Theologia Germanica
Which
setteth forth many fair Lineaments of
divine Truth, and saith very lofty and
lovely things touching a
perfect life
Edited by Dr. Peiffer
Translated by Susanna
Winkworth
Scanned by John H. Richards (jhr@elidor.demon.co.uk), March 1995
This work was discovered and published in
1516 by Martin Luther, who said of it that “Next to the Bible and St.
Augustine, no book has ever come into my hands from which I have learnt more of
God and Christ, and man and all things that are.” It has since appealed to
Christians of all persuasions.
Which
setteth forth many fair Lineaments of
divine Truth, and saith very lofty and
lovely things touching a
perfect life
EDITED BY DR. PEIFFER FROM
THE ONLY
COMPLETE MANUSCRIPT YET KNOWN
Translated from the German by
Susanna Winkworth
With a Preface by the Rev. Charles Kingsley
Rector of Eversley, and a Letter to the Translator by the
Chevalier Bunsen, D.D., D.C.L., etc.
First published as a volume of the Golden Treasury Series in 1874. New Edition 1893
Reprinted 1901, 1907
Scanned from the 1893
Golden Treasury Series edition
by John H. Richards (jhr@elidor.demon.co.uk), March 1995
Introductory material
scanned from the 1907 reprint
by Harry Plantinga (W.H.Plantinga@wheaton.edu), 1996
This electronic text is in the public domain
This work was discovered and published in
1516 by Martin Luther, who said of it that “Next to the Bible and St.
Augustine, no book has ever come into my hands from which I have learnt more of
God and Christ, and man and all things that are.” It has since appealed to
Christians of all persuasions.
STRONG Son of God, Immortal Love,
Whom we, that have not seen Thy face,
By faith, and faith alone embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove.
* * * * *
Thou seemest human and divine,
The highest, holiest manhood Thou;
Our wills are ours, we know not how,
Our wills are ours to make them Thine.
* * * * *
O Living Will that shalt endure,
When all that seems shall suffer shock
Rise in the spiritual Rock,
Flow through our deeds and make them pure.
* * * * *
That we may lift, from out the dust,
A voice as unto Him that hears,
A cry above the conquered years,
To one that with us works, and trust
* * * * *
With faith that comes of self‑control
The truths that never can be proved,
Until we close with all we loved
find all we flow from, soul in soul.
TENNYSON.
PREFACE
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
LETTER FROM CHEVALIER BUNSEN TO THE TRANSLATOR
THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
CHAPTER
I. Of that which is perfect and that
which is in part, and how that which is in part is done away, when that which
is perfect is come.
CHAPTER
II. Of what Sin is, and how we must not
take unto ourselves any good Thing, seeing that it belongeth unto the true Good
alone.
CHAPTER
III. How Man's Fall and going astray
must be amended as Adam's Fall was.
CHAPTER
IV. How Man, when he claimeth any good Thing for his own, falleth, and toucheth
God in His Honour.
CHAPTER
V. How we are to take that Saying, that
we must come to be without Will, Wisdom, Love, Desire, Knowledge, and the like.
CHAPTER
VI. How that which is best and noblest should also be loved above all Things by
us, merely because it is the best.
CHAPTER
VII. Of the Eyes of the Spirit wherewith Man looketh into Eternity and into
Time, and how the one is hindered of the other in its Working.
CHAPTER
VIII. How the Soul of Man, while it is
yet in the Body, may obtain a Foretaste of eternal Blessedness.
CHAPTER
IX. How it is better and more
profitable for a Man that he should perceive what God will do with him, or to
what end He will make Use of him, than if he knew all that Gad had ever
wrought, or would ever work through all the Creatures; and how Blessedness
lieth alone in God, and not in the Creatures, or in any Works.
CHAPTER
X. How the perfect Men have no other
Desire than that they may be to the Eternal Goodness what His Hand is to a Man,
and how they have lost the Fear of Hell, and Hope of Heaven.
CHAPTER
XI. How a righteous Man in this present
Time is brought into hell, and there cannot be comforted, and how he is taken
out of Hell and carried into Heaven, and there cannot be troubled.
CHAPTER
XII. Touching that true inward Peace,
which Christ left to His Disciples at the last.
CHAPTER
XIII. How a Man may cast aside Images
too soon.
