Christian Mysticism

‘Christian Mysticism’ is a book by William Ralph Inge, first published in 1899. Drawn from the Bampton Lectures delivered at the University of Oxford, it surveys the sources, language, and aims of Christian mystical thought from the Bible and the early Church through the medieval and early-modern traditions. Inge distinguishes balanced, church-minded contemplation from excesses and superstition, while engaging deeply with themes like union with God, illumination, symbolism, and the enduring pull of Christian Platonism. The book’s reach is wide: Inge reads figures such as Plotinus and the Pseudo-Dionysian tradition alongside Eckhart, Tauler, Ruysbroeck, Teresa of Ávila, and John of the Cross, framing mysticism as both a devotional path and an intellectual tradition within Christianity. It became a touchstone for Anglicans and scholars in the early twentieth century, shaping English-language study of mysticism and anticipating Inge’s later work on the Platonic stream in Christian thought.