Christian Mysticism Christian Meditation and Pauline Christianity Soteriology

Christian Mysticism
Christian Meditation and Pauline Christianity Soteriology

Contents
1 Pauline mysticism 1
1.1 Deﬁnition of Christ the Messiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 The mystical teachings of Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Reactive Spirituality versus Proactive Mysticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.6 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Christian meditation 4
2.1 Context and structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1.1 Role of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.2 Distinction from non-Christian meditations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Old Testament references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Approaches to meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.1 St. Ignatius of Loyola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.2 St. Teresa of Avila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.3 Saint Francis de Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 Denominational issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5.1 Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5.2 Eastern Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5.3 Other approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.7 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Pauline Christianity 13
3.1 Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.1 Political . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.2 Theological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.3 Other views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2 Paul’s view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 As a pejorative term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
i

ii CONTENTS
3.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.6 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4 Atonement in Christianity 18
4.1 Compatibility of diﬀering theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 Confusion of terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3 Main theories in detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3.1 Moral inﬂuence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3.2 Ransom and Christus Victor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3.3 Satisfaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4 Other Christian perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.1 Recapitulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.3 Roman Catholic views on atonement and reparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.5 Non-trinitarian Christian theologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.2 Jehovah’s Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.3 Emanuel Swedenborg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.4 The United Pentecostal Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.8 External links and Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.9 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5 Soteriology 26
5.1 Buddhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.2 Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.3 Hinduism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.4 Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.5 Jainism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.6 Judaism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.7 Mystery religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.8 Sikhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.9 Other religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.12 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6 Christian mysticism 30
6.1 Etymology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

CONTENTS iii
6.2 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6.2.1 Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6.2.2 Presence versus experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.2.3 Personal transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.2.4 Social constructionism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.3 Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.3.1 Jewish antecedents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.3.2 Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.3.3 Early church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6.3.4 Hellenism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6.3.5 Desert Fathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.3.6 Monasticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.3.7 Middle ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.3.8 Reformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.3.9 Counter-reformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.4 Mystic traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.4.2 Catholicism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.4.3 Protestantism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.5 Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.5.1 Threefold path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.5.2 Underhill’s five-stage path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.3 Types of meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.4 Ascetic practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.5 Sensory experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.6 Ecstasies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.7 Physical transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.5.8 Miracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.6 Influential Christian mystics and texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.6.1 Greek influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.6.2 Early Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.6.3 Middle Ages and Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.6.4 Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.6.5 Modern era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.9 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.10 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.12.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

iv CONTENTS
6.12.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.12.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 1
Pauline mysticism
Pauline mysticism is mysticism associated with Pauline
Christianity. Pauline mysticism shows distinct differences
from mystical theology.
Pauline mysticism centres on the mystery of Christ in
the believer and the believer in Christ, who is believed
to be the one and only mediator between man and God,
whereas Mystical theology allows for people from all re-
ligions to partake in a journey towards obtaining oneness
with the divine and shows secret paths to seekers on how
to obtain such oneness.
1.1 Definition of Christ the Mes-
siah
This Handbook of Jonathan Hill, defines Christ and Mes-
siah, on pages 533 and 535 as:
Christ the Greek translation of messiah.
From an early stage, Christians believed that
Jesus was the Christ, a belief that gave them
their name. The word Christ soon came to ap-
ply to Christ rather like a name, although it was
really a title.
Messiah meaning “annointed one”, a fig-
ure described in some Jewish scriptures, asso-
ciated with the coming kingdom of God. Dif-
ferent groups had different expectations of the
Messiah - some believed he would be a warrior-
king, others a sort of priest. The first Christians
believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Christ is
the Greek equivant of messiah
1.2 The mystical teachings of Paul
A survey of the mysticism of Paul the apostle explains
that there are different types of Mysticism. Paul’s mys-
ticism is not of the kind that attempts a contact with the
cosmic or super-natural. It is of a different kind. This
mysticism is not a God-Contact- Mysticism. It is a Christ-
Mediation-Mysticism, in which man cannot achieve a
union with God directly, but may enter into a union with
Christ, who is both man and God. This contact is made
not by magical rites, sacraments or any works on our part,
but by a literal co-experiencing of Christ’s death and res-
urrection. Pauline mysticism and Gnostic or Hellenistic
Christian mysticism have been considered to be in direct
contrast with one another.
As per the Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Western
Theology with regards to the views of Albert Schweitzer,
Schweitzer did not believe that Paul represents an appro-
priation of Hellenistic or Greek ideas into Christianity.
Pauline mysticism is not about “being one with God or
being in God” (Schweitzer, 1930, 3) and sonship to God
is not conceived as “an immediate mystical relation to
God, but as mediated and effected by means of a mys-
tical union with Christ”.
Paul does not commend any kind of “God-mysticism”,
but rather saw human beings to enter into relation with
God by means of a “Christ-mysticism”, and it is this mys-
ticism which is central to Paul’s message.
The fundamental thought of Pauline mysticism runs thus:
in the mystery of “I am in Christ; in Him I know myself
as a being who is raised above this sensuous, sinful, and
transient world and already belongs to the transcendent;
in Him I am assured of resurrection; in Him I am a Child
of God.”
Another feature of Paul’s mysticism is that the Christian
is “conceived as having died and risen again with Him”,
thus, the believer has been set free from sin and the Law
and now possesses the Spirit of Christ and is thus assured
of resurrection.
According to Albert Schweitzer, the Christ-mysticism ex-
perienced by Christians is reckoned by Paul to be a kind
of co-experiencing of Christ’s death and resurrection:
And as for redemption, it is accomplished by Jesus’ resur-
rection. The perishable world is a stage on which angels
of heaven and demons do battle. Jesus also becomes a
Messianic King with command over angels who is able to
defeat all who oppose God.
Paul emphasizes justification by faith alone (Sola fide) in
the Epistle to the Romans. Christ’s death is portrayed as
a sin offering, which erases sin and makes God’s forgive-
ness possible. This “righteousness by faith” is also indi-
1

2 CHAPTER 1. PAULINE MYSTICISM
vidualistic and detached from participation in the mys-
tical Body of Christ, and it does not lead to an ethical
theory:
Paul arrives at the idea of a faith which rejects not only the
works of the Law, but works in general. Yet, ethics are
not absent from the thought of Paul, but rather they are re-
conceived. By participating in Christ’s death and resur-
rection, the believer becomes a new creation. In principle
the believer is no longer able to sin. However, this partic-
ipation proceeds gradually making ethics necessary. “It
is only in so far as a man is purified and liberated from
the world that he becomes capable of truly ethical ac-
tion”. Paul describes ethical action in many ways, includ-
ing sanctification, giving up the service of sin, and living
for God. Love is seen as the highest manifestation of this
ethical life.
For Schweitzer there is nothing Hellenistic
about belief in the coming Kingdom of
God, Jesus as Messiah, the atoning death,
the resurrection, and the saving effect of
baptism. Yet, as Paul worked with these ideas,
they became more susceptible to Hellenistic
influences. After Paul, Christian thought
became increasingly Hellenized, reaching its
culmination within the New Testament in the
Gospel according to John. The mysticism
found in the John’s account of Jesus is a
Hellenization of Paul’s mysticism. Schweitzer
concluded that the Hellenistic interpretations
of Christianity that followed after Paul are
inferior. The mysticism of Hellenized Chris-
tianity is simpler and less profound than the
mysticism of Paul the Apostle.
Paul is seen as the architect of this “cross centred” theol-
ogy, referred to Jesus as “Christ” and stressing his mes-
sianic role. His resurrection is seen as the prototype for
the future resurrection of all of humanity. St. Paul had
often been criticized for directing attention away from the
life and teachings of Jesus to a more mystical religion
revolving around the godlike Christ, one focused upon his
saving death. It had also been pointed out that his con-
cept is almost entirely absent from the speeches of the
disciples as described in the book of Acts.
Redemption is seen as an act of ascent, not mystical ex-
perience.
According to David Wells, the type of Christian spiritu-
ality that became increasingly popular in this postmodern
age, is distinctly different from “Agape faith”. In his book
Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World
In the Pauline message, salvation is given and never
forged or manufactured. In line with the description of
Agape faith, Pauline mysticism is not a works based mys-
ticism, but emphasizes the grace of God in Christ Jesus
that becomes available to the believer by faith.
The wisdom revealed through the mystical teachings of
the Apostle Paul, as well as the Soteriology, Christology,
Redemption theology and interpretation of Scripture for
Pauline mysticism differs significantly from Sophia (wis-
dom) and the mysticism associated therewith. Sophia
(wisdom), also known as Christian Theosophy, is a
central term in Hellenistic philosophy and religion,
Platonism, Gnosticism, the Eastern Orthodox Church,
and Esoteric Christianity (see main article Sophia (wis-
dom)).
1.3 Reactive Spirituality versus
Proactive Mysticism
In a chapter “Mysticism and Morality,” contained in his
book A Man in Christ, Scottish preacher and Professor
James S. Stewart (1896-1990) pointed out that Gustav
Adolf Deissmann categorized mysticism to be of two
types: acting, and reacting. The two different models
have be called proactive mysticism, and reactive spiritu-
ality. Reactive spirituality is of grace, an “experience in
which the action of God . . . produces a reaction towards
God.”[1]
In this kind of mysticism God initiates and man responds.
On the other hand, proactive mysticism is of works, a
mystic communion resulting from the mystic’s “own ac-
tion, from which a reaction follows on the part of Deity.”
In other words, by engaging intentional mystical prac-
tices, man initiates, then God responds. Though disagree-
ing with labeling the apostle’s theology of the spiritual life
“Christian mysticism,” Stewart’s distinction helps differ-
entiate between Paul’s reactive spirituality, and proactive
mysticism. Of this distinction Professor Stewart wrote:
Much religion has been made of the latter kind [i.e.,
proactive mysticism]. Man’s action has been regarded
as the primary thing. The soul has endeavoured to as-
cend towards God. Spiritual exercises [e.g., spiritual dis-
ciplines] have been made the ladder for the ascent. But all
this savors of the religion of works as contrasted with the
religion of grace. Paul’s attitude was different. His mysti-
cism was essentially of the reacting kind. Christ, not Paul,
held the initiative. Union with the eternal was not a hu-
man achievement: it was the gift of God. It came, not by
any spiritual exercises [e.g., spiritual disciplines], but by
God’s self-revelation, God’s self-impartation. The words
“It pleased God to reveal His Son in me,” which remind
us that the Damascus experience itself was the founda-
tion of the apostle’s mysticism, are Paul’s emphatic way
of saying that God’s action always holds priority: His ser-
vant simply reacts to the action of God.[2]
Stewart then concludes by stating that Paul’s spirituality
was “all of grace; and it is well to be reminded by the
apostle that union with Christ is not something we have
to achieve by effort, but something we have to accept by
faith.”[3]