CHAPTER
XIV. Of three Stages by which a Man is
led upwards till he attaineth true Perfection.
CHAPTER
XV. How all Men are dead in Adam and
are made alive again in Christ, and of true Obedience and Disobedience.
CHAPTER
XVI. Telleth us what is the old Man,
and what is the new Man.
CHAPTER
XVII. How we are not to take unto
ourselves what we have done well: but only what we have done amiss.
CHAPTER
XVIII. How that the Life of Christ is
the noblest and best Life that ever hath been or can be, and how a careless
Life of false Freedom is the worst Life that can be.
CHAPTER
XIX. How we cannot come to the true
Light and Christ's Life, by much Questioning or Reading, or by high natural
Skill and Reason, but by truly renouncing ourselves and all Things.
CHAPTER
XX. How, seeing that the Life of Christ
is most bitter to Nature and Self, Nature will have none of it, and chooseth a
false careless Life, as is most convenient to her.
CHAPTER
XXI. How a friend of Christ willingly
fulfilleth by his outward Works, such Things as must be and ought to be, and
doth not concern himself with the rest.
CHAPTER
XXII. How sometimes the Spirit of God,
and sometimes also the Evil Spirit may possess a Man and have the mastery over
him.
CHAPTER
XXIlI. He who will submit himself to
God and be obedient to Him, must be ready to bear with all Things; to wit, God,
himself, and all Creatures, and must be obedient to them all whether he have to
suffer or to do.
CHAPTER
XXIV. How that four Things are needful
before a Man can receive divine Truth and be possessed with the Spirit of God.
CHAPTER
XXV. Of two evil Fruits that do spring up from the Seed of the Evil Spirit, and
are two Sisters who love to dwell together. The one is called spiritual Pride
and Highmindedness, the other is false, lawless Freedom.
CHAPTER
XXVI. Touching Poorness of Spirit and
true Humility and whereby we may discern the true and lawful free Men whom the
Truth hath made free.
CHAPTER
XXVII. How we are to take Christ's
Words when He bade forsake all Things; and wherein the Union with the Divine
Will standeth.
CHAPTER
XXVIII. How, after a Union with the
Divine Will, the inward Man standeth immoveable, the while the outward Man is
moved hither and thither.
CHAPTER
XXIX. How a Man may not attain so high
before Death as not to be moved or touched by outward Things.
CHAPTER
XXX. On what wise we may came to be
beyond and above all Custom, Order, Law, Precepts and the like.
CHAPTER
XXXI. How we are not to cast off the
Life of Christ, but practise it diligently, and walk in it until Death
CHAPTER
XXXII. How God is a true, simple,
perfect Good, and how He is a Light and a Reason and all Virtues, and how what
is highest and best, that is, God, ought to be most loved by us.
CHAPTER
XXXIII. How when a Man is made truly
Godlike, his Love is pure and unmixed, and he loveth all Creatures, and doth
his best for them.
CHAPTER
XXXIV. How that if a Man will attain to
that which is best, he must forswear his own Will; and he who helpeth a Man to
his own Will helpeth him to the worst Thing he can.
CHAPTER
XXXV. How there is deep and true Humility and Poorness of Spirit in a Man who
is “made a Partaker of the Divine Nature.”
CHAPTER
XXXVI. How nothing is contrary to God
but Sin only; and what Sin is in Kind and Act.
CHAPTER
XXXVII. How in God, as God, there can
neither be Grief, Sorrow, Displeasure, nor the like, but how it is otherwise in
a Man who is “made a Partaker of the Divine Nature.”
CHAPTER
XXXVIII. How we are to put on the Life
of Christ from Love, and not for the sake of Reward, and how we must never grow
careless concerning it, or cast it off.
CHAPTER
XXXIX. How God will have Order, Custom,
Measure, and the like in the Creature, seeing that He cannot have them without
the Creature, and of four sorts of Men who are concerned with this Order, Law,
and Custom.
CHAPTER
XL. A good Account of the False Light
and its Kind.
CHAPTER
XLI. Now that he is to be called, and
is truly, a Partaker of the Divine Nature, who is illuminated with the Divine
Light, and inflamed with Eternal Love, and how Light and Knowledge are worth
nothing without Love.
CHAPTER
XLII. A Question: whether we can know God and not love Him, and how there are
two kinds of Light and Love -- a true and a false.
