This thesis examines the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God and attempts to describe the precise nature of this relationship. Thus, after the introduction, a survey of research and a methodological introduction, the study illuminates the background of the Pauline understanding of the relationship between word and Spirit by examining the same relationship in the Old Testament, in Early Judaism, in the Jesus tradition and in the wider Graeco-Roman world. It emerges that Paul - in analogy to the Old Testament, Early Judaism and the theology of Jesus - saw a close relationship between the Holy Spirit and God's word. Obviously for Paul the Holy Spirit as a divine person of the trinity is more than the word but in his - mainly soteriological - work the Spirit has bound himself to God's word. Paul makes it clear that the Spirit works with the word everything for the spiritual life. Zusammenfassung In vorliegender Arbeit wird die Frage nach dem Zusammenhang von Gottes Geist und dem Wort Gottes bei Paulus aufgegriffen und der Versuch unternommen, eine Antwort zu geben. Dabei wird - nach der Einleitung, dem Forschungsüberblick und einer methodischen Einführung -, als Hintergrund des paulinischen Verständnisses von Wort und Geist, das Alte Testament, Frühjudentum, die Jesusüberlieferung und der Hellenismus auf diesen Zusammenhang hin befragt. Dabei zeigt sich, dass der Apostel Paulus in Analogie zum Alten Testament, Frühjudentum und der Theologie Jesu, einen engen Zusammenhang zwischen Heiligem Geist und Gottes Wort lehrt (,,Wort-Theologie"). Der Geist Gottes ist für Paulus als göttliche Person der Trinität natürlich mehr als das Wort, doch in seinem - vor allem soteriologischen - Wirken, hat er sich an das Wort Gottes gebunden. Paulus macht deutlich, dass der Geist mit dem Wort alles zum geistlichen Leben wirkt: Glaube (Wiedergeburt), Innewohnung des Geistes, ewiges Leben, Führung, Erkenntnis, Kraft, Gaben u.v.a. / New Testament / (M.Th.(New Testament))

Thesis (DTh (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology))—Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This study concerns the relationship between mysticism and social action (widely understood, as including political and economic action), or as it was formulated for centuries in the Christian tradition: the relationship between action and contemplation. Chapter 1 differentiates between different forms of Christian spirituality. Also, the reason for this study is stated: the apparent search amongst certain contemporary Reformed Christians for a more contemplative spirituality, while preserving the socially and politically involved character of Reformed spirituality. Chapter 2 investigates the origins and evelopment of contemplation (or “mysticism”, as it is commonly called today). Taking into account the history of the meaning of the term “mysticism”, a contemporary definition is sought that would address the changes, distortions and misconceptions that have developed over the centuries. A major focus in Chapter 2 is the relationship between action and contemplation/mysticism. This issue is reviewed with reference to its history, from patristic times until approximately the time of the Counter-reformation. The extent to which distortions regarding this issue have occurred, as well as possible subsequent corrections of these, are also examined in this chapter. In Chapter 3, a short overview is given of the recent revaluation and incorporation of mysticism alongside a commitment to social action in the theology of a number of prominent “mystical-political” Roman-Catholic theologians of the 20th century. The focus then shifts to the revaluation of mysticism and the reformulation of mystical-prophetic theology in the theological project of the 20th-century North American theologian David Tracy. Of especial importance is his use of the Ricoeurian methodology of “suspicion and retrieval” to retrieve and incorporate the Christian mystical tradition into his own theology, as this forms the ethodological basis for the next chapter. Chapter 4 takes the form of an “exercise of suspicion and retrieval” with a view to find and retrieve possible mystical elements in the Reformed tradition via an investigation into the history, way of life and spirituality of the Roman Catholic contemplative monastic order of the Carthusians – specifically their tradition of manibus praedicare and the manifestations thereof. Chapter 5 focuses on the theology and spirituality of the Dutch theologian K.H. (Kornelis) Miskotte as an example of a Reformed theologian in whose theology elements of both contemplation/mysticism and social action are present. Contrary to the views of many researchers into Miskotte’s theology (as well as Miskotte himself) it is concluded that: In light of the recent, sometimes retrieved, views of mysticism by present-day scholars of mysticism – as well as those of the mystical-political theologians, especially David Tracy – Miskotte’s spirituality can indeed be seen as a form of mystical-political spirituality. This is true despite some profound differences between the mystical-prophetic theologians and Tracy on the one hand and Miskotte on the other – differences that, however, stamp Miskotte’s mystical-political spirituality as authentically Reformed.

