In Chapter 3 we saw a growing scepticism towards the legitimacy of mysticism in England. This originated from two different bodies of thought: those who saw mysticism as a symptom of melancholy and enthusiasm, and those who critiqued the historical validity of figures such as Pseudo-Dionysius and the pagan roots of the doctrines of mysticism. Both arguments were driven to some degree by the sectarian mysticism explored in Chapter 2. Here we see these concepts electrified by currents of Restoration anti-Catholicism and a latitudinarian emphasis on rationality as a key tenet of faith. Arguments over the validity of mysticism were swept up into much fiercer debates between the Benedictine Serenus Cressy and the Anglican divine Edward Stillingfleet concerning the role of rationality in religion, the origins of fanaticism and the validity of tradition as a source of doctrinal authority. These issues were symptomatic of a much larger concern for Protestants in England over the visible Catholic presence at the court of Charles II. As a result, mysticism was transformed into a tool with which some English Protestants could slander and invalidate their Catholic opponents in polemical debates. To practise mysticism, or even be accused of supporting a belief in mystical experience, was to be labelled as irrational, enthusiastic, and most importantly for those seeking to limit the influence of Catholics, potentially seditious.

The fallout from these debates cannot be understated. Mysticism was labelled as an anti-rational practice and something to be ridiculed and treat with the utmost suspicion. It was also attributed to an underlying and untreated melancholy which caused delusionary experiences. Those claiming mystical visions were mocked for being unable to see the underlying natural causes of their supposedly supernatural experiences. The debates between Cressy and Stillingfleet would continue to play a role in later discussions of mysticism, both by those attempting to validate mysticism and those attempting to dismiss it as delusional. As we explored in the Introduction to this book, Cressy's definition of mysticism as ‘a nearer, a more familiar, and beyond all expression comfortable conversation with God’ was one repeated in dictionaries and clerical handbooks in the seventeenth century.