CHAPTER
XLIII. Whereby we may know a Man who is
made a partaker of the divine Nature, and what belongeth unto him; and further,
what is the token of a False Light, and a False Free-Thinker.
CHAPTER
XLIV. How nothing is contrary to God
but Self-will and how he who seeketh his own Good for his own sake, findeth it
not; and how a Man of himself neither knoweth nor can do any good Thing.
CHAPTER
XLV. How that where there is a
Christian Life, Christ dwelleth, and how Christ's Life is the best and most
admirable Life that ever hath been or can be.
CHAPTER
XLVI. How entire Satisfaction and true
Rest are to be found in God alone, and not in any Creature; and how he who Will
be obedient unto God, must also be obedient to the Creatures, with all
Quietness, and he who would love God, must love all Things in One.
CHAPTER
XLVII. A Question: Whether, if we ought
to love all Things, we ought to love Sin also?
CHAPTER
XLVIII. How we must believe certain Things
of God's Truth beforehand, ere we can come to a true Knowledge and Experience
thereof.
CHAPTER
XLIX. Of Self-will, and how Lucifer and
Adam fell away from God through Self-will.
CHAPTER
L. How this present Time is a Paradise
and outer Court of Heaven, and how therein there is only one Tree forbidden,
that is, Self-will.
CHAPTER
LI. Wherefore God hath created
Self-will, seeing that it is so contrary to Him.
CHAPTER
LII. How we must take those two Sayings
of Christ: “No Man cometh unto the Father, but by Me,” and “No Man cometh unto
Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.”
CHAPTER
LIII. Considereth that other saying of
Christ, “No Man can come unto Me, except the Father, which hath sent Me, draw
him.”
CHAPTER
LIV. How a Man shall not seek his own,
either in Things spiritual or natural but the Honour of God only; and how he
must enter in by the right Door, to wit, by Christ, into Eternal Life.
TO those who really hunger
and thirst after righteousness; and who therefore long to know what
righteousness is, that they may copy it: To those who long to be freed, not
merely from the punishment of sin after they die, but from sin itself while
they live on earth; and who therefore wish to know what sin is, that they may
avoid it: To those who wish to be really justified by faith, by being made just
persons by faith; and who cannot satisfy either their consciences or reasons by
fancying that God looks on them as right, when they know themselves to be
wrong, or that the God of truth will stoop to fictions (miscalled forensic)
which would be considered false and unjust in any human court of law: To those
who cannot help trusting that union with Christ must be something real and
substantial, and not merely a metaphor, and a flower of rhetoric: To those,
lastly, who cannot help seeing that the doctrine of Christ in every man, as the
Indwelling Word of God, The Light who lights every one who comes into the world,
is no peculiar tenet of the Quakers, but one which runs through the whole of
the Old and New Testaments, and without which they would both be
unintelligible, just as the same doctrine runs through the whole history of the
Early Church for the first two centuries, and is the only explanation of them;
To all these this noble little book will recommend
itself; and may God bless the reading of it to them, and to all others no less.
As for its orthodoxy; to “evangelical” Christians
Martin Luther's own words ought to be sufficient warrant. For he has said that
he owed more to this, than to any other book, saving the Bible and Saint
Augustine. Those, on the other hand, to whom Luther's name does not seem a
sufficient guarantee, must recollect, that the Author of this book was a knight
of the Teutonic order; one who considered himself, and was considered, as far
as we know, by his contemporaries, an orthodox member of the Latin Church; that
his friends and disciples were principally monks exercising a great influence
in the Catholic Church of their days; that one of their leaders was appointed
by Pope John XXII. Nuncio and overseer of the Dominican order in Germany; and
that during the hundred and seventy years which elapsed between the writing of
this book and the Reformation, it incurred no ecclesiastical censure
whatsoever, in generations which were but too fond of making men offenders for
a word.
Not that I agree with all which is to be found in
this book. It is for its noble views of righteousness and of sin that I honour
it, and rejoice at seeing it published in English, now for the first time from
an edition based on the perfect manuscript. But even in those points in which I
should like to see it altered, I am well aware that there are strong
authorities against me. The very expression, for instance, which most startles
me, “vergottet,” deified or made divine, is used, word for word, both by
Saint Athanase and Saint Augustine, the former of whom has said: “He became
man, that we might be made God;”[1]
and the latter, “He called men Gods, as being deified by His grace, not as born
of His substance.”[2] There are
many passages, moreover, in the Epistles of the Apostles, which, if we
paraphrase them at all, we can hardly paraphrase in weaker words. It seems to
me safer and wiser to cling to the letter of Scripture: but God forbid that I
should wish to make such a man as the Author of the Theologia Germanica an
offender for a word!
