Mysticism in the Twentieth Century

The chapter considers influential definitions of terms like “mysticism,” “mystical,” or “mystical experiences” as formulated by two of the most prominent scholars of mysticism of the twentieth century. The influence of William James to the study of mysticism and his famous four marks of a mystical state is observed. The influence of Evelyn Underhill to the study of mysticism and her defining characteristics of what is true mysticism is observed. The various forms of visionary experiences and locutionary experiences (mystically hearing voices) are studied and the nuances between mystical and visionary experiences are considered. Critiques of the work of James and Underhill are offered and brief case studies of three modern mystics—Maria Valtorta, Therese Neumann, and Gemma Galgani—are considered in support of the critiques.

Learning from Shortcomings, Moving Forward with New Methods

The chapter considers the ideological biases that have formed in academic culture against taking mystical experiences and similar phenomena seriously. An in-depth analysis of Ann Taves’s “naturalistic” approach to religious experiences shows how seemingly “neutral” secular approaches, while criticizing metaphysical hermeneutics, are not free of their own metaphysical and philosophical assumptions. The work of several scholars from various fields, theologian John Milbank, historian Brad Gregory, religion scholar Robert Orsi, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson, is considered in articulating how one worldview, a philosophy of secular naturalism, guides academic discourse across disciplines at the expense of another worldview, an ontology of the supernatural. The myth of “secular neutrality” is exposed by these scholars. The chapter concludes with the call for cultivating a new method for the study of religious experiences, an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach that considers the potential integrity of extraordinary religious experiences and a more holistic understanding of knowledge.

Medical and Scientific Studies on the Apparitions in Medjugorje

The chapter presents and analyzes the major medical and scientific studies that have been performed on the Medjugorje visionaries and their apparitions. Observing behavioral and psychological studies, neuroscientific studies, ocular and visual functions, auditory and voice functions, sensitivity and imperviousness to pain, the distinctions between a state of hypnosis and the apparition state in the visionaries, the chapter concludes with the results of the scientific studies: eliminating any form of hallucination, psychosis, epilepsy, neurosis, or catalepsy as an explanation for the apparitions. The chapter also considers the philosophical question of whether the visionaries are having a “subjective” or an “objective” experience during their apparitions, seeing a combination of characteristics when they enter the state of ecstasy that does not convey a clear line of delineation between a subjective and objective experience.

Public Revelation and Private Revelation

Beginning with a study of the Catholic Church’s theology of public revelation and private revelations, the chapter considers what is the theological authority that private revelations (like Marian apparitions) have and what is the relationship that such revelations have to Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the development of doctrine in Roman Catholicism. The official norms that the Catholic Church uses to evaluate the authenticity of visionaries, their apparitions and revelations, are studied, as promulgated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1978. The work of the Catholic scholars Augustin Poulain and Benedict Groeschel is considered to better understand the complexities of discerning true from false revelations. The final section considers which Church authorities can intervene in investigating an apparition site, and what has been the Church response and official status regarding the Medjugorje apparitions.

Medjugorje’s Uniqueness

Cognitive sciences like neuroscience have been used to study more common, cultivated, or induced religious experiences like states of meditation or prayer; however, in Medjugorje, it is the first time that spontaneous and extraordinary mystical experiences, such as visionary experiences in the form of Marian apparitions, have been studied by neuroscience as they are transpiring: pointing to Medjugorje’s uniqueness and importance. The chapter systematically considers the prominent interpretations of scholars who have tried to re-diagnose and explain extraordinary religious experiences as cases of epileptic seizures, hysteria, or hallucination, observing the work of Jean-Martin Charcot, Michael P. Carroll, Richard Dawkins, Andrew Newberg, and concluding with an analysis of Sigmund Freud’s interpretation of the “oceanic feeling” (i.e., mystical experience) and of his understanding of religion as a neurosis. The chapter explains how the scientific studies in Medjugorje substantially challenge the universal applicability of such reductionist theories.

The Great Debate

This chapter studies a major debate that has emerged in the second-half of the twentieth century between scholars of mysticism. The debate is between perennialist scholars and constructivist scholars. Perennialism sees mystical experiences as transcending culture, language, and time-period, and pointing to a unified spiritual experience among various peoples, while constructivism sees mystical experiences as a construction of the human mind and of culture. The epistemological philosophy of Immanuel Kant and how it has influenced the debate is analyzed, as is the contribution of attributional scholars like Wayne Proudfoot and Ann Taves. The chapter also considers how the linguistic turn has influenced this debate, pointing the ramifications of the debate have for academic culture. The chapter concludes with a survey of various forms of reductionism—neurological, psychoanalytical, and sociological—that have been used to denigrate the authenticity of mystical experiences in modern scholarship.

The Young Woman on the Hill

Relating the first days of the Medjugorje apparitions, the chapter tells the story of the original encounter that transpired the week of June 24, 1981, between five Croatian teenagers and a child reporting to encounter the Virgin Mary. It analyzes some of the key messages the visionaries have reported to receive from the Virgin. Some of the biggest questions of life are considered, as answered by the Virgin of Medjugorje, such as: Is there an afterlife? Is the teaching of reincarnation real? What happens to people of other religions? A section dedicated to the study of near-death experiences compares and contrasts visions of the afterlife that the Medjugorje visionaries claim to have received with the experiences of the afterlife that near-death patients have claimed to encounter. A final section tackles the topic of “secrets of Medjugorje,” a set of secrets that each visionary claims to have received from the Virgin.

Conclusion

The concluding section considers the epistemological, hermeneutical, and ontological contributions that the Medjugorje studies make to debates on religious and mystical experiences. Epistemologically, the Medjugorje studies show that it is erroneous to perceive all extraordinary religious experiences through a reductionist interpretation that denigrates such experiences into a natural or pathological understanding. Hermeneutically, the Medjugorje studies show how important it is to have a method that is inductive and constructive-relational in terms of approaching religious experiences. Ontologically, the Medjugorje studies point to the limitations of a metaphysic of naturalism in interpreting reality and to the need to consider other modes of understanding, beyond a narrow materialist or rationalist worldview. The Medjugorje studies bring much-needed reconciliation between the worlds of science and religion, as in Medjugorje immense scientific study has been used to support the integrity of religious visionaries and their extraordinary religious experiences.

Introduction

Medjugorje is a village in Bosnia-Herzegovina that has attracted millions of people after it was reported that the Virgin Mary began appearing there in 1981. Other supernatural phenomena have been connected with Medjugorje, such as the case of the statue of the Madonna of Civitavecchia, a statue of the Virgin Mary that began weeping tears of blood in 1995, a case that was investigated by the Italian press, state officials, public agencies, and a Church commission. Cases like the weeping statue are known as “concurrent phenomena,” alleged supernatural occurrences that happen around the primary phenomena, the Marian apparitions. Can such cases, both primary and concurrent, be taken seriously? The introduction tackles this question by outlining chapters that form the book, from debates on mystical experiences by scholars, to the scientific studies on the Medjugorje visionaries, explaining that the latter can make a significant contribution to our understanding of mystical experiences.