Lessons from the abyss: Reflections on theology, mysticism and poetry in Rubem Alves

The bias against the mysticism of Brazilian historical Protestantism can be observed commonly at most of its churches and denominations. Contrary to this hegemonic model, this article brings up Rubem Alves as an author who enriched the tradition of liberation theology in Latin America, with a body of work that can be regarded as theopoetic. In its mystical aspect, protestant Rubem Alves' theology meets the privileged form of expression in poetry, that is, it finds a language that allows to express the spiritual experience of the mystery that takes place in the body. The mysticism that finds itself in Rubem Alves' theopoetics is characterized by an unconventional way to deal with the desire: without denying the body, he understands that human achievement supposes an asceticism of the desire, in other words, it is a process in which the experience of self as a desiring being is always strained by the perception of the original Void, the ineffable and unnamable Mystery that inhabits the depth of humanness, the depth of the soul. This article falls under the scope of the research on the language of religious experience, specifically related to the understanding of mysticism as a form of criticism. In order to reach the depth that this discussion deserves and to achieve the proposed epistemological objectives, this piece makes use of theoretical and qualitative approach, and it is based on research and study of selected bibliography and its supporting material.