Doznania zmysłowe w doktrynie świętych Teresy od Jezusa i Jana od Krzyża a mistyka
The Sensual Experience in the Doctrine of Saint Teresa of Jesus and in Saint John of the Cross against Mysticism

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses the extent to which sensory experience is, according to Carmelite mystics, necessary in the mystical union with God. According to them, deepening one’s knowledge of the content of faith through understanding the life of Jesus in its human aspect is dependent on such experience, whereas faith is one of the conditions for mysticism to appear. In the affective sphere, it is important to integrate sensual desires (passions) with the will, which is chosen by God. Only a fully integrated will can entirely submit to God and accept his love to unite with him, which is the basis for the mystical cognition of God. By contrast, the doctrine of Dionysius the Areopagite lacks the element of sensory experience. At the core of his difference from John of the Cross and Teresa of Jesus lies a different understanding of God’s transcendence and revelation, as well as of human nature.

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