Abstract
In this paper we examine as a theme the relationship which obtains between mysticism and social change in the modern Western world. Contrary to classical depictions (Troeltsch, 1910, 1931; Weber, 1946, 1963), we contend that mysticism has positive ramifications for extant social relationships; that, in fact, it can and does actively impinge upon the social milieu. The time is ripe to move beyond conventional
wisdom in the sociological study of mysticism—which has characterized the mystic as escapist, life-denying and “other-worldly”—to present a more accurate assessment of the role of mysticism in the modern world. It is our task in part, therefore, to offer a brief review of three seminal perspectives in the sociology of Ernst Troeltsch, Max Weber and, more recently, Roland Robertson. From there, we seek to ascertain the adequacy of their typologies in light of the social regenerative efforts of a prominent recent proponent of mysticism, Howard Thurman.