不同於過去將密契經驗侷限於一特殊意識狀態的經驗，本文試圖從艾克哈特關於超脫 的觀點來說明密契主義和其經驗的形式如何受到其社會與時代背景所影響。 過去學者的研究說明艾克哈特關於超脫的概念，是其形而上學和密契主義的核心。但 超脫此一概念不僅是密契主義中用以顯示辯證法和否性神學的形而上概念，從艾克哈特的德 文著作中我們還可以發現該辭彙的產生與其所面對的聽眾和當下的信仰情境息息相關。 艾克哈特將信徒在信仰操作上所遇到的困境和壓力視為一種苦難的來源，因而以童貞 婦人的形象要求信徒應當轉而重視信仰的態度，以超脫的態度在入世或既有的宗教生活中實 踐其信仰，最後達到沒有原因的生活與意志的貧乏。艾克哈特關於超脫所建構出來的密契經 驗有著與其時代相關社會的、實踐的或倫理學上的生成因。 此外，透過對 Gezücken 等辭彙的探討，我們發現超脫一概念包含著形而上學、倫理 學和密契的不同層次。這些層次說明了艾克哈特對密契經驗的概念並指導他的聽眾如何正確 的對待自己的宗教經驗。超脫因而是艾克哈特密契經驗的主題，實踐和內容。 我們因而可以說，在艾克哈特的範例中，密契主義及其經驗具有不同層面，並且如同 史蒂芬卡茲所說，是一種處在宗教、文化等生活實境中所建構的經驗形式。 / By studying the concept of "Detachment" of Meister Eckhart, this article presents that the forms of mysticism and mystical experience are influenced and restricted by its own social and religious contexts. According to previous studies of scholars, the idea of "Detachment" is a central and metaphysical idea of Meister Eckhart's Mysticism. However, the idea of "Detachment" is not only a concept that contents neoplatonical idea of dialectic and negative theology but also a concept that responds to its contemporary religious trends which we can find in Eckhart's German works. Eckhart considered the heavy pressure of religious practices as sufferings and persuaded his audiences to concentrate on their own detached attitudes instead. He suggested that the life of detachment was a model of "virgin wife" that presented purest religious life in the normal daily life, and the purpose was to live without a why and to reach spiritual poverty. The mysticism of Meister Eckhart, which has "detachment" as its central idea, therefore has its social, practical, and ethical causes. Meanwhile, by studying the concept of Gezücken, we found that the idea of "Detachment" is a concept combined with metaphysical, ethical, and mystical layers. These layers presents in Eckhart's discourse about mystical experience and direct his audiences to treat their religious experiences with correct attitudes. "Detachment" therefore is both the main theme, the criteria, and the content of Eckhart's idea of mystical experiences. We can finally conclude that, like Steven Katz's theory, in the situation of Meister Eckhart the mystical experience is a experience formulated by its own religious and cultural situations, a experience that "Sitz im Leben".

This study examines the influence of various Western mystical traditions on Leonard Cohen’s second novel, Beautiful Losers. It begins with a discussion of Cohen’s public remarks concerning religion and mysticism followed by an assessment of twentieth century Canadian criticism on Beautiful Losers. Three thematic chapters comprise the majority of the study, each concerning a different mystical tradition—Kabbalism, Gnosticism, and Christian mysticism, respectively. The author considers Beautiful Losers in relation to these systems, concluding that the novel effectively depicts the pursuit of God, or knowledge, through mystic practice and doctrine. This study will interest scholars seeking a careful exploration of Cohen’s use of religious themes in his work.