1.6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 3
In separating Christianity from the mystery religions,
David Rightmire also observes that the apostle, “viewed
communion with God as an act of divine grace, coming
not by any spiritual exercises, but by God’s self-revelation
(Gal. 1:16).” In other words, spirituality based upon re-
action to revelation is of a different sort than spiritual-
ity conjured up through the practices and disciplines of
the mystical way. The former is initiated by God, and
based upon “faith,” while the latter is initiated by man,
and based upon “works.”
The contemplative spirituality promoted by and amongst
evangelicals today belongs to the acting, or proactive, cat-
egory of mysticism. Spiritual directors advise using var-
ious spiritual disciplines or techniques—solitude and si-
lence, fasting, walking prayer labyrinths, Taizé worship,
spiritual retreats, lectio divina (reading sacred things),
journaling, religious pilgrimages, and so on—to initiate
intimacy and revelatory encounters with God. But as Pro-
fessors Stewart and Rightmire pointed out, Paul did not
embrace such a works model of spirituality. If practices
(i.e., means of grace) are engaged in to promote spiritual
growth, then they ought to find precedent in the revealed
Word of God (i.e., prayer, Scripture reading and study,
singing spiritual songs, witnessing, fellowshipping with
the saints, and observing the ordinances of baptism and
the Lord’s Table). If methods of spiritual growth are not
sourced in the Bible, but are of human invention, then
Paul’s question to the Galatians seems appropriate. He
asked them, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the
Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gala-
tians 3:3). Paul’s paradigm of spirituality focused upon
grace. He gave no advice for experiencing spirituality via
works of the mystic way.
1.4 See also
• Christian meditation
• Pauline Christianity
• Atonement in Christianity
• Soteriology
• Christian mysticism
• Humility: The Beauty of Holiness
1.5 References
[1] James S. Stewart, A Man in Christ; the vital elements of St.
Paul’s religion (New York: Harper and Row Publishers,
1935); p. 163.
[2] Stewart (1935); p. 164
[3] Stewart (1935); p. 164
1.6 Bibliography
• The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle. (1930), by Albert
Schweitzer, Johns Hopkins University Press. 1998.
ISBN 0-8018-6098-9
• Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Western The-
ology article on Albert Schweitzer; see especially the
section “The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle”
• Jonathan Hill, Zondervan Handbook to the History
of Christianity, 2006, Lion Publishing, ISBN 978-
0-310-26270-1
• Postmodernism & Sacred Scripture : Opportunities
for Clarity on the Question of Christ & Culture by
Dean O. Wenthe
• Above All Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern
World by David F. Wells, ISBN 978-0-8028-2455-4

Chapter 2
Christian meditation
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a
structured attempt is made to become aware of and re-
flect upon the revelations of God.[1]
The word meditation
comes from the Latin word meditārī, which has a range
of meanings including to reflect on, to study and to prac-
tice. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately
focusing on specific thoughts (such as a bible passage) and
reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of
God.[2]
Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal re-
lationship based on the love of God that marks Chris-
tian communion.[3][4]
Both in Eastern and Western Chris-
tianity meditation is the middle level in a broad three-
stage characterization of prayer: it involves more reflec-
tion than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured
than the multiple layers of contemplative prayer.[5][6][7][8]
Teachings in both the Eastern and Western Christian
churches have emphasized the use of Christian medi-
tation as an element in increasing one’s knowledge of
Christ.[9][10][11][12]
In Aspects of Christian meditation, the Holy See warned of
potential incompatibilities in mixing Christian and non-
Christian styles of meditation.[13]
In 2003, in A Christian
reflection on the New Age the Vatican announced that “the
Church avoids any concept that is close to those of the
New Age".[14][15][16]
2.1 Context and structure
Christian meditation involves looking back on Jesus’ life,
thanksgiving and adoration of God for his action in send-
ing Jesus for human salvation.[17]
In her book The Interior
Castle (Mansions 6, Chapter 7) Saint Teresa of Avila de-
fined Christian meditation as follows:
“By meditation I mean prolonged reason-
ing with the understanding, in this way. We
begin by thinking of the favor which God be-
stowed upon us by giving us His only Son; and
we do not stop there but proceed to consider
the mysteries of His whole glorious life.”[18]
Gospel of Matthew, c. 1700.
Quoting the Gospel of Matthew[11:27]
: “No one knows the
Father but only the Son and anyone whom the Son wants
to reveal him” and I Corinthians[2:12]
: “But we have re-
ceived the Spirit who is from God so that we may real-
ize what God has freely given us”, theologian Hans von
Balthasar explained the context of Christian meditation
as follows:
“The dimensions of Christian meditation
develop from God’s having completed his self-
revelation in two directions: Speaking out of
his own, and speaking as a man, through his
Son, disclosing the depths of man.... And this
meditation can take place only where the re-
vealing man, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, reveals
God as his Father: in the Holy Spirit of God,
so we may join in probing God’s depths, which
only God’s Spirit probes.”[19]
Building on that theme, E. P. Clowney explained that
three dimensions of Christian meditation are crucial, not
merely for showing its distinctiveness, but for guiding
its practice. The first is that Christian meditation is
4

2.1. CONTEXT AND STRUCTURE 5
grounded in the Bible. Because the God of the Bible is a
personal God who speaks in words of revelation, Chris-
tian meditation responds to this revelation and focuses on
that aspect, in contrast to mystic meditations which use
mantras. The second distinctive mark of Christian med-
itation is that it responds to the love of God, as in I John
[4:19]
: “We love, for he first loved us”. The personal re-
lationship based on the love of God that marks Christian
communion is thus heightened in Christian meditation.
The third dimension is that the revelations of the Bible
and the love of God lead to the worship of God: making
Christian meditation an exercise in praise.[3]
Thomas Merton characterized the goal of Christian med-
itation as follows: “The true end of Christian medita-
tion is practically the same as the end of liturgical prayer
and the reception of the sacraments: a deeper union by
grace and charity with the Incarnate Word, who is the
only Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ.”[20]
While Protestants view salvation in terms of faith and
grace alone (i.e. sola fide and sola gratia) both Western
and Eastern Christians see a role for meditation on the
path to salvation and redemption.[21]
Apostle Paul stated
in Epistle to the Romans 9:16 that salvation only comes
from “God that hath mercy”.[22]
The path to salvation in
Christian meditation is not one of give and take, and the
aim of meditation is to bring joy to the heart of God. The
Word of God directs meditations to show the two aspects
of love that please God: obedience and adoration. The
initiative in Christian salvation is with God, and one does
not meditate or love God to gain his favor.[23]
2.1.1 Role of the Holy Spirit
In Western Christian teachings, meditation is believed to
involve the inherent action of the Holy Spirit to help the
meditating Christian understand the deeper meanings of
the Word of God.[24][25]
In the 12th century, decades be-
fore Guigo II's the Ladder of the Monk, one of his pre-
decessors, Guigo I, emphasized this belief by stating that
when earnest meditation begins, the Holy Spirit enters the
soul of the meditator, “turns water into wine” and shows
the path towards contemplation and a better understand-
ing of God.[26]
In the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon affirmed this be-
lief within the Protestant tradition and wrote: “The Spirit
has taught us in meditation to ponder its message, to put
aside, if we will, the responsibility of preparing the mes-
sage we've got to give. Just trust God for that.”[27]
In the
20th century, Hans Urs von Balthasar paraphrased this
teaching as follows:[25]
The vistas of God’s Word unfold to the
meditating Christian solely through the gift of
the Divine Spirit. How could we understand
what is within God and is disclosed to us ex-
cept through the Spirit of God who is commu-
nicated to us?
As a biblical basis for this teaching, von Balthasar re-
ferred to 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: “these are the things God
has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of God”.:[25]
2.1.2 Distinction from non-Christian med-
itations
See also: Aspects of Christian meditation and A Chris-
tian reflection on the New Age
Christian meditation is different from the style
A monk walking in a Benedictine monastery.
of meditations performed in Eastern religions
(such as Buddhism) or in the context of the New
Age.[3][4][28][29][30]
While other types of meditation may
suggest approaches to disengage the mind, Christian
meditation aims to fill the mind with thoughts related
to Biblical passages or Christian devotions.[31]
Although
some mystics in both the Western and Eastern churches
have associated feelings of ecstasy with meditation,
(e.g. St. Teresa of Avila's legendary meditative
ecstasy),[32][33]
St. Gregory of Sinai, one of the origi-
nators of Hesychasm, stated that the goal of Christian
meditation is “seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit,
beyond the minor phenomenon of ecstasy”.[34]
Modern Christian teachings on meditation at times in-
clude specific criticism of the transcendental styles of
meditation, e.g. John Bertram Phillips stated that Chris-

