>>Home >>About MSIA >>The Theological Position of MSIA

Devotion in a Spiritual/Mystical Church

Revenue Canada may not have as much experience with churches whose worship is mainly spiritual. Theologians have been arguing since the early years of the century whether spirituality is a proper study for theology. Spirituality is certainly not a new idea, nor one that is restricted only to eastern churches. It has had a long and honourable tradition in the Christian churches also. It is one which traces its origins to the early Church (the pristine church) and which had its florescence in the early middle ages culminating in the thirteenth century. Historians of religion point out that the spiritual side of Christianity was somewhat forsaken in the thirteenth century in favour of Scholastic Theology developed by the new universities and especially by St. Thomas Aquinas. Today, Scholasticism has been abandoned even in the Catholic Church where it still was prominent until the end of Vatican II (1963 - 1965). In fact, there are many articles written in theological journals on the topic of the relationship between theology and spirituality.

In fact, many definitions of Spirituality in the encyclopedias seem to be able to define spirituality only in opposition to Scholasticism, because of this long tradition of putting them in opposition to one another. Even in the 600 years when Scholastic Theology was the only theology espoused by the Church, there were many individuals who followed a spiritual path. I would name St Francis of Assisi, Bernard of Clairvaux, The Beguines, Hadewich of Anvers, Meister Ekhart, Hildegard of Bingen, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Jan van Ruusbroec, Joan of Arc, Julian of Norwich, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, FranHois of Sales, etc . . . Most of them are saints today but most were dealt with negatively by the Church in their lifetimes, excommunicated and sometimes put to death, despite their exemplary dedication to God. This was an understandable reaction. The Church is an organization that wanted people to have an experience of God only through their own priests and rituals. We are still living today within this tradition.

Historically, in the beginning, the Church espoused spirituality (see the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul). Slowly, the element of religion (dogma) was introduced. There is a tendency in all new religions to go from the spiritual basis towards the security of rationality. Gaboury explains the evolution succinctly (p. 17): "reason = power = religion = external control = and therefore security."

We began to understand that to enter into the Kingdom of which Jesus spoke, we had to undergo a complete change and, as Robert Vachon, would later write, we had to learn to give up our narrow vision of the Christ, lose our western ears, that it was not sufficient to belong to a Church, we had to enter into the Kingdom which was beyond churches, divisions, theologies and exclusivities.

Gaboury continues his history lesson with the passage from religion to spirituality proper in the years 1960 to 1980. He says that a new spirituality was launched at this time by what Jacob Needleman calls "the new religions". It is a time, he says

. . . when the veil was torn: we realized that human consciousness had been in a straightjacket, hypnotised by a narrowness of vision, and that the moment had come to free this infinite energy inhibited by prejudice and submission to imposed beliefs.

In his article, Gaboury cites a number of statistics which show that people are now more interested in the spiritual and are therefore turning away from the traditional churches which have lost the ability to awaken that in the people they serve. The surveys quoted by Gaboury have been redone many times since with the same results. If anything, the number of people disenchanted with traditional religions is increasing.

He further explains that the people who move away from traditional religions, are being influenced by the following: Universality (democratisation of worship), Orientalism (especially the influence of Hindu gurus and Zen masters), Anonymity (people want a quiet inner life by themselves with "belonging"), an absence of dogma (nothing is definite or infallible), refusal to become missionaries ( people can only change themselves), and integration of scientific data, especially quantum physics (spiritual consciousness is powerful and can initiate change, all is possible).

MSIA fits very well within the above criteria. It is not a new religion, however. It is a new way of looking at the old beliefs and integrating new understandings. It is a spiritual way of doing that. In fact, it could be argued that churches which support spiritual practices are closer in intent to what Jesus preached and what the pristine church practiced.

There are a number of definitions of spirituality. Matthew Fox has what he calls "twenty -one running, working, experiential definitions of mysticism" . To give a flavour, I will simply give the twenty-one titles: Experience, Nondualism, Compassion, Connection Making, Radical Amazement, Affirmation of the World as a Whole, Right-Brain, Self-Critical, Heart Knowledge, Return to the Source, Feminist, Panentheistic, Birthing Images, Silence, Nothingness and Darkness, Childlike Playfulness, Psychic Justice, Prophetic, Being-With-Being, True Self, and finally, Globally Ecumenical. I think MSIA would be able to explain itself within all these definitions. Please note though, that his first definition is experience, as it is with all definitions of spirituality. Spirituality is to have a direct experience of God and to know that. It is defined in this way in The New Dictionary of Theology (and again I refer you to the MSIA brochure for comparison):

As an experience, mysticism is traditionally described as a loving knowledge of God which is born in a personal encounter with the divine. Included in the encounter is an awareness of the presence of God, but not always in the initial stages, and an experience of being drawn into a union of God.

As a process mysticism refers to a way of life which is built upon one's direct experience of God and which proceeds in an organic manner as one is led ever more deeply into the reality of life and into a loving union with the Mystery revealed at its core.

Today mysticism, or contemplation as it is often called, is viewed as a common and normal activity, although often implicit, in the lives of all Christians. Karl Rahner emphasized this development when he wrote: ". . . the devout Christian of the future will either be a 'mystic', one who has 'experienced' something, or [the person] will cease to be anything at all" (Th.I. 7, p.15).

In her article discussing spirituality and theology, LaguN concludes that we must begin speaking of a theology of spirituality, to designate systematic discourse.

We have seen that Christian experience is as basic to theological discourse as it is basic to spirituality. There is there a unique source. The distinction between the two is in the approach. While theology considers the Christian experience, and its different parts, spirituality is more interested in how the Christian experience is personalized. . . . The key to the understanding the harmony between theology and spirituality, between the intellectual and the lived, is found in the very penetrating of the Christian Mystery. We are not dealing with an abstract truth, but with a history of revelation of the love of God for his creatures. . . . By reintroducing into theology, the notion of experience, specifically of Christian experience, we have begun the reconciliation between theology and spirituality. In renewing this discourse on grace we will reunite that which should never have been separated in the first place.

In opposition to what Revenue Canada calls our lack of devotion, I would insist that the type of devotion that we do is consistent within the tradition of western spirituality and mysticism. We pray. We study a series of 144 soul awareness discourses (sermons) for the first 12 years (one a month) and listen to tapes, (more sermons), one a month, after that. We follow classes with the Peace Theological Seminary and College of Philosophy (PTS) either in retreat facilities or in each other's homes. We have evenings of devotion called seminars and which can include prayer, meditation, listening to taped (audio and video) soul awareness seminars (sermons), and discussion. Just like the pristine Christian church, we meet in each other's homes (like church houses of the early church) and often share food, just as they did. In 1975, there was only one seminar leader in Canada. By 1982, 150 MSIA seminars were held in Canada. In 1994, the number exceeded 600.

Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness Links
Prayer List   |   Headquarters