One point more may be worthy of remark. In many
obscure passages of this book, words are used, both by the Author and by the
Translator, in their strict, original, and scientific meaning, as they are used
in the Creeds, and not in that meaning which has of late crept into our very
pulpits, under the influence of Locke's philosophy. When, for instance, it is
said that God is the Substance of all things; this expression, in the
vulgar Lockite sense of substance, would mean that God is the matter or stuff
of which all things are made; which would be the grossest Pantheism: but
“Substance” in the true and ancient meaning of the word, as it appears in the
Athanasian Creed, signifies the very opposite; namely, that which stands
under the appearance and the matter; that by virtue of which a thing has
its form, its life, its real existence, as far as it may have any; and thus in
asserting that God is the substance of all things, this book means that
everything (except sin, which is no thing, but the disease and fall of a thing)
is a thought of God.
So again with Eternity. It will be found in this
book to mean not merely some future endless duration, but that ever‑present
moral world, governed by ever-living and absolutely necessary laws, in which we
and all spirits are now; and in which we should be equally, whether time and
space, extension and duration, and the whole material universe to which they
belong, became nothing this moment, or lasted endlessly.
I think it necessary to give these cautions, because
by the light of Locke's philosophy, little or nothing will be discerned in this
book, and what little is discerned will probably be utterly misunderstood. If
any man wishes to see clearly what is herein written, let him try to forget all
popular modern dogmas and systems, all popular philosophies (falsely so
called), and be true to the letter of his Bible, and to the instincts which the
Indwelling Word of God was wont to awaken in his heart, while he was yet a
little unsophisticated child; and then let him be sure that he will find in
this book germs of wider and deeper wisdom than its good author ever dreamed
of; and that those great spiritual laws, which the Author only applies, and
that often inconsistently, to an ascetic and passively contemplative life, will
hold just as good in the family, in the market, in the senate, in the study,
ay, in the battlefield itself; and teach him the way to lead, in whatsoever
station of life he may be placed, a truly manlike, because a truly Christlike
and Godlike, life.
CHARLES
KINGSLEY.
Torquay,
Lent,
1854.
BY THE
TRANSLATOR
THE Treatise before us was
discovered by Luther, who first brought it into notice by an Edition of it
which he published in 1516. A Second Edition, which came out two years later,
he introduced with the following Preface: --
“We read that St. Paul, though he was of a weak and
contemptible presence, yet wrote weighty and powerful letters, and he boasts of
himself that his 'speech is not with enticing words of man's device,' but 'full
of the riches of all knowledge and wisdom.' And if we consider the wondrous
ways of God, it is clear, that He hath never chosen mighty and eloquent
preachers to speak His word, but as it is written: 'Out of the mouths of babes
and sucklings hast thou perfected praise,' Ps. 8:2. And again, 'For wisdom
opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of them that cannot speak
eloquent,' Wisdom 10:21. Again, He blameth such as are high‑minded and
are offended at these simple ones. Consilium inopis, etc. 'Ye have made
a mock at the counsel of the poor, because he putteth his trust in the Lord,'
Ps. 14:6.
“This I say because I will have every one warned who
readeth this little book, that he should not take offence, to his own hurt, at
its bad German, or its crabbed and uncouth words. For this noble book, though
it be poor and rude in words, is so much the richer and more precious in
knowledge and divine wisdom. And I will say, though it be boasting of myself
and 'I speak as a fool,' that next to the Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath
ever come into my hands, whence I have learnt, or would wish to learn more of
what God, and Christ, and man and all things are; and now I first find the
truth of what certain of the learned have said in scorn of us theologians of
Wittemberg, that we would be thought to put forward new things, as though there
had never been men elsewhere and before our time. Yea, verily, there have been
men, but God's wrath, provoked by our sins, hath not judged us worthy to see
and hear them; for it is well known that for a long time past such things have
not been treated of in our universities; nay, it has gone so far, that the Holy
Word of God is not only laid on the shelf, but is almost mouldered away with
dust and moths. Let as many as will, read this little book, and then say
whether Theology is a new or an old thing among us; for this book is not new.
