January 2022 - The Contemplative Christian

Early Interfaith Dialogue: Pseudo-Dionysius vs. the Pseudo-Contemplative

The Set-Up: From Outsiders to Mainstream Culture Welcome to the fourth century. Christianity has come a long way. The Jesus-followers are no longer a first century sect of Judaism struggling to define their faith. After a couple centuries complete with waves of persecution, the Edict of Milan (313 AD) significantly decreased the likelihood of martydom. […]

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The Early Mystics: Pin the Tail on the Donkey

History of Contemplative Christianity

After the “New Testament Mystics” (the Apostles and Paul), things got weird for a few centuries. The earliest post-biblical era contemplatives had a rough start of it, though they did pave the way for future Christian mystics. It’s hard to blame them for the rough start. Jesus knew God directly, so he got it ALL

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Christ Lives in Me: Contemplative Christianity in the New Testament

History of Contemplative Christianity

A Bad Rap: Mysticism’s Fall From Glory Contemplative (mystical) Christianity is clearly present in the New Testament and is at the heart of the Christian faith. Contemplative Christianity (Christian mysticism) was all the rage up through the 1400’s. That’s a solid 15 centuries of being “cool”. Generally, folks embraced the concept of having a deep-hearted

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