Mystics and mysticism: a summation

The mystics have given us their witness to the truth of the faith they hold; philosophers have set their seal to it, the Fathers of the Church have affirmed their belief in it; the seekers of the Orient have proclaimed in glowing terms their mystic creed; those devoted to the Religious life have found in Mysticism that which brings vital force in dogmatic theology; those who have lived in seclusion, together with those who have shared in all the activities of the busy world, men and women, saints and seers, poets and craftsmen, all alike have declared unfalteringly that the soul, already in this life, can and does enter consciously into immediate relationship with God. Have they justified their claim?

From the Epilogue

An introduction to the history of mysticism
By
Margaret Smith
Gordon Press, New York
1976
Reprint of the 1930 edition published by the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.