The Mystical Narrative as a Way of Revealing the Truth of Faith

Abstract

The biblical understanding of faith shows that it is a phenomenon inherently connected with the perception and experience of God‘s presence and action in human history. Revelation is considered the foundation of faith, as recorded by both testaments: from the words or personal stories of the patriarchs and the prophets to the stories of the Gospel and the witness of Christ‘s followers. The act of faith expects that the individual or the nation will fully embrace Revelation, doing so in devotion and trust. Reflecting on the relationship between religion and faith, this study will primarily draw upon the paradigm of Christian knowledge and, especially, – utilizing the method of literary interpretation with interdisciplinary overlaps – from the mystical experiences of selected medieval authors (such as Margherita de Cortona, Angela da Foligno, and Chiara da Montefalco). This is because the mystical experience mirrors a multitude of attributes that accompany the act of faith. And even though the mystical experience is due to its mysterious character fundamentally inexpressible, it remains an original source of revealing the processes of the human being‘s spiritual maturation.