Finitude, Eroticism and Mystical Experience in St. John of the Cross
Abstract
I try to demostrate that both the eroticism of bodies and the sacred eroticism are originated in the desire for con- tinuity, which arises from the consciousness of finitude, consciousness that is achieved by the subject when he as- sumes by himself his being-towards-death. While eros-love is the ontological tendency that explains the desire of finite goods and the incipient infatuation inGod, agape-love is the ultimate meaning of mystical experience. The purpose is to show that human love and mystical love are not mutually exclusive existential possibilities. Though it is true that mys- ticism requires giving up any other type of love and addic- tion, it is also true that in the beginning the quest for God’s doesn’t arise from agape-love, but from the falling in love of the Bridegroom Christ. This is a philosophical reflection on the mystical process from eros-love to agape-love of God. The testimony of that party for the understanding of mysticism as a vital transformation process is the Spiritual Canticle B of St. John of the Cross.References
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