Reflection Paper 4

Anthony Schoen
Religion 120-05
March 22, 2010
Reflection Paper
Why Religion Can’t Live without Mysticism
The idea that a religious battle is currently encompassing the world with no site of an end comes at no surprise to most people. The surprising factor to me is that the author of this article is able to justify that this war is not one between believers and unbelievers, but that of the methods used within the religious practices. At first I could not totally agree, but throughout his article, he is able to support this proposal and eventually form a valid argument.
Luke Timothy Johnson, the author, mainly focuses on two views of practicing religious beliefs, exoteric and esoteric. Applying these beliefs to three of the most widely practiced religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, he is able to bring the reader into an understanding of the importance of this religious battle. Understanding that God is a being that we are able to believe in using only our hearts, and the power of free will he has given us, is not an easy task for many human beings. To truly show our love for him we should be able to sacrifice pleasures in this life with the belief that someday we will be eternally repaid, when we pass into the after life, with eternal life. The ability to believe in this higher, invisible, power is when the concept of mysticism is introduced.
Mysticism is used more in the exoteric views of religion. Christianity is a prime example of an exoteric approach to worshiping God, although I am not entirely in agreement with this. Christianity is not only about the experiencing of God in a public means, by worshiping in a church and presenting your beliefs publicly, but also is a soul-searching experience. If we are not able to commit within ourselves that we truly want to follow the path God has offered us, then we are not able to be genuine in our actions that follow. When we commit ourselves to God, we need to make sure it is a full mind and body committal to him. After this has been accomplished, we are able to express ourselves in an exoteric way. If we are able to express ourselves both by an exoteric and esoteric method, than our religious experience will be the best we can possibly have.
The other outstanding part of this article was the quotation by Rumi: “I died as mineral and became a plant, I died…‘To Him we shall return.’” This was a very powerful quote. The realization that we all have to die at some point is tough for many of us to grasp. We are not moving forward in time, we are really counting down the time to our death. Everything we do is in preparation for what is to come. Although this is true, this quote is explaining that we all need to die, but we are able to progress into something better after every death. Such a thought is inspirational, and rekindles the desire to live for God and not for oneself.
Overall this article was an interesting approach to what is thought to be the religious battle of this day in age. Many good points were made, but I feel that the argument was not looked at as accurately as it could have been. The ideas that were presented cause me to rethink several things, both in my physical life and my spiritual life.