THE BAPTIST UNION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1575, 19 October 1912, Page 9

THE BAPTIST UNION.

ItEY, R. H. KEMPTON ON CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM.' In his opening address on Wednesday as president of the Baptist Union, which is now meeting in Christehurch, tho Rev. R. H. K. ICempton stated that during the last few days he had been called upon to lay the foundation stone of a now church at Cambridge, to plant the first tree on the site of tho new Children's Home at Manurewa—a site given to tho Dominion by a band of business men— to lay the foundation . stone of a new church at Takapuiia, aiul.within I he next few days to open a new church at. St. Albans, and to preach'at the opening of. the new church in Hanover Street. Ho would ask them lo turn from the wayfaro and warfare of life,, and glance - at some of the practicalslessons of Christianmysticism. For tho' purposes of tho address ho would adopt the definition of mysticism as '.'the science of a hidden life." 'He could not deal with tho subject exhaustively: in tho latest standard work the bibliography alone ran to twenty-three pages. Christian mysticism whs not the mysticism that expected results without the use of-means; it had nothing in common with the indolent passivity of quietism. Truo mysticism sought to impress tho valuo. of religion for its own sake. It reminds men that the spiritual realities rank higher than earthly interests. The mystics embraced many of the great Christians of the past and the present. Ho dealt with the life and experience of Madam Guyon. From her.account it could be understood that union with God was the goal of the mystic, and self-surrender the means to that end. Those who knew their God could do much, as Christian achievement is the outcome of their experience. Tho success of Spurgeon lay not in his command of language nor his intellectual fertility, but in his knowledge of—his union with—God. Neither Spirrgeon nor tho speaker would agree with Dv. Campbell's theology, but it would be recognised that he, too, was a mystic, the secret of his power lying in his mystical temperament and teaching, and tho fact that lie, too, knew the secret of the Lord. It would not bo denied that the intellect had its placo in religion; but tho mystic insisted that it was by the heart, aiid not by the mind, that God was to be known. It was a question whether religion was not being over-intellectualised, too much dependence being placed upon intellectual apprehensions of truth. As lie had mentioned, the development of the mystic had three stages in the Tnwnrd Way—the Purgative, tho Illuminative, and the Unitive. The first stage was when the soul had to be purged of all that stood between it and goodness—all between it and God had to be abandoned. The object of all purgation with tho mystic was freedom; freedom from selfhood in any form. The Second Stage, the Illuminative Life, had been defined as the concentration of all the faculties, will, intellect, and feeling, upon God. As regards the third stage, tho Inward Way, it was feared often that by it the Church mns.t be robbed of much initiative and force; but it had to be remembered that the disciplined will gained power. Tho distinctive feature of this stage was the Consciousness of God. The Third Stago of the Inward Way, which was really the goal, was called the Unitive Life —the' Stage of Perfect Contemplation. As to the relation of mysticism lo theology, its tendency was to widen thought. In'relation to Biblical criticism, mysticism delivered from the bondage to the letter, from the slavery of the bald and uninspiring literalism; it placed the Higher Criticism in a secondary place. Beyond the obvious sense of Scripture there is often a second sense. Mysticism and Socialism aro at one in denouncing' the narrowing lust for gold. Mysticism stood for the supremacy of the spiritual; before tho mystic lay the grent world of wonder and unity with.God.