6 CHAPTER 2. CHRISTIAN MEDITATION
tian meditation involves the action of the Holy Spirit on
Biblical passages and warned of approaches that “disen-
gage the mind” from scripture.[35]
According to Edmund
P. Clowney, Christian meditation contrasts with cosmic
styles of oriental meditation as radically as the portrayal
of God the Father in the Bible contrasts with discussions
of Krishna or Brahman in Indian teachings.[28]
Unlike
eastern meditations, most styles of Christian meditations
are intended to stimulate thought and deepen meaning.
Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal rela-
tionship based on the love of God that marks Christian
communion.[3][4]
According to E. P. Clowney it is the
search for wisdom, not ecstasy, that marks the path of
Christian meditation, a wisdom sought in the “Christ of
Scripture and the Scripture of Christ”.[36]
A 1989 document generally known as Aspects of Chris-
tian meditation set forth the position of the Holy See
with respect to the differences between Christian and
eastern styles of meditation. The document, issued as
a letter to all Catholic bishops, stresses the differences
between Christian and eastern meditative approaches.
It warns of the dangers of attempting to mix Chris-
tian meditation with eastern approaches since that could
be both confusing and misleading, and may result in
the loss of the essential Christocentric nature of Chris-
tian meditation.[37][38][39]
The letter warned that euphoric
states obtained through Eastern meditation should not be
confused with prayer or assumed to be signs of the pres-
ence of God, a state that should always result in loving
service to others. Without these truths, the letter said,
meditation, which should be a flight from the self, can de-
generate into a form of self-absorption.[40]
2.2 Old Testament references
In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words for
meditation: hāgâ (Hebrew: ‫הגה‬), which means to sigh or
murmur, but also to meditate, and sîḥâ (Hebrew: ‫שיחה‬),
which means to muse, or rehearse in one’s mind. When the
Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, hāgâ became the
Greek melete which emphasized meditation’s movement
in the depth of the human heart. Melete was a reminder
that one should never let meditation be a formality. The
Latin Bible then translated hāgâ/melete into meditatio.[41]
The Bible mentions meditate or meditation about twenty
times, fifteen times in the Book of Psalms alone. When
the Bible mentions meditation, it often mentions obe-
dience in the next breath. An example is the Book of
Joshua[Joshua 1:8]
: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart
from your mouth; meditate on it day and night.”[42]
2.3 History
Main article: History of Christian meditation
During the Middle Ages, the monastic traditions of both
Western and Eastern Christianity moved beyond vocal
prayer to Christian meditation. These progressions re-
sulted in two distinct and different meditative practices:
Lectio Divina in the West and hesychasm in the East.
Hesychasm involves the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, but
Lectio Divina uses different Scripture passages at differ-
ent times and although a passage may be repeated a few
times, Lectio Divina is not repetitive in nature.[43][44]
Lectio Divina
Lectio
M
editatio
Oratio
Contem
platio
The four movements of Lectio divina: read, meditate, pray, con-
template.
The progression from Bible reading, to meditation, to
loving regard for God, was first formally described by
Guigo II, a Carthusian monk who died late in the 12th
century.[45]
Guigo II’s book The Ladder of Monks is con-
sidered the first description of methodical prayer in the
western mystical tradition.[46]
In Eastern Christianity, the monastic traditions of “con-
stant prayer” that traced back to the Desert Fathers and
Evagrius Pontikos established the practice of hesychasm
and influenced John Climacus' book The Ladder of Di-
vine Ascent by the 7th century.[47]
These meditative
prayers were promoted and supported by Saint Gregory
Palamas in the 14th century.[11][43]
The methods of “methodical prayer” as taught by the
Devotio Moderna group in northern Europe had entered
Spain and were known in the early 16th century.[48]
The book The Imitation of Christ which was known in
Spain as Contemptus mundi became known in Spain, and
while Teresa probably did not initially know of Guigo
II’s methods she was likely influenced by its teachings via
the works of Francisco de Osuna which she studied.[48]

2.4. APPROACHES TO MEDITATION 7
Teresa’s contemporary and collaborator, John of the
Cross continued the tradition of Guigo II and taught the
4 stages of Lectio Divina. By the 19th century the im-
portance of Biblical meditation had also been firmly es-
tablished in the Protestant spiritual tradition.[27]
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, some compo-
nents of meditation had started to be de-emphasized in
some branches of Western Christianity.[49]
However, the
early part of the 20th century witnessed a revival and
books and articles on approaches such as Lectio divina
aimed at the general public began to appear by the mid-
dle of the century.[49]
In 1965, one of the principal documents of the Second
Vatican Council, the dogmatic constitution Dei verbum
(Latin for Word of God), emphasized the use of Lectio
divina and on the 40th anniversary of Dei verbum in 2005
Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed its importance.[50]
2.4 Approaches to meditation
A number of saints and historical figures have followed
and presented specific approaches to Christian medita-
tion. Both Eastern and Western Christian teachings have
emphasized the use of meditation as an element in in-
creasing one’s knowledge of Christ. The Spiritual Ex-
ercises of Ignatius of Loyola use meditative mental im-
agery, with the goal of knowing Christ more intimately
and loving him more ardently.[9]
In The Way of Perfec-
tion, St. Theresa of Avila taught her nuns how to try to get
to know Christ by using meditation and mental prayer.[10]
Hesychastic prayer and meditation continues to be used
in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as a spiritual practice
that facilitates the knowing of Christ.[11][51]
2.4.1 St. Ignatius of Loyola
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–
1556), the founder of the Jesuits, contain numerous med-
itative exercises. To this day, the Spiritual Exercises re-
main an integral part of the Novitiate training period of
the Roman Catholic religious order of Jesuits.[52]
The exercises are intended as notes to guide a spiritual
director who is leading someone else through an experi-
ence of Christian meditation. The entire experience takes
about 30 days and often involves a daily interview with
the director. The process begins with a consideration of
the purpose of one’s life and the relationship with the rest
of creation. It is followed by a week of meditation about
sin and its consequences. Next comes a period of medi-
tating on the events of the life of Jesus, and another for
thinking about his suffering and death. The final week is
to experience the joy of the resurrection, and in conclu-
sion to reflect on God’s love and the response of love for
God.[53]
The exercises often involve imagery in which one enters
a biblical scene. For example, the practitioner is encour-
aged to visualize and meditate upon scenes from the life
of Christ, at times asking questions from Christ on the
cross, during crucifixion.[54]
2.4.2 St. Teresa of Avila
Saint Teresa of Avila depicted by Rubens, 1615. She is often
considered one of the most important Christian mystics.[55]
St. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) a Doctor of the Church,
practiced contemplative prayer for periods of one hour at
a time, twice a day. St. Teresa believed that no one who
was faithful to the practice of meditation could possibly
lose his soul.[56]
Her writings are viewed as fundamental
teachings in Christian spirituality.[57][58]
St. Teresa taught her nuns to meditate on specific prayers.
Her prayers described in The Way of Perfection involve
meditation on a mystery in the life of Jesus and are based
on the faith that “God is within”, a truth that Teresa said
she learned from St. Augustine.[59]
In her Life, she wrote that she taught herself from the in-
structions given in the book, The Third Spiritual Alphabet
- by Francisco de Osuna - which relates to Franciscan
mysticism.[60][61][62]
Her starting point was the practice
of “recollection”, i.e. keeping the senses and the intellect
in check and not allowing them to stray. In her medita-
tions, one generally restricts attention to a single subject,
principally the love of God. In The Way of Perfection
she wrote: “It is called recollection because the soul col-
lects together all the faculties and enters within itself to
be with God”.[63]
She would use devices such as short
readings, a scene of natural beauty or a religious statue or
picture to remind her to keep her focus. She wrote that
in due course, the mind naturally learns to maintain focus
on God almost effortlessly.[64][65][66]
St. Theresa viewed Christian meditation as the first of

four steps in achieving “union with God”, and used the
analogy of watering the garden. She compared basic
meditation to watering a garden with a bucket, Recollec-
tion to the water wheel, Quiet (contemplation) to a spring
of water and Union to drenching rain.[32]
2.4.3 Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis de Sales (1576–1622) used a four-part ap-
proach to Christian meditation based on "preparation",
"consideration", "affections and resolutions" and "conclu-
sions":[67]
• In the preparation part, one places oneself in the
presence of God and asks the Holy Spirit to di-
rect the prayer, as in the Epistle to the Romans[8:26]
:
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not
know what to pray for, but the Spirit himself inter-
cedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”
• In the consideration part, one focuses on a specific
topic, e.g. a passage from the Bible.
• In the affections and resolutions part, one focuses on
feelings and makes a resolution or decision. For in-
stance, when meditating on the Parable of the Good
Samaritan one may decide to visit someone sick and
be kind to them.
• In the conclusion part, one gives thanks and praise
to God for the considerations and asks for the grace
to stand by the resolution.
2.5 Denominational issues
2.5.1 Catholic Church
See also: Aspects of Christian meditation
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) said that meditation
Saint Padre Pio stated: "Through the study of books one seeks
God; by meditation one finds him".[68]
is necessary for devotion, and the Second Vatican Council
called for “faithful meditation on God’s word” as part of
the spiritual formation of seminarians.[69]
Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591), a close friend of St.
Teresa of Avila, viewed Christian meditation as a neces-
sary step toward union with God, and wrote that even the
most spiritually advanced persons always needed to reg-
ularly return to meditation.[70]
Saint Padre Pio (1887–1968), who was devoted to rosary
meditations, said:[68]
“The person who meditates and turns his
mind to God, who is the mirror of his soul,
seeks to know his faults, tries to correct them,
moderates his impulses, and puts his con-
science in order.”

