The first route to consider is clearly that of Martin Luther, who was initially close to mysticism.
In fact the Reformation was anchored in strong spiritual inspiration allied to mysticism. Moreover, Luther was very familiar with the works of Tauler and several times produced new editions of the anonymous work on mysticism from the end of the 14th century already mentioned: German Theology. One might also say that the experience of justification by faith, which is the basis of all Lutheran theology, is profoundly mystical. Furthermore, in his Treatise on Christian Liberty, Luther employs all the vocabulary of the medieval mystic marriage (notably that of Bernard Clairvaux[1] ), to express the 'joyous exchange' of justification . Here we find all the themes such as the mystic marriage, not describing the end of the spiritual journey, but to express the beginning of that journey, when a man becomes conscious that he has the unconditional love of God. On this foundation were born the main principles of Reform, also closely related to mysticism.
So, with Luther we see that the main principles of Reform were allied to mysticism:
1st principle: Sola Gratia (by grace alone). Sola Gratia reminds us that justification is entirely exterior to the human being. This principle emphasises that (the granting of) justification[2] comes from outside the human being and does not depend on the works of man. It is allied to the emphasis on the passivity of the human being by numerous mystics.
2nd principle: Solus Christus (Christ alone). This principle emphasises the relativisation of all human mediation to achieve entry into communion with God. This union without 'institutional intermediaries' is also sought by mystics.
3rd principle: Sola Scriptura (through the Scriptures alone). This principle indicates the place where Christ is found, the Word of God: Revelation may only come from the exterior word (the message of Scripture). Luther calls on all Christian people to adopt the principle of lectio divina, meditation on the Bible, employed by Christians since the end of the medieval era and the beginning of modern times in the monasteries.
-Finally, the 4th principle, the universal priesthood of all Christians, worked to end the separation between the clergy and the lay community, between the Church as teacher and the Church as learner. This links to mysticism, which forefronts the authority of personal experience of God.
One point of departure of his theory, however, is opposed to mysticism: that of the criticism of monastic life – judged by Luther to be a form of human works and in opposition to the idea of universal priesthood – monastic life which is, however, a major site of 'spiritual experimentation'. This was followed by all branches of Reform, in any case until the 19th century (the last forms of opposition were shown by the placing of deaconesses within Protestantism). Luther's objective was show that all believers could experience spirituality in their everyday life without the need to cut themselves off from the world. Even if Luther's criticism was more about his wish to bring mysticism out of the monasteries, it contributed to excising from Protestantism a type of asceticism which favours mystical thinking.
But there was an evolution in Luther's attitude towards mystical spirituality, which he had not criticised at first. With the development of Lutherism in the German Holy Roman Empire, the reformer had to fight the Roman Church, from which he had been separated since his excommunication in 1521 and also, increasingly, against those who he called 'enthusiasts', who followed his principles, but wanted to take them to their ultimate extent. These were, notably, the Anabaptists[3] , but also spiritualist circles based on the experience of an 'interior' light (an idea from Meister Eckhart) and aimed to remove themselves from all exterior mediation. Luther campaigned vigorously against the risk of 'subjectivism' of the Christian faith and insisted on the 'objective' and 'exterior' aspects of faith, as can be seen in this document . So with Luther there was, at first, a mystical momentum and then an anti-mysticism reaction in the name of the same founding principles, a kind of balancing between proximity to and rejection of mysticism.
What was the position of the French reformer Jean Calvin (1509-1564) on this matter? One may synthesise his stance in two essential points:
Calvin developed a theology of the Holy Spirit which allowed him to give value to the interiorisation of the experience of salvation. Calvin did not hesitate to speak of 'the mystical union' of the believer with Christ through the Spirit.
On the other hand, also based on his theology of the Spirit, Calvin gave greater emphasis than Luther to sanctification[4] . He thereby initiated the believer into a process of interior maturation, of spiritual growth, which took time. “This restoration,” Calvin wrote, “is in no way accomplished in a minute of time, nor a day, nor a year..... in saying that God restores to us his image, we do not deny that it can only be accomplished by continual growth.” This conception opens the way to spiritual methods which allow the believer to grow in his experience of receiving the love of God in life.
