.), and mention must also be made of Saint Hildegard of Bingen and Elizabeth of Schonau (qq.v.). It is not true, as is often stated, that there was a sharp cleavage between mysticism and scholasticism. Not only were such men as Hugo of St. Victor and Bonaventura equally distinguished in both fields, but even Thomas Aquinas had a strongly mystical vein in his theology. At the same time, a distinction was drawn between mysticism and scholasticism as two branches of theology — the latter essentially intellectual, formal, and philosophical; the former pietistic and teaching how to attain union with the divine, both often treating the same themes. The divergence of their methods
and aims, however, rendered it possible for some, like Bernard, to be mystics only, others, like Hugo of St. Victor and Bonaventura, to work both in scholastic and in mystical theology, others, like Abelard and Duns Scotus, to be scholastics only, and yet others, like Thomas Aquinas, to modify scholasticism with mysticism. From the twelfth century to the present day mysticism has retained a formal place in Roman Catholicism, which draws, nevertheless, a sharp distinction between " false " and " true " mysticism, honoring the latter and condemning the former. The mendicant orders essentially furthered mysticism. On the other hand, the Dominicans extruded a type of mysticism which was essentially German in representatives and characteristics, though finding at least a partial analogue in the teachings of the Dutch Jan van Ruysbroeck (q.v.) and his school. Among these men the best-known is Eckhart (q.v.), whose chief scholars and successors were Heinrich Amandus Suso and Johann Tauler (qq.v.), and to this same school belonged the Theologia Germanica (q.v.). Unlike the school of Eckhart, the Brethren of the Common Life (see Common Life, Brethren of the) not only maintained orthodoxy, but also stressed the practical ends of mysticism, this school producing the famous " Imitation of Christ," usually ascribed to Thomas a Kempis (q.v.). See also Friends of God. To the scholastic mystics of the fifteenth century belonged Dionysius the Carthusian and Nicholas of Strasburg (qq.v.), while a theosophical and humanistic tendency was manifested by Nicholas of Cusa (see Cusa, Nicholas of), Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (see Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni), Reuchlin (q.v.), and the fantastic Theophrastus Paracelsus and Agrippa von Nettesheim (q.v.).
The Reformation gave to mysticism a new status, varying according to the different communions then formed. Of the Reformers Luther most occupied himself with it, and in his earlier career 3. Early was most sympathetic with it. He be- Protestant came more and more averse to the Mysticism. pseudo-Dionysius, but throughout his life he highly esteemed Tauler and the Theologia Germanica (q.v.), while in his.J5ucharistic doctrine he preserved a portion of Roman Catholic mysticism, this partially explaining the bitter spirit of his defenders, who felt, half-consciously, that they must defend this fragment of mysticism at any cost. Yet mysticism failed to maintain the recognized position that it had formerly held, and attempts were made to ignore, explain away, or fexcuse Luther's attitude. Dogmatism gained the supremacy, and although there were occasional manifestations of a mysticism that clung to orthodoxy, Lutheranism gave but scant protection to the movement, which is most obvious in Lutheran hynnodv. Neither Valentin Weigel nor Jakob Bohme (qq.v.) can be considered Lutheran mystics, though both maintained a Lutheran position. The former was rather inclined to pantheism, and his writings, posthumously published, were regarded as a type of fanatical heresy and did much to discredit mysticism in the- Lutheran Church. Bohme, who exercised considerable influence in England,