Previous critics have paid insufficient attention to the political implications of Yeats's life-long preoccupation with a wide range of Western and Eastern religious traditions. Though he always preserved some skepticism about mysticism's ability to reshape the material world, the early Yeats valued the mystical idea of oneness in part because he hoped (mistakenly, as it turned out) that such oneness would bring Catholic and Protestant Ireland together in a way that might make the goals of Irish nationalism easier to accomplish. Yeats's celebration of mystical oneness does not reflect a pseudo-fascistic commitment to a static, oppressive unity. Like most mystics—and most modernists—Yeats conceived of both religious and political oneness not as a final end but rather as an ongoing process, a "way of happening" (as Auden put it).

Thèse de doctorat réalisée en cotutelle entre l'Université Paris IV Sorbonne et l'Université de Montréal / Des affinités rapprochent l’œuvre d’Hubert Aquin et celle de Georges Bataille. Ces deux auteurs explorent une voie mystique présentant de fortes similitudes, apparentée à ce que Roger Caillois appelle le « sacré gauche », c’est-à-dire le sacré impur, maléfique, dont l’accès serait donné selon Georges Bataille par la transgression, et qui correspondrait, pour reprendre l’expression bataillienne, au « moment privilégié d’unité communielle ». L’objectif de l’auteur français est de dégager l’expérience mystique de ses antécédents religieux et de rendre le phénomène de l’extase accessible à tous. La sortie de soi est rendue possible par la communication, qui implique la rupture de son intégrité et de celle d’autrui. Bien que provenant d’un horizon culturel différent, Hubert Aquin théorise également et met en scène dans et par le récit une certaine forme d’«extrême du possible » qui s’avère très proche de « l’impossible » bataillien. Cette thèse se propose de montrer en quoi les théories de « l’expérience intérieure » et de l’érotisme de Bataille éclairent tant les essais que le Journal, les romans, récits et nouvelles d’Aquin, nous amenant par la même occasion à définir les particularités de la voie mystique empruntée par l’auteur québécois, et aussi, plus généralement et plus fondamentalement, de souligner deux façons différentes d’appréhender et de vivre le refus de la transcendance : l’une, celle de Georges Bataille, qui consiste à embrasser à corps perdu la perte de Dieu et de soimême dans un formidable éclat de rire, et l’autre, celle d’Hubert Aquin, qui réside dans le tiraillement incessant et douloureux entre ce qui éloigne du Christ et ce qui rapproche de Lui. Le premier chapitre de la thèse est théorique ; il est consacré aux trois concepts qui régissent l’ensemble de notre analyse : le mysticisme, le sacré et l’érotisme. La singularité de la nouvelle théologie mystique que propose Georges Bataille dans ses textes théoriques par rapport à l’expérience mystique traditionnelle fait ensuite l’objet du deuxième chapitre. Le troisième et dernier chapitre montre les points de convergence et de divergence entre l’auteur français et l’auteur québécois et met en valeur la spécificité de l’expérience de ce dernier. Comment Hubert Aquin conçoit-t-il et représente-t-il « l’extrême du possible » dans l’ensemble de son œuvre ? C’est à cette ultime question que nous tâchons de répondre. / Affinities link Hubert Aquin’s and Georges Bataille’s writings. These two authors explore a mystic path, which presents strong similarities related to what Roger Caillois called «left sacred», that is to say the impure, malefic sacred, accessible to Georges Bataille by transgression, and which corresponds to the « privileged moment of communal unity ». The French author’s goal is to free the mystic experience from its religious background and to make ecstasy accessible to everybody. It is precisely by communicating that men can break their isolation and that of the others and reach ecstasy. Even if Hubert Aquin doesn’t share the same cultural background as Georges Bataille, he also theorizes and represents in his novels a form of « extreme of the possible », which is very close to the bataillian « impossible ». This thesis aims to show how Georges Bataille’s theories of «inner experience » and eroticism highlight Hubert Aquin’s essays, Journal and novels, leading us to define the peculiarities of the mystic experience explored by the author from Quebec, and more generally and fundamentally, to focus on two different ways to think and to live the refusal of transcendence: the first, that of Georges Bataille, which consists in embracing the loss of God and of ourselves in laughter, and the second one, that of Hubert Aquin, which consists in being ceaselessly and painfully torn between what takes away from the Christ and what moves closer to Him. The first chapter of the thesis is theoretical; it is dedicated to three key concepts for our whole analysis: mysticism, sacred and eroticism. The object of the second chapter is the peculiarity of the new mystic theology of Georges Bataille in his theoretical texts compared to the traditional mystic experience. The third and last chapter shows the points of convergence and the differences between the French author and the author from Quebec and emphasizes the specificity of the latter’s experience. How does Hubert Aquin conceive and represent «the extreme of the possible » in his writings? It is the ultimate question we try to answer in this thesis.

