Light and Darkness: Language and Experience in the Christian Mystical Tradition

For my senior thesis, I am examining how the language of Christian mysticism developed throughout the first millennium. Specifically, I focus on the themes of light and darkness as linguistic tools used to convey... [ view full abstract ]

For my senior thesis, I am examining how the language of Christian mysticism developed throughout the first millennium. Specifically, I focus on the themes of light and darkness as linguistic tools used to convey something about experiences on the mystical path. Unlike many studies of mysticism, I seek to give attention to the entire mystical journey as presented by each mystic rather than solely focus on the end experience. As such, I am less concerned with the effort to reason through what such an experience could be psychologically and instead focus on the notion that mystics speak of such experiences as a real part of the spiritual path. I am primarily focused on how each mystic describes the path and how we can philosophically think about this path. I look at different presentations of the mystical journey throughout the first millennium by studying writers such as Origen of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Denys the Areopagite, and Symeon the New Theologian. Throughout my discussion, I additionally explore how these writers draw on the foundations of mystical language in Platonic philosophy and Biblical scripture.