2.5. DENOMINATIONAL ISSUES 9
The Catechism of the Catholic Church encourages med-
itation as a form of prayer: “Meditation is above all a
quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how
of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to
what the Lord is asking” (Catechism section # 2705) and
that Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire
to meditate regularly (# 2707). Emphasizing union with
God, it states: “Meditation engages thought, imagination,
emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is nec-
essary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt
the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to fol-
low Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on
the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary.
This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but
Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of
the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him” (#2708).[71]
Meditative prayer is different from contemplative prayer
(See CCC 2709- 2724).
Eucharistic meditations
See also: Eucharistic adoration and Holy Hour
Christian meditation performed along with Eucharistic
Eucharistic adoration and meditation, Cathedral of Chihuahua,
Mexico.
adoration outside of Mass has been associated with a
large amount of Catholic writings and inspirations spe-
cially since the 18th century. The Eucharistic meditations
of the two Saints Pierre Julien Eymard and Jean Vian-
ney (both promoters of the Eucharist) were published as
books.[72][73][74]
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was devoted to Eucharistic med-
itation and on February 26, 1895 shortly before she died
wrote from memory and without a rough draft her po-
etic masterpiece "To Live by Love" which had composed
during Eucharistic meditation.[75][76]
Significant portions of the writings of the Venerable
Concepcion Cabrera de Armida were reported as hav-
ing been based on her adorations of the Blessed
Sacrament.[77]
Similarly, in her book Eucharist: true
jewel of eucharistic spirituality Maria Candida of the Eu-
charist (who was beatified by Pope John Paul II) wrote
about her own personal experiences and reflections on eu-
charistic meditation.[78][79]
Rosary meditations
Main article: Rosary devotions and spirituality
Meditation is an integral part of the rosary. This mode of
meditation is the process of reflecting on the mysteries of
the rosary. With practice, this may in time turn into con-
templation on the mysteries.[80]
The practice of medita-
tion during the praying of repeated Hail Marys dates back
to 15th century Carthusian monks, and was soon adopted
by the Dominicans at large.[81]
By the 16th century the
practice of meditation during the rosary had spread across
Europe, and the book Meditationi del Rosario della Glo-
riosa Maria Virgine (i.e. Meditations on the Rosary of
the Glorious Virgin Mary) printed in 1569 for the rosary
confraternity of Milan provided an individual meditation
to accompany each bead or prayer.[82]
Saint Teresa of Avila's meditative approach of focusing
on “the favor which God bestowed upon us by giving
us His only Son” can be viewed as the basis of most
scriptural rosary meditations.[18]
In his 2002 encyclical
Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II placed the
rosary at the very center of Christian spirituality.[83]
Em-
phasizing that the final goal of Christian life is to be trans-
formed, or “transfigured”, into Christ he stated that the
rosary helps believers come closer to Christ by contem-
plating Christ. He stated that the rosary unites us with
Mary’s own prayer, who, in the presence of God, prays
with us and for us.[84]
and stated that: "To recite the rosary
is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of
Christ."[85]
2.5.2 Eastern Christianity
During the Byzantine Empire, between the 10th and 14th
centuries, a tradition of prayer called hesychasm devel-
oped, particularly on Mount Athos in Greece, and con-
tinues to the present. St. Gregory of Sinai is consid-
ered by most to be the founder of the hesychastic ap-
proach to prayer.[86]
This tradition uses a special posture
and breathing rituals, accompanied by the repetition of a
short prayer (traditionally the 'Jesus Prayer') giving rise

Simonopetra monastery on Mount Athos
to suggestions that it may have been influenced by Indian
approaches. “While some might compare it [hesychastic
prayer] with a mantra, to use the Jesus Prayer in such a
fashion is to violate its purpose. One is never to treat it
as a string of syllables for which the 'surface' meaning is
secondary. Likewise, hollow repetition is considered to
be worthless (or even spiritually damaging) in the hesy-
chast tradition.”[87]
Rather, it is to be in the spirit of a
true mantra. This style of prayer was at first opposed
as heretical by Barlam in Calabria, but was defended
by Saint Gregory Palamas.[11][51]
Coming from hesy-
chia (“stillness, rest, quiet, silence”), hesychasm contin-
ues to be practiced in the Eastern Orthodox Church and
some other Eastern Churches of the Byzantine Rite.[88]
Hesychasm has not gained significance in the Western
churches.[89][90]
In hesychasm, the Jesus prayer, consisting of the phrase:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” is re-
peated either for a set period of time or a set number of
times. Hesychasm is contrasted with the more mental or
imaginative forms of Christian meditation in which a per-
son is encouraged to imagine or think of events from the
life of Jesus or sayings from the Gospel. Sometimes hesy-
chasm has been compared to the meditative techniques of
oriental religions and it is possible that there were interac-
tions between Hesychasts and Sufis, but this has not been
proven.[91]
2.5.3 Other approaches
John Main OSB (1926–1982) was a Benedictine monk
and priest who presented a way of Christian meditation
which used a prayer-phrase or mantra. This approach was
then used by groups which then become the World Com-
munity for Christian Meditation.[92]
2.6 See also
• Christian meditation music
• Contemplative prayer
• Daily devotional
• Prayer, meditation and contemplation in Christian-
ity
• The Cloud of Unknowing
2.7 Notes
[1] Christian Meditation for Beginners by Thomas Zanzig,
Marilyn Kielbasa 2000, ISBN 0-88489-361-8 page 7
[2] An introduction to Christian spirituality by F. Antonisamy,
2000 ISBN 81-7109-429-5 pages 76-77
[3] Christian Meditation by Edmund P. Clowney, 1979 ISBN
1-57383-227-8 pages 12-13
[4] The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3 by Erwin
Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley 2003 ISBN 90-
04-12654-6 page 488
[5] Simple Ways to Pray by Emilie Griffin 2005 ISBN 0-7425-
5084-2 page 134
[6] Christian spirituality in the Catholic tradition by Jordan
Aumann 1985 Ignatius Press ISBN 0-89870-068-X page
180
[7] Orthodox prayer life: the interior way by Mattá al-Miskīn
2003 ISBN 0-88141-250-3 St Vladimir Press, “Chapter
2: Degrees of Prayer” pages 39-42
[8] The art of prayer: an Orthodox anthology by Igumen
Chariton 1997 ISBN 0-571-19165-7 pages 63-65
[9] Teaching world civilization with joy and enthusiasm by
Benjamin Lee Wren 2004 ISBN 0-7618-2747-1 page 236
[10] The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Avila 2007 ISBN 1-
4209-2847-3 page 145
[11] The Byzantine Empire by Robert Browning 1992 ISBN 0-
8132-0754-1 page 238
[12] The last centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 by Donald
MacGillivray Nicol 2008 ISBN 0-521-43991-4 page 211
[13] EWTN: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Let-
ter on certain aspects of Christian meditation (in English),
October 15, 1989
[14] Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2003 New Age Beliefs
Aren't Christian, Vatican Finds
[15] BBC Feb 4, 2003 Vatican sounds New Age alert
[16] Vatican website
[17] Systematic theology, Volume 3 by Wolfhart Pannenberg,
Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1997 ISBN 0-8028-3708-5 page
210
[18] This Is Your Mother: The Scriptural Roots of the Rosary by
Ronald Walls, 2003 ISBN 0-85244-403-6 page 4
[19] Hans Urs von Balthasar, 1989 Christian meditation Ig-
natius Press ISBN 0-89870-235-6 pages 9-10

2.7. NOTES 11
[20] Spiritual direction and meditation by Thomas Merton 1960
ISBN 0-8146-0412-9 page 105
[21] Christian spirituality: an introduction by Alister E. Mc-
Grath 1999 ISBN 0-631-21281-7 pages 67-72
1-57383-227-8 page 48
1-57383-227-8 page 27-28
[24] Lectio Divina by Christine Valters Paintner, Lucy
Wynkoop 2008 ISBN 0-8091-4531-6 page 36
[25] Hans Urs von Balthasar, 1989 Christian meditation Ig-
natius Press ISBN 0-89870-235-6 pages 27-30
[26] Carthusian spirituality: the writings of Hugh of Balma and
Guigo de Ponte by Hugh of Balma, Guigo de Ponte and
Dennis D. Martin (Translator) 1996 ISBN 978-0-8091-
3664-3 pages 184-187
[27] Christian spirituality: an introduction by Alister E. Mc-
Grath 1999 ISBN 978-0-631-21281-2 pages 84-87
1-57383-227-8 page 12
[29] How to pray by Elmer L. Towns 2006 ISBN 978-0-8307-
4187-8 page 178
1-57383-227-8 pages 7-10
[31] Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S.
Whitney 1997 ISBN 1-57683-027-6 Chapter 3, Part2:
Meditating on God’s Word
[32] A history of Christian spirituality: an analytical introduc-
tion by Urban Tigner Holmes, 2002 ISBN 0-8192-1914-2
page 98
[33] An Anthology of Christian mysticism by Harvey D. Egan
1991 ISBN 0-8146-6012-6 page 311
[34] Encyclopedia of Christian Theology, Volume 1 edited by
Jean-Yves Lacoste 2004 ISBN 1-57958-250-8 page 695
[35] Exploring Psalms by John Phillips, 2002 ISBN 0-8254-
3492-0 page 19
1-57383-227-8 page 29
[37] Vatican website: Letter on certain aspects of Christian
meditation (in German), October 15, 1989
[38] EWTN: Letter on certain aspects of Christian meditation
(in English), October 15, 1989
[39] Catholicism in dialogue: conversations across traditions by
Wayne Teasdale 2004 ISBN 0-7425-3178-3 Page 74
[40] Steinfels, Peter (1990-01-07). “Trying to Reconcile the
Ways of the Vatican and the East”. New York Times. Re-
trieved 2008-12-05.
[41] Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by
Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 ISBN 0-
8091-3660-0 page 88
[42] Study & Meditation, by Jan Johnson 2003 ISBN 0-8308-
2091-4 pages 29-30
[43] Globalization of Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer: Con-
testing Contemplation by Christopher D. L. Johnson 2010
ISBN 978-1-4411-2547-7 pages 31-38
[44] Reading with God: Lectio Divina by David Foster 2006
ISBN 0-8264-6084-4 page 44
0-8091-3660-5 pages 38-39
1991 ISBN 0-8146-6012-6 pages 207-208
[47] Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today
by John Meyendorﬀ 1981 ISBN 0-913836-81-8 page
[48] Teresa of Avila’s autobiography by Elena Carrera 2004
ISBN 1-900755-96-3 page 28
[49] Reading to live: the evolving practice of Lectio divina by
Raymond Studzinski 2010 ISBN 0-87907-231-8 pages
188-195
[50] Vatican website Address at the 40th anniversary of DEI
VERBUM, Friday, 16 September 2005
[51] The last centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 by Donald
MacGillivray Nicol 2008 ISBN 0-521-43991-4 page 211
[52] The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola by St Ig-
natius Loyola 2007 ISBN 1-60206-373-7 page 15
[53] 2000 Years of Prayer by Michael Counsell 2004 ISBN 1-
85311-623-8 page 203
[54] Ignatius de Loyola, powers of imagining 1986 by Antonio
T. De Nicolás, ISBN 0-88706-109-5 pages 123-125
1991 ISBN 0-8146-6012-6 page 413
[56] Spiritual direction and meditation by Thomas Merton 1960
ISBN 0-8146-0412-9 page 108
[57] Teresa of Avila by Rowan Williams 1991 ISBN 0-8264-
7341-5 page vii
[58] “St. Teresa of Avila”. Catholic encyclopedia. Retrieved
14 April 2010.
8091-3660-0 page 96
[60] Teresa of Avila: The Book of My Life by Tessa Bielecki,
Mirabai Starr 2008 ISBN 1-59030-573-6 page 20
1991 ISBN 0-8146-6012-6 pages 413-415
7341-5 page 4

