Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

(Dana P.) #1

MUSLIM


156

MUSLIM. See ISLAM.


MYSTICISM. From the Greek mystes,
meaning, “one initiated into the myster-
ies.” Broadly speaking, a domain of expe-
rience of and reflection on the sacred that
involves affective and cognitive states that
are not empirical, or are not only empiri-
cal. While the term is sometimes used
disparagingly, it has a stable usage as
a legitimate, even rigorous study of reli-
giously significant states of consciousness


as demonstrated by, for example, Evelyn
Underhill’s classic study Mysticism (1911).

MYTH. From the Greek mythos, meaning
“legend.” The term usually refers to narra-
tives that are either not literally true or
not known to be true. In the twentieth
century when some theologians set out to
de-mythologize Christianity, they sought
to expunge from it stories of the miracu-
lous and supernatural.
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