Bridging Theology and Mysticism

For spiritual and mystical experiences within the Orthodox Christian tradition, once the true pattern and verifiable laws are fully understood, they cease to be mysterious. Furthermore, when expressed through rigorous theoretical frameworks, it becomes theology. Over the past six years, as a Christian scholar-practitioner under the religious authority of an American-Russian Orthodox Church in a suburban region of Greater Boston, along with some Protestant friends, we have conducted careful academic research on spiritual formation (Orthodox Hesychasm) in theories and practices that its empirical theory and methodology can be widely adopted, hoping to provide a stable resource beneficial to the development of Protestantism. Overall, we hope to establish a theological model that guides our Christian faith and spiritual practices, helping Protestant Christians and churches carry on the fine spiritual tradition. Currently, we have achieved encouraging preliminary results that combine theory and practice.

I. The Necessity of Establishing a Christian “Theology of Spiritual Realm”—Developing Unique Religious Resources

In 2007, in the book “The Future Direction of the Church in China,” published by a Beijing house church, I proposed the necessity of establishing a “theoretical system of the spiritual realm.” I made the case that for theology in this era to achieve a breakthrough, it must first achieve a constructive breakthrough in “Pneumatology.”¹ This reasoning and conception, since December 2019, has been increasingly affirmed through my friends’ and my own speculative and empirical exploration of Orthodox spiritual formation (Russian Hesychasm). In addition, I have obtained academic knowledge of spiritual formation resources from Dr. Zhang Baichun based on the groundbreaking research results of the Russian philosopher Sergey Khoruzhiy.²

The Orthodox spiritual formation and theology, especially the theory of Hesychasm developed by the 14th-century Byzantine-Greek theologian Palamas—that Christians can unite with God in God’s energy³—lays a solid foundation for the development of “pneumatology” (based on the New Testament) and the establishment of a theological system of the spiritual realm in this era. The significance of a theology on spiritual formation lies in its ability to rationally explain the mystical experiences of Christian practitioners and to establish and develop theories that can be repeatedly practiced and verified, guiding believers’ spiritual practices and understandings. Although the Holy Spirit inherently possesses the mysterious attribute of “the wind blows wherever it pleases (John 3:8),” there is still ample room for Christians to study and engage in the work of the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, “demonology” is also an indispensable component of “spiritual realm theology.” This study can be based on the Bible and the practical experience and theoretical teachings of famous desert fathers and mothers, such as the Life of Saint Anthony, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, and Saint Mary of Egypt.

II. The Significance of Constructing Mid-Level Theory—Connecting Academic Speculation and Personal Experience

In The Future Direction of the Church in China, I also proposed a new methodology for Christian theological research—a three-tiered theoretical model, including high-level theory, mid-level theory, and basic-level theory, corresponding to the paradigms of science, engineering, and technology, respectively.⁴ To establish theology (or even science) of Spiritual Realm, we also divide it into a structural model consisting of high-level, mid-level, and basic-level theories; among these, the mid-level theory is crucial, capable of leading to spiritual “chemical reactions.” For us, the practical methods and experiences of mystical spiritual formation in Orthodox tradition belong to basic-level theory. Reliable basic-level theory leads to the most attractive religious experiences and witnesses, while the mid-level theory is equivalent to the switch connecting the high-level and basic-level circuits.

For contemporary Christianity, there is an urgent need to develop the much-needed mid-level theology; this is more directly and profoundly felt in the field of missions. As American missiologist Paul Hiebert pointed out in his article “The Flaw of the Excluded Middle,” there is a missing link between the spiritual and material realms, or between divine resources and human needs.⁵ Christianity is not merely philosophical speculation, but a system of empirical knowledge based on “the Word becoming flesh plus Emmanuel,” and therefore requires the establishment of a structural mid-level theory to connect the theoretical and experiential ends. Regarding Hesychasm in Orthodox Christianity, although it already possesses high-level theory—Palamas’s theory—and basic-level theory—the Jesus Prayer—it also needs to construct a bridge-oriented mid-level theory to guide and generate a reliable intermediate link connecting academic theology and faith practice.