With this essay, I mean to investigate if the poetry of the Swedish poet, writer and cultural elitist Gunnar Ekelöf shows signs and meanings of a mystical character. First, I research and compare the theories of Nathan Söderblom, Hjalmar Sundén and Antoon Geels about mysticism and use these in my interpretation of Ekelöfs poetry. It soon becomes clear that Ekelöf is a person with an inner religious reality and in context with the definition of mysticism this essay presents and uses, it goes to show that his poetry can be seen as mystical and furthermore that Ekelöf himself can be considered a mystic. This essay, leads to a discussion about a wider interpretation of mysticism and that mysticism can be seen in poetry.

Le Dasein ne pourra jamais « être » son « là ». Une telle remarque pourra surprendre. Toutefois, dès lors que la totalité ou la plénitude d'un « là » soient pensées, ce dernier se révèle transi de néant. Or, parler du néant implique une méthode propre, car c’est l’absence de tout « phénomène ». Devons-nous plutôt, et « déjà », constater la mort de la phénoménologie, son incapacité de « dire » ce qui est radicalement « sans » phénomène, même à entendre ce qu’elle nous aura enseigné ? C'est alors une Méthode du Néant qui se « donne » – ou plutôt « qui se sera déjà donnée », maintenant, comme dans l’Histoire – comme reste irréductible, têtu et tenace. Ce Néant implique qu’il est tant sans « temporalité » que sans « spatialité ». Il nous importe, par conséquent, de pouvoir « penser » le « non-lieu » et d’entendre à nouveaux frais ce que l’histoire nous en informe, notamment dans la pensée de Sohravardî. Le paradoxe est que cette histoire est peut-être elle-même hors histoire. / The Dasein cannot « be » its « be-ing-there ». Such a proposition may surprise us. However, where the totality of a « there » is considered, the latter reveals itself as kneaded by « nothingness ». Further, nothingness would imply its own method. Here, one is dealing with the absence of all phenomena. Should we, and « already », find in favour of the death of phonemenology, of its incapacity to « say » what is radically « without » phenonmenon, even where we are to heed what this tradition has taught us ? A Method of Nothingness, the kind which is sought here, seems to propose itself – or rather « has already proposed itself », as it is within History – as an irreducible, stubborn and tenacious one. Nothingness does imply the absence of « temporality » as well as « spatiality ». Consequently, we are driven to « think » the « no-where » and to heed afresh what history has taught us, namely the thought of Sohravardî on the matter. The paradox is this may bring us outside history itself.

Esta dissertação analisa uma organização ocultista, sediada na cidade de São Paulo, com o auxílio da Teoria Crítica da Escola de Frankfurt e da psicanálise freudiana. Pretendemos com isso compreender em parte o processo de formação da subjetividade moderna dentro da sociedade totalmente administrada, bem como discutir a irracionalidade da cultura refletida no sujeito como um eco do social. O trabalho conclui que a transição do capitalismo concorrencial para o capitalismo de monopólios gerou uma busca por valores espirituais muito de acordo com a lógica do consumo de massas. Concluímos também que a irracionalidade de tais renascimentos religiosos, dos quais a Pró-Vida é um exemplo, representam o reflexo da patologia social da razão humana. / This thesis analyses an occultist organization, placed in the city of São Paulo, with the help of the Frankfurt Schools Critical Theory and the Freudian psychoanalysis. Our intention is to understand in part the modern subjectivity formation process inside the wholly administrated society, and to discuss the culture irrationality reflected on the subject as an echo of the social. The thesis concludes that the transition from concurrent to monopolist capitalism has generated a search for spiritual values according to the logic of mass consumption. We also conclude that this religious revival irrationality, of that which the Pró-Vida group is an example, represents the reflex of the social pathology of human reason.

