Mysticism in a Melting Pot: Andrew Murray, a Mystic from Africa on the World Stage

The continent of Africa has been a melting pot of cultural and belief systems over the centuries, but especially since its colonization by European countries. Much research has been done on the devastating effects of colonial rule on indigenous peoples, often in the name of Christianity as the powerful religious discourse. What is not always investigated, however, is how settler communities in the colonies became part of a melting pot in which various faith traditions interacted with each other. Such interaction took place in the Southern African context where, from the seventeenth century onwards, Dutch and British rule resulted in a melting pot of groups that were politically, socially, culturally and religiously different from, if not hostile, to one another.

Prominent among these groups of European descent was the Dutch-speaking faith community officially known as the Dutch Reformed Church because of its close relationship with Protestantism in the Netherlands, with Calvinism and its use of Dutch as the language of communication. In practice, however, the church was, almost from its very beginning, anything but purely Dutch. As early as the end of the seventeenth century the country and church assimilated a considerable number of German settlers and French Huguenots who fled religious persecution in France. The melting pot was further infused with new ingredients when, in the nineteenth century, the new British colonial masters¹ invited Scottish pastors from the Presbyterian tradition to work in the church—partly because of a shortage of Dutch ministers, but clearly also in an attempt to Anglicize the Dutch-speaking communities.

Eventually these Scottish pastors, though late arrivals on the scene, would play a decisive role in the formation of the church through their profound spirituality and mysticism. The Scottish theologian Ian Bradley has noted that the word “spirituality” may not trip easily off the Scottish Presbyterian tongue, but nevertheless insisted that the Scottish tradition certainly shared major characteristics of Christian spirituality. These shared characteristics include a focus on encounters with God, a lived experience of faith, a disciplined life of prayer and transformative action.² The Scottish ministers actively promoted worship services filled with lively preaching and hymn singing, and for revival meetings.

Heveskes.

Courtesy Remo Sloof

Finally, their spirituality had an open, inclusive nature, stressing the need for witnessing to all people.

Scottish spirituality had a distinctive intellectual nature which was one result of the extensive academic training of Scottish pastors at leading universities in the eighteenth century.³ Bradley comments that Scottish spirituality is “an affair of the mind as well as of the heart and the emotions” and “Scots think on their knees and pray standing up.” Because of their critical, inquisitive minds, Scottish pastors could and wanted to engage with religious literature at an advanced level, including that written by well-known authors on spirituality and mysticism.

Closely linked with the first remark is, furthermore, that, in the words of Bradley, this spirituality “can be found as much in the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian denominations as in the Scottish Episcopal and Roman Catholic Churches.”⁴ Because their spirituality transcended confessional borders, they had to take note of mystical works, as has been pointed out in recent research (compare with further below). The Scottish religious discourse is, therefore, itself indicative of a melting pot of various spiritual and mystical traditions.

Here I will give a brief clarification about the notions of spirituality and mysticism as they will be used in this article: Mysticism, as Bernard McGinn indicates, is part of spirituality, which, as a broad term, signifies the whole range of beliefs and practices by which the Christian church strives to live out its commitment to the Spirit present in the risen Christ (1 Cor. 6:14–20; 2 Cor 3:17). Mysticism, he adds, is the inner and hidden realization of spirituality through a transforming consciousness of God’s immediate presence. The goal of spiritual practices is, therefore, mysticism. Though reflecting personal appropriation, it is not individualistic—having roots in the Christian...