SILENT CONTEMPLATION AND LOVING REFLECTION: A PERSPECTIVE OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

Abstract

The relationship between negative theology and positive theology approached here from the love that contemplates in silence and reflects on what is contemplated has had a springtime during the first half of the 20th century that has not yet opened up to the summer of a full understanding. The article returns to this theme and proposes, in the first part, a critique of the method used by academic studies on Christian spirituality carried out during the post-Vatican II Council, both in Latin-European and English-speaking countries. In its second part, a renewed perspective is proposed to deal with the subject from an interdisciplinary approach inspired by a new field of research, contemplative studies, which relies on the interrelation of first and third-person research methods. This perspective opens the possibility of incorporating silent first-person contemplative experiences into academic reflection, establishing the basis for a new dialogue between positive and negative theology.

KEYWORDS: Contemplation. Mystic. Positive Theology. Negative Theology. Reflection.