[pt] O presente estudo constituiu-se como uma investigação de possíveis intercessões entre as experiências dadas pelo erotismo, a mística e a poesia, essa última entendida dentro do contexto grego de poiésis que extrapola os limites do gênero literário, caracterizando-se principalmente como experiência estética de uso consciente da língua. O direcionamento teórico principal foi dado pelo pensamento de Georges Bataille, para quem tanto o amor- paixão quanto a mística religiosa e a poesia são experiências limites de alteridade que revelam a existência de um movimento dialético (sem síntese) entre os interditos que fundam o corpo social e a transgressão dessas mesmas leis. Nosso estudo buscou explorar as intercessões entre as formas de erotismo que Bataille analisa - o erotismo dos corpos, dos corações e sagrado - e a poesia, que o autor menciona como uma quarta forma de erotismo sem desenvolver argumentação mais precisa. Desta forma, nossa hipótese é que possa ser aplicado à poesia, senão todas, algumas das principais características que Bataille aponta no erotismo, definido por ele como experiência em que o ser se põe em questão. A reflexão das questões propostas por Bataille exigiu que fossem abordadas as especificidades da experiência religiosa na contemporaneidade, e a discussão de alguns conceitos da ciência da religião, como por exemplo, uma definição de sagrado que pudesse ser aplicado não apenas a experiências religiosas institucionalizadas, algumas reflexões sobre o pensamento mítico-religioso e a compreensão do caráter primitivamente sagrado da linguagem e do mito. A partir da compreensão da importância do mito para o pensamento mágico-religioso e da constatação de que o mesmo constitui-se a linguagem apropriada para comunicação com as instâncias do sagrado, formulamos a hipótese que a poesia pudesse ser interpretada, em uma sociedade desencantada como a nossa, enquanto solução de continuidade para o mito, sendo ela intrinsecamente religiosa, no sentido em que propõe um salto para fora dos limites do interdito em direção às forças anímicas do sagrado, esse entendido no contexto batailliano. Tencionando clarificar hipóteses e argumentos, foi tomada para um estudo de caso a obra da poeta mineira Adélia Prado, onde foram apontadas e discutidas as relações entre erotismo, mística, palavra poética, sagrado e morte. / [en] The present study was constituted as an investigation of possible intercessions among the experiences given by the eroticism, mystic and poetry, understood in the Greek context of poiésis that extrapolates the limits of the literary gender, being characterized mainly as aesthetic experience of use conscious of language. The main theoretical approachly was given by Georges Bataille s thought, for who as much the love-passion as the religious mystic and poetry are limits experiences of otherlity that reveal the existence of a movement dialectic (without synthesis) among the injunctions that found the social body and the transgression of those same laws. Our study looked for explore the intercessions among the eroticism`s forms that Bataille analyzes - the eroticism of bodies, of hearts and sacred - and the poetry, that the author mentions as one Wednesday forms of eroticism without developing more necessary argument. Our hypothesis is that it can be applied to the poetry, or else all, some of the main characteristics that Bataille appears in the eroticism, defined for him as experience in that the being puts in subject. The reflection of the subjects proposed by Bataille demanded that the specificity`s of the religious experience were approached in the contemporanity, as well as the discussion of some concepts of the science of the religion, as for instance, a definition of sacred that it could not just be applied to institutionalized religious experiences, some reflections on the thought mythical-religious person and the understanding of the primitive character sacred of language and of myth. Starting from the understanding of the importance of the myth for the thought magic-religious person and of the verification that the same is constituted the appropriate language for communication with the instances of the sacred, we formulated the hypothesis the poetry to be interpreted, in a society disenchanted as ours, while continuity solution for the myth, being her religious, in the sense in that it proposes a jump outside of the limits of the injunction towards the psychic forces of the sacred, that understood in the context batailliano. Intending to clarify hypotheses and arguments, it was taken for a case study the work of the poet Adélia Prado, where they were pointed and discussed the relationships among eroticism, mystic, word poetic, sacred and death.