[63] The Way of Perfection by St Teresa of Avila 2007 ISBN
1-60206-260-9 page 160
[64] Teresa, a woman: a biography of Teresa of Avila by Vic-
toria Lincoln 1995 ISBN 0-87395-937-X page xvii
7341-5 page 66
[66] Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul by Cathleen Med-
wick 2001 ISBN 0-385-50129-3 page 64
[67] An introduction to Christian spirituality by F. Antonisamy,
2000 ISBN 81-7109-429-5 pages 77-78
[68] The Rosary: A Path Into Prayer by Liz Kelly 2004 ISBN
0-8294-2024-X pages 79 and 86
[69] The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults
by Donald W. Wuerl, Ronald Lawler 2004 ISBN 1-
59276-094-5 page 350
[70] St. John of the Cross: an appreciation by Daniel A. Dom-
browski 1992 ISBN 0-7914-0887-6 page 168
[71] Catechism of the Catholic Church by David Bordwell 2002
ISBN 0-86012-324-3 pages 570-615
[72] The Real Presence: eucharistic meditations by Saint Pierre
Julien Eymard, Sentinel Press, 1938 ASIN B00087ST7Q
[73] The eucharistic meditations of the Curé d'Ars by Saint Jean
Baptiste Marie Vianney Carmelite Publications (1961)
ASIN B0007IVDMY
[74] Eucharistic Meditations: Extracts from the Writings and
Instructions of Saint John Vianney by H. Convert, Jean
Baptiste Marie, Saint Vianney, and Mary Benvenuta 1998
ISBN 0-940147-03-3
[75] Therese and Lisieux by Pierre Descouvemont, Helmuth
Nils Loose, 1996 ISBN 0-8028-3836-7 page 245
[76] Collected poems of St Thérèse of Lisieux by Saint Thérèse
(de Lisieux), Alan Bancroft 2001 ISBN 0-85244-547-4
page 75
[77] Concepción Cabrera de Armida. I Am: Eucharistic Medi-
tations on the Gospel ISBN 0-8189-0890-4
[78] Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Almanac by Matthew Bun-
son 2008 ISBN 1-59276-441-X page 255
[79] Vatican Website
[80] Beads and Prayers: The Rosary in History and Devotion
by John D. Miller 2002 ISBN 0-86012-320-0 page 200
[81] William M. Johnston, Encyclopedia of monasticism, Vol-
ume 1, 2000 ISBN 1-57958-090-4 page 246
[82] Music in the collective experience in sixteenth-century Mi-
lan by Christine Suzanne Getz, 2006 ISBN 0-7546-5121-
5 page 261
[83] The Rosary with John Paul II by George Madore, 2004,
Alba House, ISBN 2-89420-545-7 page 18
[84] The Rosary with John Paul II by George Madore, 2004,
ISBN 2-89420-545-7 page 19
[85] Rosarium Virginis Mariae, #3
[86] “Mount Athos: History”. Macedonian Heritage. Re-
trieved 12 May 2010.
[87] “Hesychasm”. OrthodoxWiki. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
[88] Parry, Ken; David Melling (editors) (1999). The Black-
well Dictionary of Eastern Christianity ISBN 0-631-
23203-6 page 230
[89] “Hesychasm”. Catholic encyclopedia. Retrieved 14 April
2010.
[90] OSV’s encyclopedia of Catholic history by Matthew Bun-
son 2004 ISBN 1-59276-026-0 page 433
[91] An introduction to the Christian Orthodox churches by John
Binns 2002 ISBN 0-521-66738-0 page 128
[92] Jesus: The Teacher Within by Laurence Freeman, 2001
ISBN 0826413749 page 24
2.8 External links
• Christian Meditation - AOG
• World Community for Christian Meditation
• Center for Action and Contemplation
• The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila online
(CCEL)
• Instructions on Meditation & Guided Meditations by
the Saints
• Contemplative Outreach - Thomas Keating OCSO
• Universal Meditation

Chapter 3
Pauline Christianity
Artist depiction of Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, 16th century
(Blaffer Foundation Collection, Houston, Texas). Most scholars
think Paul actually dictated his letters to a secretary.[1]
Pauline Christianity is the Christianity associated with
the beliefs and doctrines espoused by Paul the Apostle
through his writings. Most of Christianity relies heavily
on these teachings and considers them to be amplifica-
tions and explanations of the teachings of Jesus. Oth-
ers perceive in Paul’s writings teachings that are differ-
ent from the original teachings of Jesus documented in
the canonical gospels, early Acts and the rest of the New
Testament, such as the Epistle of James.
“Pauline Christianity”, as an expression, first came into
use in the 20th century among scholars who proposed
different strands of thought within Early Christianity,
wherein Paul was a powerful influence.[2]
It has come
into widespread use among non-Christian scholars, and
depends on the claim that the form of the faith found in
the writings of Paul is different from that found elsewhere
in the New Testament, but also that his influence came to
predominate.
Proponents of the perceived, distinctive Pauline form of
Christianity, include Marcion of Sinope, the 2nd century
theologian and excommunicated heresiarch, who asserted
that Paul was the only apostle who had rightly under-
stood the new message of salvation as delivered by Jesus
Christ. Opponents of the same era include the Ebionites
and Nazarenes, Jewish Christians who rejected Paul for
straying from Second Temple Judaism.
Reference is made to the large number of non-canonical
texts,[3]
some of which have been discovered during the
last 100 years, which show the many movements and
strands of thought emanating from Jesus’ life and teaching
or which may be contemporary with them, some of which
can be contrasted with Paul’s thought. Of the more sig-
nificant are Ebionism and Gnosticism. However, there is
no universal agreement as to Gnosticism’s relationship to
Christianity or to the writings of Paul. The expression is
used by modern Christian scholars, such as Ziesler[4]
and
Mount, whose interest is in the recovery of Christian ori-
gins and the contribution made by Paul to Christian doc-
trine, Christian Reconstructionism and Restorationism.
3.1 Characteristics
The characteristics of the critical use of the term take a
number of forms. They are partly political and partly the-
ological.
3.1.1 Political
From a political perspective, Robert Eisenman sees
Pauline Christianity as a method of taming a danger-
ous sect among radical Jews and making it palatable to
Roman authorities.[5]
Pauline Christianity was essentially
based on Rome and made use of the administrative skills
which Rome had honed. Its system of organization with
a single bishop for each town was, in Bart Ehrman's view,
the means by which it obtained its hegemony.[6]
3.1.2 Theological
The theological aspect is the claim that Paul transmuted
Jesus the Jewish messiah into the universal (in a wider
meaning "catholic") Savior. Pauline theology is also a
term referring to the teaching and doctrines especially es-
poused by the apostle Paul through his writings. Main-
stream Christianity relies on Paul’s writings as integral to
the biblical theology of the New Testament and regards
them as amplifications and explanations consistent with
13

14 CHAPTER 3. PAULINE CHRISTIANITY
the teachings of Jesus and other New Testament writ-
ings. Christian scholars generally use the term express-
ing interest in the recovery of Christian origins and the
contribution made by Paul to Christian doctrine. Others,
especially non-Christian scholars, claim to see a Pauline
distinction different from that found elsewhere in the
New Testament, a distinction that unduly influenced later
Christianity.
3.1.3 Other views
The use of the term by Christian scholars, such as John
Ziesler,[7]
is altogether different. Pauline Christianity
is the development of thinking about Jesus in a gentile
missionary context; Christopher Rowlands concludes that
Paul did not materially alter the teachings of Jesus. Much
of this view turns on the significance of the Council of
Jerusalem. According to this view, James decreed that
Christianity was for the Gentiles and not just for the Jews,
and quoted the prophet Amos in support of this position
(the Apostolic Decree is found in Acts 15:19–21). He en-
trusted Paul among others with bringing their decision to
Antioch (15:22–31).
Christians themselves disagree as to how far there was
tension between Paul and the Jerusalem Church. One
difficulty is the tension between Acts and Paul’s letters;
another is the disparity between his views in different
letters. Galatians is reserved about the teaching of the
Jerusalem church and is hostile toward Jews who would
impose Jewish distinctives, codified in the Mosaic Law,
on Gentile converts; in Romans Paul is deeply concerned
about the spiritual condition and ultimate destiny of the
Jewish people.
3.2 Paul’s view
That people saw different disciples of Christ as represent-
ing different teachings was addressed by Paul himself, in
the First Epistle to the Corinthians: (1 Cor 1:10-18)
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree
with one another so that there may be no divi-
sions among you and that you may be perfectly
united in mind and thought. My brothers, some
from Chloe’s household have informed me that
there are quarrels among you. What I mean is
this: One of you says, “I follow Paul"; another,
“I follow Apollos"; another, “I follow Cephas
(Peter)"; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for
you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you
except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say
that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I
also baptized the household of Stephanas; be-
yond that, I don't remember if I baptized any-
one else.) For Christ did not send me to bap-
tize, but to preach the gospel — not with words
of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be
emptied of its power.
3.3 As a pejorative term
The pejorative use of the expressions “Pauline Christian-
ity”, “Paulism” or “Paulanity”[8]
relies in part upon a the-
sis that Paul’s supporters, as a distinct group, had an undue
influence on the formation of the canon of scripture, and
also that certain bishops, especially the Bishop of Rome,
influenced the debates by which the dogmatic formula-
tions known as the creeds came to be produced, thus en-
suring a Pauline interpretation of the gospel. The thesis
is founded on differences between the views of Paul and
the Apostles in Jerusalem, and also between the picture
of Paul in the Acts of the Apostles and his own writings,
such that it is claimed that the essential Jewish or Old
Testament character of the faith was lost.
Christian anarchists, such as Leo Tolstoy and Ammon
Hennacy, believe Paul distorted Jesus’ teachings. Tol-
stoy claims Paul was instrumental in the church’s “de-
viation” from Jesus’ teaching and practices, whilst Hen-
nacy believed “Paul spoiled the message of Christ.”[9][10]
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, wrote in the latter half of the
2nd century that the Ebionites rejected Paul as an apostate
from the law, using only a version of the Gospel according
to St. Matthew, known as the Gospel of the Ebionites.
The argument made that Christian doctrine (that is, the
teachings of Jesus) was subsequently distorted by Paul
and the Church of Rome depends on a view as to how the
canon of Scripture came to be compiled, about which lit-
tle is known (for details, see Development of the Christian
biblical canon). The earliest references to Paul’s writing
are fragmentary: Clement of Rome, writing about AD
95, quotes from Romans; Ignatius of Antioch (d. AD
115) quotes from 1 Corinthians, Romans, and from 1
Timothy and Titus as if authoritative, not merely as the
opinion of one writer.
As to his influence, there are considerable differences of
scholarly opinion concerning how far Paul did in fact in-
fluence Christian doctrine. Among the most radical is G.
A. Wells, a professor of German rather than of theology
or history, whose view is that Jesus was a mythical figure
and that Christianity was in good part invented by Paul.
More widely influential is the view of the 19th-century
German theologian F. C. Baur,[11]
founder of the Tübin-
gen school, that Paul was utterly opposed to the disciples,
based upon his view that Acts was late and unreliable
and who contended that Catholic Christianity was a syn-
thesis of the views of Paul and the Judaizing church in
Jerusalem. Since Adolf von Harnack, the Tübingen po-