But if they say as before, that we are but German theologians, we will not deny
it. I thank God, that I have heard and found my God in the German tongue, as
neither I nor they have yet found Him in the Latin, Greek, or Hebrew tongue.
God grant that this book may be spread abroad, then we shall find that the
German theologians are without doubt the best theologians.
(Signed, without date,)
“Dr.
MARTIN LUTHER,
AUGUSTINIAN
of Wittemberg.
These words of Luther will probably be considered to
form a sufficient justification for an attempt to present the Theologia
Germanica in an English dress. When Luther sent it forth, its effort to
revive the consciousness of spiritual life was received with enthusiasm by his
fellow‑countrymen, in whom that life was then breaking with volcanic
energy through the clods of formalism and hypocrisy, with which the Romish
Church had sought to stifle its fires. No fewer than seventeen editions of the
work appeared during the lifetime of Luther. Up to the present day, it has
continued to be a favourite handbook of devotion in Germany, where it has
passed through certainly as many as sixty Editions, and it has also been widely
circulated in France and the Netherlands, by means of Latin, French, and
Flemish translations.
To the question, who was the author of a book which
has exerted so great an influence? no answer can be given, all the various
endeavours to discover him having proved fruitless. Till within the last few
years, Luther was our sole authority for the text of the work, but, about 1850,
a manuscript of it was discovered at Wurtzburg, by Professor Reuss, the
librarian of the University there, which has since been published verbatim by
Professor Pfeiffer of Prague. This Manuscript dates from 1497; consequently it
is somewhat older than Luther's time, and it also contains some passages not
found in his editions. As, upon careful comparison, it seemed to the translator
indisputably superior to the best modern editions based upon Luther's, it has
been selected as the groundwork of the present translation, merely correcting
from the former, one or two passages which appeared to contain errors of the
press, or more likely of the transcriber's pen. The passages not found in
Luther's edition are here enclosed between brackets.
As has been stated, the author of the Theologia
Germanica is unknown; but it is evident from his whole cast of
thought, as well as from a Preface attached to the Wurtzburg Manuscript, that
he belonged to a class of men who sprang up in Southern Germany at the
beginning of the fourteenth century, and who were distinguished for their
earnest piety and their practical belief in the presence of the Spirit of God
with all Christians, laity as well as clergy.
These men had fallen upon evil times. Their age was
not indeed one of those periods in which the vigour of the nobler powers of the
soul is enfeebled by the abundance of material prosperity and physical
enjoyment, nor yet one of those in which they are utterly crushed out under the
hoof of oppression and misery; but it was an age in which conflicting elements
were wildly struggling for the mastery. The highest spiritual and temporal
authorities were at deadly strife with each other and among themselves; and in
their contests, there were few provinces or towns that did not repeatedly
suffer the horrors of war. The desolation caused by its ravages was however
speedily repaired during the intervals of peace, by the extraordinary energy
which the German nation displayed in that bloom of its manhood; so that times
of deep misery and great prosperity rapidly alternated with each other. But on
the whole, during the first half of this century, the sense of the calamities,
which were continually recurring, predominated over the recollection of the
calmer years, which were barely sufficient to allow breathing time between the
successive waves that threatened to overwhelm social order and happiness.
The unquestioning faith and honest enthusiasm which
had prompted the Crusades, no longer burnt with the same fierce ardour, for the
unhappy issue of those sacred enterprises, and the scandalous worldly ambition
of the heads of the Church, had moderated its fervour and saddened the hearts
of true believers. Yet the one Catholic, Christian creed still held an
undivided and very real sovereignty over men's minds, and the supremacy of the
Church in things spiritual was never questioned, though many were beginning to
feel that it was needful for the State to have an independent authority in
things temporal, and the question was warmly agitated how much of the spiritual
authority resided in the Pope and how much in the bishops and doctors of the
Church. But in whichever way the dispute between these rival claims might be
adjusted, the reverence for the office of the clergy remained
unimpaired. The case was very different with the reverence for their persons,
which had fallen to a very low ebb, owing to the worldliness and immorality
of their lives. This again was much encouraged by the conduct of the Popes,
who, in their zeal to establish worldly dominion, made ecclesiastical
appointments rather with a view to gain political adherents, or to acquire
wealth by the sale of benefices, than with a regard to the fitness of the men
selected, or the welfare of the people committed to their charge.
