Terminology Tuesday: Mysticism
Mysticism: The view that it is possible to gain experiential knowledge of that which transcends the limits of human reason and sensory perception. When associated with a religious tradition (as is usually the case), the mystic holds that it is possible to gain an awareness of God or ultimate reality through certain kinds of experiences, which are often claimed to be ineffable. Theists interpret such experiences as making possible a special intimacy or oneness with God but deny the monistic claim that in such experiences the mystic becomes aware of an identity with God.1
1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 78.