3.4. SEE ALSO 15
sition has been generally abandoned,[12]
though the view
that Paul took over the faith and transformed the Jewish
teacher to the Son of God is still widely canvassed.[13]
It
depends on a comparison between the books of the New
Testament which cannot be made here, but see Paul the
Apostle, and the claims of Ultradispensationalists such as
E. W. Bullinger who view the distinction abhorred by the
Ebionites as positive and essential doctrine.[14]
On the other side, the idea that Paul invented
Christianity is disputed by numerous Christian
writers.[15][16][17][18][19]
Christopher Rowlands con-
tends that, “the extent of his influence on Christian
thought has been overestimated”.[20]
Thus, though thir-
teen letters under his name appear in the New Testament,
the great controversies of the 3rd and 4th centuries were
about the Person of Christ and the nature of God —
the so-called Christological and Trinitarian debates —
in which St. Paul does not greatly feature; likewise,
the Nicene Creed contains no doctrine of atonement.
Moreover, while the influence of the Church of Rome
was very important in the credal debates, Greek the-
ologians such as Athanasius, the Cappadocian Fathers,
Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory
of Nyssa were formidable figures. The resolution of
these controversies at the Council of Chalcedon was not
dictated by the Bishop of Rome or Latin Christendom,
but was made more difficult by the necessary task of
translating technical terms between the two languages
of Greek and Latin, and not by arguments over Pauline
theology.
As for the New Testament itself, there are evident ten-
sions between the Judaizing party and Paul’s views, which
are made plain by a comparison between Acts and Paul’s
letters. How far Paul is to be taken as anti-Jewish (pro-
Hellenization or Romanization) is a matter of disagree-
ment, but there has been widespread acknowledgement
of the view of W. D. Davies that the essential Jewishness
of Paul’s Christian perspective has been underplayed.[21]
In Davies’ view, Paul replaced the Torah, the Jewish Law
or Mosaic Law, with Christ.[22]
In any case, “the prob-
lems with which he wrestles in his letters were probably
typical of many which were facing the Christian sect dur-
ing this period”.[23]
Further, by contrast one of the common features of
Protestant churches, certainly in English-speaking coun-
tries and those influenced by the reformers Martin Luther
and John Calvin, is their use of formulations other than
the ancient Creeds, such as the Westminster Confession
of Faith, in which Pauline formulations play a much
greater part. Ideas such as justification by faith, which,
though not absent from Catholic formulations, play a
much more central role in Protestant thinking, where they
are considered fundamental Christian truths and essential
for defining the Gospel.[24]
As to the hypothesis that Paul distorted rather than de-
veloped the faith, this depends upon a judgment as to
wherein lies the right path. Henry Chadwick, former
Oxford don, commented about a later controversy: “It
was not that the heretics departed from the road; it was
that they took a path along which the road was not sub-
sequently built.” Roman Catholics, Eastern and Oriental
Orthodox, conservative Protestants, and most Messianic
Jews contend that Paul’s writings were a legitimate in-
terpretation of the Gospel. Those who disagree with
them either argue that Paul distorted the original and true
faith or claim that Christianity is, largely, his invention.
The former include such secular commentators [25]
as the
philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Bertrand Russell,
whose criticisms are based upon their moral objections
to Paul’s thought; other thinkers, such as Slavoj Žižek and
Alain Badiou, also agree with this interpretation, but hold
much more positive opinions about Paul’s theological in-
fluence.
3.4 See also
• Antinomianism
• Authorship of the Pauline epistles
• Biblical canon
• Christian anarchism
• Council of Jerusalem
• Hyperdispensationalism
• Jesuism
• Jewish Christian
• New Covenant
• New Perspective on Paul
• Pauline mysticism
• Pauline privilege
• Paul the Apostle and Judaism
• The Law of Christ
• Ultradispensationalism
3.5 Notes
[1] Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto:
Mayfield. 1985. pp. 316–320. Harris cites Galatians
6:11, Romans 16:22, Colossians 4:18, 2 Thessalonians
3:17, Philemon 19. Joseph Barber Lightfoot in his Com-
mentary on the Epistle to the Galatians writes: “At this
point [Galatians 6:11] the apostle takes the pen from his
amanuensis, and the concluding paragraph is written with
his own hand. From the time when letters began to be
forged in his name (2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Thessalonians

16 CHAPTER 3. PAULINE CHRISTIANITY
3:17) it seems to have been his practice to close with a
few words in his own handwriting, as a precaution against
such forgeries... In the present case he writes a whole
paragraph, summing up the main lessons of the epistle in
terse, eager, disjointed sentences. He writes it, too, in
large, bold characters (Gr. pelikois grammasin), that his
handwriting may reflect the energy and determination of
his soul.”
[2] Lietzmann, Hans History of the Early Church Vol 1 p.206
[3] M.R. James The Apocryphal New Testament (1924) See
also the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi documents
[4] Ziesler John, Pauline Christianity (OUP 2001) Zielsler
comments “Pauline Christianity is the earliest for which
we have direct documentary evidence...”
[5] Eisenman 1997
[6] Ehrmann,Bart: Lost Christianities (OUP) p 175
[7] Ziesler, John Pauline Christianity
[8] Ide, Arthur Frederick (1993). Battered & Bruised: All the
Women of the Old Testament. Monument Press. p. 25.
[9] Tolstoy, Leo (1882). Church and State. This deviation
begins from the times of the Apostles and especially from
that hankerer after mastership Paul
[10] Hennacy, Ammon (1970). The Book of Ammon. Hen-
nacy. p. 475. Paul and the Churches
[11] Paulus, der Apostel Jesu Christi (Eng trans. 1873–5)
[12] The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church ed. F. L.
Cross
[13] cf James Tabor The Jesus Dynasty (Simon & Schuster
2006): Tabor contends that Paul led the church in its de-
cisive break with the Ebionites, whose teaching contained
the authentic teachings of Jesus.
[14] The Pauline Epistles. – Appendix to the Companion Bible
[15] David Wenham, “Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of
Christianity?"
[16] L. Michael White, “From Jesus to Christianity”
[17] F. F. Bruce, “Paul & Jesus”
[18] Did Paul Invent Christianity?
[19] Machen, J. Gresham. “The Origin of Paul’s Religion”
[20] Rowlands Christopher, Christian Origins (SPCK 1985) p.
194
[21] See also New Perspective on Paul and Ed. Sanders Paul
and Palestinian Judaism
[22] see also Supersessionism
[23] [Rowlands, Christopher, ibid. p.196
[24] but see also Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justifi-
cation
[25] Articles – People who have understood Paul is Anti-Christ
– Oneness – True Faith
3.6 Further reading
• Adams, Edward and Horrell, David G. Christianity
at Corinth: The Quest for the Pauline Church 2004
• Bockmuehl, Markus N.A. Revelation and Mystery in
Ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity
• Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Tes-
tament 1997 ISBN 0-385-24767-2
• Brown, Raymond E. Does the NT call Jesus God?
Theological Studies #26, 1965
• Dunn, James D.G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle
Eerdmans 1997 ISBN 0-8028-3844-8
• Ehrman, Bart D.. Lost Christianities: The Battle for
Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew 2003
• Eisenman, Robert (1997). James the Brother of
Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early
Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. ISBN 0-670-
86932-5.
• Elsner, Jas. Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph:
Oxford History of Early Non-Pauline Christianity
1998 ISBN 0-19-284201-3
• Griffith-Jones, Robin. The Gospel According to Paul
2004.
• Holland, Tom. Contours of Pauline Theology: A
Radical New Survey on the Influences of Paul’s Bib-
lical Writings 2004 ISBN 1-85792-469-X
• Maccoby, Hyam. The Mythmaker: Paul and the In-
vention of Christianity 1986 ISBN 0-06-015582-5
• Kim, Yung Suk. Christ’s Body in Corinth: The Poli-
tics of a Metaphor 2008 ISBN 0-8006-6285-7
• Kim, Yung Suk. A Theological Introduction to Paul’s
Letters. 2011 ISBN 978-1-60899-793-0
• MacDonald, Dennis Ronald. The Legend and the
Apostle : The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon
Philadelphia: Westminster Press 1983
• Mount, Christopher N. Pauline Christianity: Luke-
Acts and the Legacy of Paul 2001
• Pietersen, Lloyd K. Polemic of the Pastorals: A Soci-
ological Examination of the Development of Pauline
Christianity 2004
• Rowlands, Christopher, Christian Origins SPCK
1985
• Sanders, E. P.. Jesus and Judaism 1987 ISBN 0-
8006-2061-5
• Sanders, E. P.. Paul the Law and the Jewish People
1983

3.7. EXTERNAL LINKS 17
• Sanders, E. P.. Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A
Comparison of Patterns of Religion 1977 ISBN 0-
8006-1899-8
• Theissen, Gerd. The Social Setting of Pauline Chris-
tianity: Essays on Corinth 2004
• Westerholm, Stephen. Perspectives Old and New
on Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His Critics 2003
ISBN 0-8028-4809-5
• Wright, N. T.. What Saint Paul Really Said: Was
Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?
1997 ISBN 0-8028-4445-6
• Wilson, A. N. Paul: The Mind of the Apostle 1997
• Ziesler, John A. Pauline Christianity, Revised 1990
ISBN 0-19-826459-3
3.7 External links
• New Perspective on Paul
• The History of the Origins of Christianity. Saint
Paul.

