in defense of the (non-) existence of god: the rationality of christian mystical theism

This essay explores the epistemological implications of a mystical interpretation of classical theism, particularly within the christian tradition. one of the core tenets of mystical theism is that god is neither an agent nor an object: god cannot be conceived as one object amongst many, no matter how powerful or unique we presume this divine object or agent to be. insofar as we speak of god as a being, we simply denote a caricature: a figment of human imagination that fails to map onto the divine in a meaningful way.this philosophical stance places christian mystics in an interesting position with regard to arguments for the existence of god. many standard theistic arguments, at least in their contemporary form, invoke god as the supreme agent whose existence and actions explain important aspects of reality (such as morality, meaning, and the existence of the universe). however, these arguments succumb to the objection that, insofar as they assume that god is an agent, they simply introduce god as one (albeit important) piece of the larger puzzle of reality, violating god’s otherness in the process. mystical theists therefore agree with peter winch’s claim that there is a grammatical difference between statements about god and statements about finite agents, and that this grammatical difference is often obscured in arguments about god’s existence (winch 1987). furthermore, mystical theism problematizes the use of the term existence in reference to god, as god cannot exist in the same way that anything or anyone else exists (weil 2002).mystical theism, however, does not categorically reject the legitimacy of arguments for god’s existence. instead, prominent mystical thinkers insist that, when contextualized within a proper philosophical framework, arguments for the existence of god can still have explanatory force (williams 2014). at their best, such arguments can neither conclude that the existence of god is a deductive certainty nor even a strong inductive probability, but can succeed in showing that mystical theism offers an interpretation of reality that is not only rationally compelling, but existentially attractive.in this essay, i will argue that christian mystical theism makes at least two valuable contributions to discussions of god’s existence: 1) christian mysticism scrutinizes our use of the terms “god” and “existence”, causing us to re-evaluate philosophical presuppositions that we often take for granted. in so doing, 2) christian mysticism shows that the meaning of terms like “theism” and “atheism” are not as straightforward as they initially appear. the first section of this essay explores christian mystical theism’s philosophy of god. the second section elaborates how mystical theists develop a rational defense of god’s existence within their philosophical framework. the third section draws together the main themes of the essay by examining the philosophy of simone weil. the final section delineates the clarifying role that mystical theism plays in discussions about theism, atheism, and the notion of god’s existence.