The Mystic Way of Salvation

The experience of growing in a relationship with God is very much like the experience of growing in any relationship. Over the centuries, many Saints have traveled this road, and more than a few have written of their experiences in the hope that doing so will help other Christians to better understand what they are experiencing as they come to know God more intimately. In 1911, Evelyn Underhill published a work titled Mysticism, in which she sought to examine the writings of many of the Saints on this topic so that she might come to discern the experiences that were common to each. Others have since built upon her work, and work on this subject matter is obviously ongoing, however the end result of this work as it exists today has been the coalescence of the experiences of many of the Saints into a chart that identifies the experiences common to each of the major seasons (or "Ways" as they are also commonly referred to) of Christian spiritual growth.

This work will take a look at the seasons of spiritual growth, and how those seasons are reflected in the order of salvation. Much of what follows will be a bit academic in nature, as we work our way through concepts, theologies, and practices that lead to a deeply spiritual life. My intent in this work is to explain the process of spiritual growth in the context of the salvific experience within which it occurs. My hope is to offer entrance into a dialogue that I don't believe to be adequately engaged in the formation processes of clergy in most Christian denominations.