Chapter 4
Atonement in Christianity
In western Christian theology, atonement describes how
human beings can be reconciled to God.[1]
Atonement
refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin in general and
original sin in particular through the death and resurrec-
tion of divine Jesus,[2]
enabling the reconciliation be-
tween God and his creation. Within Christianity there
are, historically, three[3]
or four[4]
main theories for how
such atonement might work:
• Ransom theory/Christus Victor (which are differ-
ent, but generally considered together as Patristic or
“classical”, to use Gustaf Aulen's nomenclature, the-
ories, it being argued that these were the traditional
understandings of the early Church Fathers);
• Moral influence theory, which Aulen considered to
be developed by Peter Abelard (called by him the
“idealistic” view);
• Satisfaction theory developed by Anselm of Canter-
bury (called by Aulen the “scholastic” view);
• The penal substitution theory (which is a re-
finement of the Anselmian satisfaction theory
developed by the Protestant Reformers, es-
pecially John Calvin, and is often treated to-
gether with the satisfaction view, giving rise to
the “three main types” of atonement theories -
classical or patristic, scholastic, and idealistic
- spoken of by Aulen).[3]
Other theories include recapitulation theory, the “shared
atonement” theory[5]
and scapegoat theory.
The English word 'atonement' originally meant “at-one-
ment”, i.e. being “at one”, in harmony, with someone.[6]
It is used to describe the saving work that God did
through Christ to reconcile the world to himself, and
also of the state of a person having been reconciled
to God.[2][7]
Throughout the centuries, Christians have
used different metaphors and given differing explanations
of the atonement to express how the atonement might
work. Churches and denominations may vary in which
metaphor or explanation they consider most accurately
fits into their theological perspective; however all Chris-
tians emphasize that Jesus is the Saviour of the world
and through his death the sins of humanity have been
forgiven.[8]
The four most well known theories are briefly
described below:
One of the earliest explanations for how the atonement
works is nowadays often called the moral influence the-
ory. In this view the core of Christianity is positive moral
change, and the purpose of everything the Jewish Jesus
did was to lead humans toward that moral change. He is
understood to have accomplished this variously through
his teachings, example, founding of the Church, and the
inspiring power of his martyrdom and resurrection. This
view was universally taught by the Church Fathers in the
2nd and 3rd centuries AD,[9][10][11]
along with what is
called by Aulen the classical or patristic view, which can
be variously interpreted as Ransom or Recapitulation, or
under the general heading of "Christus Victor".[12]
The
moral influence theory also enjoyed popularity during the
Middle Ages and is most often associated in that period
with Peter Abelard. Since the Reformation it has been
advocated by modern philosophers like Immanuel Kant,
and many theologians such as Hastings Rashdall and Paul
Tillich. It remains the most popular view of atonement
among theologically liberal Christians. It also forms the
basis for René Girard’s "mimetic desire" theory (not to
be confused with meme theory). It would be a mistake,
however, to read this theory, or any of the theories, in
isolation from the others.
The second explanation, first clearly enunciated by
Irenaeus,[13]
is the "ransom" or "Christus Victor" the-
ory. “Christus victor” and “ransom” are slightly different
from each other: in the ransom metaphor Jesus liberates
humanity from slavery to sin and Satan and thus death
by giving his own life as a ransom sacrifice (Matthew
20:28). Victory over Satan consists of swapping the life
of the perfect (Jesus), for the lives of the imperfect (hu-
mans). The "Christus Victor" theory sees Jesus not used
as a ransom but rather defeating Satan in a spiritual bat-
tle and thus freeing enslaved humanity by defeating the
captor. This theory 'continued for a thousand years to in-
fluence Christian theology, until it was finally shifted and
discarded by Anselm'.[14]
The third metaphor, used by the 11th century theologian
Anselm, is called the "satisfaction" theory. In this picture
humanity owes a debt not to Satan, but to the sovereign
18

4.2. CONFUSION OF TERMS 19
God himself. A sovereign may well be able to forgive an
insult or an injury in his private capacity, but because he
is a sovereign he cannot if the state has been dishonoured.
Anselm argued that the insult given to God is so great that
only a perfect sacrifice could satisfy, and that Jesus, being
both God and man, was this perfect sacrifice. Therefore,
the doctrine would be that Jesus gave himself as a “ran-
som for many”, to God the Father himself.
The next explanation, which was a development by
the Reformers[15][16][17][18]
of Anselm’s satisfaction
theory,[19]
is the commonly held Protestant "penal sub-
stitution theory,” which, instead of considering sin as an
affront to God’s honour, sees sin as the breaking of God’s
moral law. Placing a particular emphasis on Romans 6:23
(the wages of sin is death), penal substitution sees sinful
man as being subject to God’s wrath with the essence of
Jesus’ saving work being his substitution in the sinner’s
place, bearing the curse in the place of man (Galatians
3:13).[20]
A variation that also falls within this metaphor
is Hugo Grotius’ "governmental theory", which sees Jesus
receiving a punishment as a public example of the lengths
to which God will go to uphold the moral order.
4.1 Compatibility of differing the-
ories
Some theologians say that 'various biblical understand-
ings of the atonement need not conflict'.[21]
Reformed
theologian J. I. Packer, for example, although he main-
tains that 'penal substitution is the mainstream, historic
view of the church and the essential meaning of the
Atonement... Yet with penal substitution at the center',
he also maintains that 'Christus Victor and other Scriptural
views of atonement can work together to present a fully
orbed picture of Christ’s work'.[21]
J. Kenneth Grider,
speaking from a governmental theory perspective, says
that the governmental theory can incorporate within itself
'numerous understandings promoted in the other major
Atonement theories’, including ransom theory, elements
of the 'Abelardian “moral influence” theory', vicarious as-
pects of the atonement, etc.[22]
The Anglican theologian Oliver Chase Quick has said, 'if
we start from the fundamental and cardinal thought of
God’s act of love in Jesus Christ ... I think we can reach
a reconciling point of view, from which each type of the-
ory is seen to make its essential contribution to the truth,
although no one theory, no any number of theories, can
be sufficient to express its fullness.'[23]
Others say that some models of the atonement naturally
exclude each other. James F. McGrath, for example, talk-
ing about the atonement, says that 'Paul ... prefers to use
the language of participation. One died for all, so that all
died (2 Corinthians 5:14). This is not only different from
substitution, it is the opposite of it.'[24]
Similarly, Mark
M. Mattison, in his article The Meaning of the Atone-
ment says, 'Substitution implies an “either/or"; participa-
tion implies a “both/and.” '[25]
J. Kenneth Grider, quoted
above showing the compatibility of various atonement
models with the governmental theory, nevertheless also
says that both penal substitution and satisfaction atone-
ment theories are incompatible with the governmental
theory.[26]
4.2 Confusion of terms
Some confusion can occur when discussing the atonement
because the terms used sometimes have differing mean-
ings depending on the contexts in which they are used.[27]
For example:
• Sometimes 'substitutionary atonement' is used to re-
fer to 'penal substitution' alone,[28]
when the term
also has a broader sense including other atonement
models that are not penal.[29]
• Penal substitution is also sometimes described as a
type of satisfaction atonement,[30]
but the term 'sat-
isfaction atonement' functions primarily as a techni-
cal term to refer particularly to Anselm’s theory.[31]
• Substitutionary and penal themes are found within
the Patristic (and later) literature, but they are
not used in a penal substitutionary sense until the
Reformed period.[32]
• 'Substitution', as well as potentially referring to spe-
cific theories of the atonement (e.g. penal substi-
tution), is also sometimes used in a less technical
way—for example, when used in 'the sense that [Je-
sus, through his death,] did for us that which we can
never do for ourselves’.[33]
• The phrase 'vicarious atonement' is sometimes used
as a synonym for 'penal substitution', and is also
sometimes used to describe other, non-penal substi-
tutionary, theories of atonement.[34][35]
Care needs to be taken to understand what is be-
ing referred to by the various terms used in different
contexts.[27][36]
4.3 Main theories in detail
4.3.1 Moral influence
Main article: Atonement (moral influence view)
• Pierre Abélard
• Hastings Rashdall

20 CHAPTER 4. ATONEMENT IN CHRISTIANITY
4.3.2 Ransom and Christus Victor
Main articles: Atonement (ransom view) and Atonement
(Christus Victor view)
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gustaf Aulén
• Irenaeus of Lyons (“Recapitulation”)
• Origen of Alexandria
4.3.3 Satisfaction
Main article: Atonement (satisfaction view)
• Divine satisfaction: Anselm of Canterbury and
salvation in Catholicism
Penal substitution
Main articles: Substitutionary atonement and Penal
substitution
• Penalty or punishment satisfaction: John Calvin,
Calvinism, and imputed righteousness
• Vicarious repentance, John McLeod Campbell and
Robert Campbell Moberly
Governmental
Main article: Atonement (governmental view)
• Hugo Grotius and John Miley
• Jonathan Edwards and Charles Grandison Finney
Scapegoating
Main article: Scapegoating
• James Alison
• Gerhard Förde
• René Girard
• Mark Heim
• William Tyndale
4.4 Other Christian perspectives
4.4.1 Recapitulation
Main article: Recapitulation theory of atonement
An early theory of the atonement is the recapitulation
view, first comprehensively expressed by Irenaeus.[37]
In
it, Christ succeeds where Adam failed,[38]
undoing the
wrong that Adam did and, because of his union with
humanity, leads humanity on to eternal life, including
moral perfection.[39]
4.4.2 Eastern Christianity
Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism have a sub-
stantively different soteriology. Salvation is not seen as
the acceptance of a legal exchange, but as participation
in the renewal of human nature itself by way of the eter-
nal Word of God assuming the human nature in its full-
ness. In contrast to Western branches of theology, Or-
thodox Christians tend to use the word “expiation” with
regard to what is accomplished in the sacrificial act. In
Orthodox theology, expiation is an act of offering that
seeks to change the one making the offering. The Biblical
Greek word which is translated both as “propitiation” and
as “expiation” is hilasmos, which means “to make accept-
able and enable one to draw close to God”. Thus the Or-
thodox emphasis would be that Christ died, not to ap-
pease an angry and vindictive Father or to avert the wrath
of God upon sinners, but to defeat and secure the destruc-
tion of sin and death, so that those who are fallen and in
spiritual bondage may become divinely transfigured, and
therefore fully human, as their Creator intended; that is
to say, human creatures become God in his energies or
operations but not in his essence or identity, conforming
to the image of Christ and reacquiring the divine likeness
(see theosis).[40]
4.4.3 Roman Catholic views on atonement
and reparation
As expressed by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical
Miserentissimus Redemptor, in the Roman Catholic tradi-
tion the concepts of atonement and redemption are often
seen as being inherently related. And atonement is often
balanced with specific Acts of Reparation which relate
the sufferings and death of Christ to the forgiveness of
sins.[41]
Moreover, in Miserentissimus Redemptor the Pontiff
called acts of reparation a duty for Roman Catholics:
"We are holden to the duty of reparation and
expiation by a certain more valid title of justice