On the whole, it was an age of faith, though by no
means of a blind, unreasoning taking things for granted. On the contrary, the
evidences of extreme activity of mind meet us on every hand, in the monuments
of its literature, architecture, and invention. A few facts strikingly
illustrate the divergent tendencies of thought and public opinion. Thus we may
remember, how it was currently reported that the profligate Pope Boniface VIII.
was privately an unbeliever, even deriding the idea of the immortality of the
soul, at the very time when he was maintaining against Philip the Fair, the
right of the Pope to sit, as Christ's representative, in judgment on the living
and the dead, and to take the sword of temporal power out of the hands of those
who misused it.[3] Whether this
accusation was true or not, it is a remarkable sign of the times that it should
have been widely believed.
Some years later, and when the increased corruptness
of the clergy, after the removal of the Papal Court to Avignon, provoked still
louder complaints, we see the religious and patriotic Emperor, Louis IV.,
accusing John XXII. of heresy, in a public assembly held in the square of St.
Peter's at Rome, and setting up another Pope “in order to please the Roman
people.” But though the new Pope was every way fitted, by his unblemished
character and ascetic manners, to gain a hold on public esteem, we see that the
Emperor could not maintain him against the legitimately elected Pope, who, from
his seat at Avignon, had power to harass the Emperor so greatly with his
interdicts, that the latter, finding all efforts at conciliation fruitless,
would have bought peace by unconditional submission, had not the Estates of the
Empire refused to yield to such humiliation. Yet we find this very Pope obliged
to yield and retract his opinions on a point of dogmatic theology. He had in a
certain treatise propounded the opinion that the souls of the pious would not
be admitted to the immediate vision of the Deity until after the day of
judgment. The King of France, in 1333, called an assembly of Prelates and
theologians at his palace at Vincennes, where he invited them to discuss before
him the two questions, whether the souls of departed saints would be admitted
to an immediate vision of the Deity before the resurrection; and whether, if
so, their vision would be of the same or of a different kind after the Judgment
Day? The theological faculty having come to conclusions differing in some
respects from those of the Pope, the King threatened the latter with the stake
as a heretic, unless he retracted; and John XXII. issued a bull, declaring that
what he had said or written, ought only to be received in so far as it agreed
with the Catholic Faith, the Church and Holy Scripture. No circumstance,
perhaps, offers a more remarkable spectacle to us in its contrast with the
spirit of our own times. At the present moment, when the Pope could not sit for
a day in safety on his temporal throne without the defence of French or
Austrian bayonets, we can scarcely conceive an Emperor of France or Austria
taking upon himself to convene an assembly of Catholic theologians, and the
latter pronouncing a censure on the dogmas propounded by the Head of the
Church! It would be hard to say whether the Sovereigns of the present day would
be more amused by the absurdity of devoting their time to such discussions, or
the consciences of good Catholics more shocked at the presumption of such a
verdict.
Still it must not be forgotten that the importance
of religious affairs in that age must not be ascribed too exclusively to
earnestness about religion itself, for the ecclesiastical interest predominated
over the purely religious. The Pope and the Emperor represented the two great
antagonistic powers, spiritual and temporal, the rivalry between which absorbed
into itself all the political and social questions that could then be agitated.
The question of allegiance to the Pope or the Emperor was like the contest
between royalism and republicanism; the Ghibelline called himself a patriot,
and was called by his adversary, the Guelf, a worldly man or even an infidel,
while he retorted by calling the Guelf a betrayer of his country, and an enemy
of national liberties.