III. Learn from and Inherit Patrology—to Recover the Lost Memory of Collective Consciousness

What was the original intention of Martin Luther when he launched the Christian Reformation in 1517? As is well known, it was to cleanse the church from corruption and decadence and return to the model of the early church; therefore, Protestantism is also called Restorative Tradition. The early church, as a historical period, can be defined as beginning with Pentecost and ending with the Council of Chalcedon (451), or even extending to the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681). The theological system of this period is called Patristics (Patrology), primarily based on the Greek-speaking theological system. Over the past decade or so, urban house churches in China and Chinese churches in the United States have gradually shown interest in and begun studying Patristics.

This phenomenon of seeking connection with Patristics is a new development for Chinese churches. Simultaneously, the increased interest among evangelical Chinese Christian scholars in Orthodox spirituality before and after the COVID-19 pandemic is another facet of the same new development. Spiritual formation theology is a very important component of Patristics, as these Church Fathers often held the triple roles of monk, scholar, and pastor. For example, the six Greek Church Fathers and four Latin Church Fathers of the fourth century.⁶ The role of the Church Fathers is precisely to bridge academic theology and the faith practices of church members. Furthermore, studying and inheriting Patristics inevitably involves engaging with Protestant ecclesiology, thus providing an opportunity to return to the apostolic tradition of the early church—the great aspiration of the Christian Reformation, which, however, was hampered by the limited resources available outside the Latin Church tradition at the time.

Overcome the Challenges in this and Future Generations

In The Future Direction of the Church in China, I also mentioned the possibility of a second reformation for Protestantism—a reformation that maintains the foundations and strengths of existing Protestant denominations.⁷ It now appears that our exploration of the mid-level theory and practical applications of Orthodox spirituality, as well as the inheritance and study of Patristics by Chinese churches, are all contributing to this direction. In fact, in this era, the continued exploration of deeper Christian truths will bring many more blessings to churches and Christians from different orthodox traditions—therefore, this is a noble endeavor that respectfully transcends denominational traditions. After all, promoting the spread and development of Christian truth and civilization, engaging faithfully in spiritual “power encounter,”⁸ and glorifying the holy name of Jesus Christ are the common goals of all orthodox traditions and schools of thought.

Praise and blessings be to the Triune God.

1. “Chapter Three: The Chinese Church Needs Theological Construction and Development: III. A Theological System Adapted to the Development of the Chinese Church (2) The Responsibility and Development Direction of High-Level Theological Theory in This Era”:

   The breakthrough development of high-level theological theory in the future will undoubtedly be in the areas of ‘Pneumatology’ and the ‘System of Spiritual Realm Theory’. The basic approach to this development should undoubtedly come from the Bible, especially from the profound and rich revelatory knowledge system that can be obtained from the letters of John, the author of the Gospels. 

   Hsiao-guang, The Future Direction of the Churches in China (Boston: Chinese Christian Theological Association, 2010), 112–113.

2. Dr. Zhang Baichun is a renowned Chinese professor specializing in Russian Orthodox philosophy, teaching the spiritual formation tradition of Orthodox Hesychasm and Patristics. He has long studied and promoted Synergistic Anthropology – a new system of religious philosophy constructed by contemporary Russian scientist and philosopher Sergey Khoruzhiy, mainly based on research results of the spiritual practices of Russian Orthodox Hesychasm. 

   For more on Zhang Baichun, his research on Sergey Khoruzhiy, and Orthodox Hesychasm, see: https://humanities.hainanu.edu.cn/info/1599/13618.htm, https://phil.bnu.edu.cn/rdgz/131791.html.

3. St. Gregory Palamas—a 14th-century Byzantine-Greek Orthodox theologian and monk of Mount Athos, and later archbishop of Thessalonica, who studied and practiced the Hesychasm, defended the spiritual practices of Hesychasm on Mount Athos, and constructed a landmark high-level theory in his work Triads for the Defense of those Who Practice Sacred Quietude: Hesychasts unite with God through spiritual formation practice in God’s energy, not in His essence. 

   A. H. Amadio, “St. Gregory Palamas,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, January 31, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-Palamas.

    It should be noted that in the early 14th century, a monk from Mount Sinai, Gregory Sinaites (originally from Greece and a Cypriot monk), introduced the traditional hesychasm of Mount Sinai in “a moderate form” devised by him to Mount Athos. 

   See also Britannica Editors, “Gregory of Sinai,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, January 31, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gregory-of-Sinai.