4.5. NON-TRINITARIAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIES 21
and of love." ... "Moreover this duty of expia-
tion is laid upon the whole race of men"[42]
Pope John Paul II referred to the concept as:
"the unceasing effort to stand beside the endless
crosses on which the Son of God continues to be
crucified".[43]
Specific Roman Catholic practices such as the Rosary
of the Holy Wounds (which does not include the usual
rosary mysteries) focus on specific redemptive aspects of
Christ’s suffering in Calvary.[44]
4.5 Non-trinitarian Christian the-
ologies
4.5.1 The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
See also: Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expands
the doctrine of the atonement complementary to the sub-
stitutionary atonement concept, including the following:
• Suffering in Gethsemane. The Atonement began
in Gethsemane and ends with Christ’s resurrec-
tion. (Christ’s agony at Gethsemane Luke 22:44;
Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19; Mosiah 3:7;
Alma 7:11-13. Christ described this agony in the
Doctrine and Covenants as follows: "[The] suffer-
ing caused myself, even God [Christ], the greatest of
all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every
pore, and to suffer both body and spirit...” (Doctrine
and Covenants 19:18).
• The relationship of justice, mercy, agency, and God’s
unconditional love. Christ’s infinite atonement was
required to satisfy the demands of justice based on
eternal law, rendering Him Mediator, Redeemer,
and Advocate with the Father. One eternal law
states that “no unclean thing can enter into the King-
dom of God.” To sin is to break God’s law, sym-
bolically leaving a “stain.” Thus, he proffers divine
mercy to the truly penitent who voluntarily come
unto him, offering them the gift of his grace to
“lift them up” and “be perfected in Him” through
his merits (2 Nephi 2 and 9; Alma 12, 34, and
42; Moroni 9:25; 10:33; compare Isaiah 55:1-9).
We are made perfect, first, through justification, fol-
lowed by sanctification.
• No need for infant baptism. Christ’s atonement com-
pletely resolved the consequence from the fall of
Adam of spiritual death for infants, young children
and those of innocent mental capacity who die be-
fore an age of self-accountability, hence all these are
resurrected to eternal life in the resurrection. How-
ever, baptism is required of those who are deemed
by God to be accountable for their actions (Moroni
8:10-22)
• Empathetic purpose. Christ suffered pain and agony
not only for the sins of all people, but also to expe-
rience their physical pains, illnesses, anguish from
addictions, emotional turmoil and depression, “that
His bowels may be filled with mercy, according to
the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh
how to succor his people according to their infirmi-
ties” (Alma 7:12; compare Isaiah 53:4).
“The word [atonement] describes the setting 'at one' of
those who have been estranged, and denotes the reconcili-
ation of man to God. Sin is the cause of the estrangement,
and therefore the purpose of the atonement is to correct
or overcome the consequences of sin” (“Atonement” en-
try of the Bible Dictionary in the LDS edition of the King
James Bible).
4.5.2 Jehovah’s Witnesses
According to Jehovah’s witnesses, atonement for sins
comes only through the life, ministry, and death of Jesus
Christ. They believe Jesus was the "second Adam", be-
ing the pre-existent and sinless Son of God who became
the human Messiah of Israel, and that he came to undo
Adamic sin.[45][46][47][48][49][50]
The Witnesses believe that salvation is possible only
through Jesus’ ransom sacrifice,[51]
and that individuals
cannot be reconciled to God and be saved until they re-
pent of their sins, and call on the name of God through
Jesus.[52]
Salvation is described as a free gift from God,
but is said to be unattainable without obedience to Christ
and good works that are prompted by faith. According
to their teaching, the works prove faith is genuine.[53][54]
“Preaching the good news” is said to be one of the works
necessary for salvation, both of themselves and those to
whom they preach.[55]
They believe that people in the
“last days” can be “saved” by identifying Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses as God’s theocratic organization, and by serving
God as a part of it.[56]
4.5.3 Emanuel Swedenborg
According to the doctrine of The New Church, as ex-
plained by Emanuel Swedenborg, there is no such thing
as substitutionary atonement as is generally understood.
Swedenborg’s account of atonement has much in com-
mon with the Christus Victor doctrine, which refers to a
Christian understanding of the Atonement which views

22 CHAPTER 4. ATONEMENT IN CHRISTIANITY
Christ’s death as the means by which the powers of
evil, which held humanity under their dominion, were
defeated.[57]
It is a model of the atonement that is dated
to the Church Fathers,[18]
and it, along with the related
ransom theory, was the dominant theory of the atonement
for a thousand years.
4.5.4 The United Pentecostal Church
Oneness Pentecostals teach that the death, burial, and res-
urrection of Jesus Christ are the only means by which
atonement can be obtained for dying humanity, and which
makes the free gift of God’s salvation possible. They be-
lieve that all must put faith in the propitiatory work of
Christ to gain everlasting life. According to United Pente-
costal theology, this saving faith is more than just mental
assent or intellectual acceptance, or even verbal profes-
sion, but must include trust, appropriation, application,
action, and obedience. They contend that water baptism
is one of the works of faith and obedience necessary for
Christ’s sacrificial atonement to be efficacious.[58]
4.6 See also
4.7 References
[1] atonement. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com
Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http:
//dictionary.reference.com/browse/atonement (ac-
cessed: January 15, 2011): '2. (sometimes initial
capital letter) Theology. the doctrine concerning the
reconciliation of God and humankind ...'
[2] atonement. CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dic-
tionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved
October 03, 2012: '2. (often capital) Christian theol a. the
reconciliation of man with God through the life, suffer-
ings, and sacrificial death of Christ b. the sufferings and
death of Christ'
[3] Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main
Types of the Idea of Atonement, Gustaf Aulen, 1931
[4] Vincent Taylor, The Cross of Christ (London: Macmillan
& Co, 1956), p. 71-2
[5] In which the atonement is spoken of as shared by all. To
wit, God sustains the Universe. Therefore if Jesus was
God in human form, when he died, we all died with him,
and when he rose from the dead, we all rose with him.
See Jeremiah, David. 2009. Living With Confidence in
a Chaotic World, pp. 96 & 124. Nashville, Tennessee:
Thomas Nelson, Inc.; Massengale, Jamey. 2013.Rene-
gade Gospel, The Jesus Manifold. Amazon, Kindle.
[6] Niels-erik A. Andreasen, 'Atonement/Expiation in the Old
Testament' in W. E. Mills (ed.), Mercer dictionary of the
Bible (Mercer University Press, 1990)
[7] Matthew George Easton, 'Atonement' in Illustrated Bible
Dictionary (T. Nelson & Sons, 1897).
[8] Ward, K. (2007) Christianity – a guide for the perplexed.
SPCK, London, p. 48- 51
[9] A. J. Wallace, R. D. Rusk, Moral Transformation: The
Original Christian Paradigm of Salvation (New Zealand:
Bridgehead, 2011)
[10] Michael Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus (Eastbourne:
Kingsway, 2004; first published 1984), p. 64-5: 'The sim-
plest and most obvious understanding of the cross is to see
it as the supreme example....This is a favourite theme in
the early Fathers, as H.E.W. Turner showed in The Patris-
tic Doctrine of Redemption....It can scarcely be denied that
much of the second century understanding of the cross
was frankly exemplarist.'
[11] J. F. Bethune-Baker, An introduction to the early history of
Christian doctrine to the time of the Council of Chalcedon
(London: Methuen & Co, 1903), p. 351-2 : 'From this
review of the teaching of the Church it will be seen that...
in the earliest centuries... the main thought is that man is
reconciled to God by the Atonement, not God to man. The
change, that is, which it effects is a change in man rather
than a change in God. It is God’s unchangeable love for
mankind that prompts the Atonement itself, is the cause
of it, and ultimately determines the method by which it is
effected.'
[12] Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main
Types of the Idea of Atonement. Gustaf Aulen. “All satis-
factory accounts of the atonement...begin, but do not end,
with the moral influence theory...”
[13] H. N. Oxenham, The Catholic doctrine of the atone-
ment (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and
Green, 1865), p. xliv,114
Green, 1865), p. 114
[15] D. Smith, The atonement in the light of history and the
modern spirit (London: Hodder and Stoughton), p. 96-
7: 'THE FORENSIC THEORY...each successive period
of history has produced its peculiar type of soteriological
doctrine...the third period--the period ushered in by the
Reformation.'
[16] Vincent Taylor, The Cross of Christ (London: Macmillan
& Co, 1956), p. 71-2: '...the four main types, which have
persisted throughout the centuries. The oldest theory is
the Ransom Theory...It held sway for a thousand years.
[...] The Forensic Theory is that of the Reformers and
their successors.'
[17] L. W. Grensted, A Short History of the Doctrine of the
Atonement (Manchester: Manchester University Press,
1920), p. 191: 'Before the Reformation only a few hints
of a Penal theory can be found.'
Green, 1865), p. 112-3,119: '...we may pause to sum up

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