We cannot help seeing, however, that in those days
both princes and people, wicked as their lives often were, did really believe
in the Christian religion, and that while much of the mythological and much of
the formalistic element mingled in their zeal for outward observances, there
was also much thoroughly sincere enthusiasm among them. But both the two great
powers oppressed the people, which looked alternately to the one side or the
other for emancipation from the particular grievances felt to be most galling
at any given moment or place. In the frightful moral and physical condition of
society, it was no wonder that a despair of Providence should have begun to
attack some minds, which led to materialistic scepticism, while others sought
for help on the path of wild speculation. The latter appears to have been the
case with the Beghards or “Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit,” who
attempted to institute a reform by withdrawing the people altogether from the
influence of the clergy, but whose followers after a time too often fell into
the vices of the priests from whom they had separated themselves. In 1317, we
find the Bishop of Ochsenstein complaining that Alsace was filled with these
Beghards, who appear to have been a kind of antinomian pantheists, teaching
that the Spirit is bound by no law, and annihilating the distinction between
the Creator and the creature. Both in their excellences and defects they remind
us of the modern “German Catholics,” and of some, too, of the recent Protestant
schools in Germany. There seems to have been no party of professed unbelievers,
but that some individuals were such in word as well as deed, appears from what
Ruysbroch of Brussels,[4]
(1300-1330) says of those “who live in mortal sin, not troubling themselves
about God or His grace, but thinking virtue sheer nonsense, and the spiritual
life hypocrisy or delusion; and hearing with disgust all mention of God or
virtue, for they are persuaded that there is no such thing as God, or Heaven,
or Hell; for they acknowledge nothing but what is palpable to the senses.”
The early part of the fourteenth century saw Germany
divided for nine years between the rival claims of two Emperors, Frederick of
Austria, supported by Pope John XXII. and a faction in Germany, and Louis of
Bavaria, whose cause was espoused by a majority of the princes of the Empire,
as that of the defender of the dignity and independence of the State, and the
champion of reform within the Church. The death of Frederick, in 1322, left
Louis the undisputed Emperor, as far as nearly all his subjects were concerned,
and he would fain have purchased peace with the Pope on any reasonable terms,
that he might apply himself to the internal improvement of his dominions; but
John XXII. was implacable, and continued to wage against him and his adherents
a deadly warfare, not closed until his successor Charles IV. submitted to all
the papal demands, and to every indignity imposed upon him.
One of the most fearful consequences of the enmity
between John XXII. and Louis of Bavaria, to the unfortunate subjects of the
latter, was the Interdict under which his dominions were laid in 1324, and from
which some places, distinguished for their loyalty to the Emperor, were not
relieved for six‑and-twenty years. Louis, indeed, desired his subjects to
pay no regard to the bull of excommunication, and most of the laity, especially
of the larger towns, would gladly have obeyed him in spite of the Pope; but the
greater part of the bishops and clergy held with their spiritual head, and thus
the inhabitants of Strasburg, Nuremberg, and other cities, where the civil
authorities sided with the Emperor, and the clergy with the Pope, were left
year after year without any religious privileges; for public worship ceased,
and all the business of life went on without the benedictions of the Church, no
rite being allowed but baptism and extreme unction.
After this had lasted sixteen years, the Emperor,
wishing to relieve the anguished consciences of his people, issued, in
conjunction with the Princes of the Empire, a great manifesto to all
Christendom, refuting the Pope's accusations against him, maintaining that he who
had been legally chosen by the Electors was, in virtue thereof, the rightful
Emperor, and had received his dignity from God, and proclaiming that all who
denied this were guilty of high treason; that therefore none should be allowed
any longer to observe the Interdict, and all who should continue to do so,
whether communities or individuals, should be deprived of every civil and
ecclesiastical right and privilege. This courageous edict found a response in
the heart of the nation, and public opinion continually declared itself more
strongly on the side of the Emperor. Yet on the whole it rather increased the
general anarchy; for in many places the priests and monks were steadfast in
their allegiance to the Pope, and, refusing to administer public service, were
altogether banished from the towns, and the churches and convents closed. In
Strasburg, for instance, where the regular clergy had long since ceased to
perform religious rites, the Dominicans and Franciscans had continued to preach
and perform mass; but now they too, frightened by the Edict, which placed them
in direct opposition to the Pope, dared no longer to disregard the renewed
sentence of excommunication hanging over them, and refusing to read mass, were
expelled by the Town Council. Many of these banished clergy wandered about in
great distress, with difficulty finding refuge among the scattered rural
population, and the sufferings they endured proved the sincerity of their
conscientious scruples. Some few, either from worldly motives, or out of pity
for the people, remained at their posts. The former indeed throve by the
miseries of their fellow‑creatures, driving a usurious trade in the
famine of spiritual consolation; for it is upon record, that in time of
pestilence, the price of shrift has been as much as sixty florins!