4. “Chapter Three: The Chinese Church Needs Theological Construction and Development: III. A Theological System Adapted to the Development of the Chinese Church (2) The Responsibility and Development Direction of High-Level Theological Theory in This Era”: 

   Here, it is necessary for us to divide the theological system into three components: high-level theory, middle-level theory, and basic-level theory. . . . In many disciplines, we can use this model to categorize their theoretical systems. In science, politics, religion, education, economics, law, and military affairs, all are systems composed of these three levels of theory. For most people, middle-level theory is the most attractive. The same is true for theology. (For example, the content system of this book belongs to middle-level theory).

   Hsiao-guang, The Future Direction of the Churches in China, 102–103.

5. “The Excluded Middle”— a theory by the renowned American missiologist Paul Hiebert, referring to the neglect by Western (Latin tradition) Christianity of the spiritual realm between God and humanity—the connecting link between divinity and humanity. In this article’s theory, Christianity lacks the structural relationship between spirituality and materials. In short, his “excluded middle” corresponds to the lack for my “mid-level theory”. 

   Paul G. Hiebert, “The Flaw of the Excluded Middle,” in Missiology: An International Review 10, no. 1 (January 1982): 46.

6. The Greek Church Fathers include: the three Cappadocian Fathers who developed the “Trinity” theology of the Nicene-Constantinople Creed, referring to three Greek theological masters from this eastern region of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, all of whom were monks and church leaders: Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea; Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s brother; and Gregory of Nazianzus, Archbishop of Constantinople. In addition, there were earlier figures from the Greek-speaking dioceses of the region, such as Athanasius of Alexandria, Bishop of Alexandria; John Chrysostom of Antioch (later Archbishop of Constantinople); and John of Damascus (6th-7th century), considered the last of the Greek Church Fathers.

   Although the church was administratively centered in Constantinople, the official capital of the Roman Empire, and especially after the first four ecumenical councils held in the eastern part of the empire (along the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea), the Greek Church Fathers’ theological system predominated, but around the same time, due to the work of the same Holy Spirit, four great Church Fathers also emerged in the Latin-speaking churches in the western part of the empire: Augustine of Hippo in North Africa; Ambrose of Milan in Italy; Jerome of Illyria (translator of the Vulgate Latin version of the Bible; modern-day Croatia/Slovenia); and Pope Gregory I of Rome (known as a “Doctor of the Church”).

7. “Chapter Four: The Institutional Reforms Needed by the Chinese Church: IV. The Chinese Church Moving Towards an Invisible Grand Union; Chapter Summary”:

   If the Chinese church can implement the systemic reforms discussed in this chapter, the potential unleashed will be immeasurable, and its prospects are full of hope, leading inevitably to revival and complete victory. Perhaps Martin Luther’s church reform in the 16th century was not thorough, thus requiring a second reform, and this church reform should be completed first in the Chinese church. This reform is mainly manifested in the new development of church systems and theological thought. This may be the reason why God has delayed granting religious freedom to China, because once China gains freedom, foreign church systems and theological thought systems will flood in, just like during the period from 1840 to 1949, leaving the Chinese church with no freedom for reform; however, this is not what God desires.

   Hsiao-guang, The Future Direction of the Churches in China, 197.

8. In 1974, the global evangelical movement, led by American churches, held its first Lausanne Conference in Switzerland. The consensus declaration of this conference, specifically Article 12, “Spiritual Warfare,” stated the following:

   We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization. We know our need to equip ourselves with God’s armor and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer.

   Lausanne Movement, The Lausanne Covenant, sec. 12, “Spiritual Warfare,” accessed April 21, 2026, https://lausanne.org/statement/lausanne-covenant.

   In 1989, the Second Lausanne Conference was held in Manila, resulting in 21 declarations, of which Article 11 stated:

   We affirm that spiritual warfare demands spiritual weapons, and that we must both preach the Word in the power of the Spirit, and pray constantly that we may enter into Christ’s victory over the principalities and powers of evil.

   In the detailed explanation that follows, item 5 of the “The Whole Church” section emphasizes the need to rely on the work of the Holy Spirit and suggests that “[e]very true conversion involves a power encounter, in which the superior authority of Jesus Christ is demonstrated.” 

   See also The Manila Manifesto, sec. 11, “Spiritual Warfare,” accessed April 21, 2026, https://lausanne.org/statement/the-manila-manifesto.