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Document Details : Title: Intensive Experience of God and Society Subtitle: Mediating Mysticism, Politics, and Christology in the Work of Edward Schillebeeckx Author(s): MINCH, Daniel Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 98 Issue: 1 Date: 2022 Pages: 103-121 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.98.1.3290284 Abstract : The post-conciliar work of the Flemish theologian Edward Schillebeeckx often includes references to an essential relation between mysticism and politics. This contribution explores and develops that connection by examining Schillebeeckx’s concept of mysticism and its relation to the mediation and representation of God in history as a form of 'mediated immediacy'. The article argues that mysticism is oriented by prayer towards eschatological salvation and thereby constitutes a politically profiled theology. The article then evaluates the American 'Jesus Movement' in the late 1960s-early 1970s as an explicitly 'apolitical' form of modern Christian mysticism. In his analysis of this movement, Schillebeeckx argues that neglecting the political elements inherent in Christology opens forms of apolitical Christian mysticism to ideological manipulation. The article maintains that Schillebeeckx’s criticisms were correct, given that the Jesus Movement was later coopted by conservative political ideologies. This serves as a critical example from the recent past that remains highly relevant to the present context. The contribution draws on several untranslated works by Schillebeeckx that have not yet been widely studied, particularly in English-language scholarship. |
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