"A religion without mystery must be a religion without God"

Jeremy Taylor’s assertion, “A religion without mystery must be a religion without God,” explores the inherent complexity of the divine and the essential place of mystery within genuine religious experience. The concept of God, across traditions and epochs, is inexorably linked to transcendence, qualities and powers beyond human comprehension. If a religion were to fully explain every aspect of the divine, to reduce it to nothing but plain reason or methodical understanding, then the awe and reverence that inspire devotion would be lost.

The presence of mystery does not denote ignorance but humility before the infinite. Religious traditions employ symbols, rituals, stories, and doctrines as attempts to point toward truths that ultimately surpass language and intellect. God, or the ultimate reality in many traditions, is regarded as immeasurably above human faculties. If one could explain the entirety of God’s being, actions, and will, the divine would cease to be worthy of worship and instead become just another element within the order of things, comprehensible, predictable, even mundane. Mystery, therefore, preserves the distance between human and divine, maintaining the sacredness of divine nature and the limits of human reason.

Many religious thinkers, mystics, and philosophers emphasize mystery as central to spiritual life. Encounters with the numinous, those moments of profound awe, fear, fascination, and wonder, reveal the depths of divine mystery and move individuals toward greater humility and openness. The unknowability of God does not discourage faith; rather, it invites deeper contemplation, worship, and trust.

Removing mystery eradicates the very foundation upon which faith is built. Faith is not mere assent to facts but a trust and surrender before what is partly veiled and elusive. Thus, a fully ‘demystified’ religion risks losing its connection to the transcendent, and, as Taylor suggests, could become a mere ethical or cultural system, no longer anchored in the encounter with the mysterious divine.