The Biblical Mysticism of John of the Cross*

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the Prologue to his Ascent of Mount Carmel John of the Cross mentions the three sources of his mystical teaching–experience, theological science, and scripture – noting that scripture is his fundamental guide. Perhaps because he did not write formal biblical commentaries, it has not been sufficiently recognized that John’s mysticism is fundamentally mystical. This article presents several examples of how the Spanish mystic used the spiritual interpretation of the Bible to guide his mystical teaching, concentrating on the interpretation of Psalm 136 (Super flumina Babylonis) in one of his prison-poems, and the re-writing of the Song of Songs in his ‘Canciones entre el Alma y el Esposo.’