The spectacle of such discord between the clergy and
the laity was something unspeakably shocking to the Christian world in that
age, and the energetic proceedings of the magistracy must have utterly
staggered the faith of many. Of all the events that were stirring up men's
passions and energies, none was more calculated to move their souls to the very
centre, than to find themselves compelled to stand up in arms against those
whom they had been wont to bow down before, and to reverence as the source of
those spiritual blessings, for the sake of which they were now driven in
desperation to take this awful step.
To these political and religious dissensions were
added, in process of time, other miseries. After it had been preceded by
earthquakes, hurricanes and famine, the Black Death broke out, spreading terror
and desolation through Southern Europe. Men saw in these frightful calamities
the judgments of God, but looked in vain for any to show them a way of
deliverance and escape. Some believed that the last day was approaching; some,
remembering an old prophecy, looked with hope for the return of the Great
Emperor Frederick II. to restore justice and peace in the world, to punish the
wicked clergy, and help the poor and oppressed flock to their rights. Others
traversed the country in processions, scourging themselves and praying with a
loud voice, in order to atone for their sins and appease God's anger, and
inveighing against man's unbelief, which had called down God's wrath upon the
earth; while some thought to do God service, by wreaking vengeance on the
people which had slain the Lord, and thousands of wretched Jews perished in the
flames kindled by frantic terror. “All things worked together to deepen the
sense of the corruptness of the Church, to lead men's thoughts onwards from
their physical to their spiritual wants, to awaken reflection on the judgments
of God, and to fix their eyes on the indications of the future,''[5]
so that John of Winterthur was probably not alone in applying to his own times
what St. Paul says of the perils of the latter days.
In these chaotic times, and in the countries where
the storms raged most fiercely, there were some who sought that peace which
could not be found on earth, in intercourse with a higher world. Destitute of
help and comfort and guidance from man, they took refuge in God, and finding
that to them He had proved “a present help ill time of trouble,” “as the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land,” they tried to bring their fellow‑men to
believe and partake in a life raised above the troubles of this world. They
desired to show them that that Eternal life and enduring peace which Christ had
promised to His disciples, was, of a truth, to be found by the Way which He had
pointed out, -- by a living union with Him and the Father who had sent Him.
With this aim, like-minded men and women joined
themselves together, that by communion of heart and mutual counsel they might
strengthen each other in their common efforts to revive the spiritual life of
those around them. The Association they founded was kept secret, lest through
misconception of their principles, they might fall under suspicion of heresy,
and the Inquisition should put a stop to their labours; but they desired to
keep themselves aloof from every thing that savoured of heresy or disorder. On
the contrary, they carefully observed all the precepts of the Church, and
carried their obedience so far that many of their number were among the priests
who were banished for obeying the Pope, when the Emperor ordered them to
disregard the Interdict. They assumed the appellation of “Friends of God” (Gottesfreunde),
and, in the course of a few years, their associations extended along the
Rhine provinces from Basle to Cologne, and eastwards through Swabia, Bavaria,
and Franconia. Strasburg, Constance, Nuremberg and Nordlingen were among their
chief seats. Their distinguishing doctrines were self‑renunciation, --
the complete giving‑up of self‑will to the will of God; -- the
continuous activity of the Spirit of God in all believers, and the intimate
union possible between God and man; -- the worthlessness of all religion based
upon fear or the hope of reward; -- and the essential equality of the laity and
clergy, though, for the sake of order and discipline, the organization of the
Church was necessary. They often appealed to the declaration of Christ (John
15:15), “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what
his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard
of my Father I have made known unto you;” and from this they probably derived
their name of “Friends of God.” Their mode of action was simply personal, for
they made no attempt to gain political and hierarchical power, but exerted all
their influence by means of preaching, writing and social intercourse. The
Association counted among its members priests, monks, and laity, without
distinction of rank or sex. Its leaders stood likewise in close connection with
several convents, especially those of Engenthal, and Maria-Medingen near
Nuremberg, presided over by the sisters Christina and Margaret Ebner, much of
whose correspondence is still extant. Agnes, the widow of King Andrew of
Hungary, and various knights and burghers, are also named as belonging to it.
Foremost among the leaders of this party should be
mentioned the celebrated Tauler, a Dominican monk of Strasburg, who spent his
life in preaching and teaching up and down the country from Strasburg to Cologne,
and whose influence is to this day active among his countrymen by means of his
admirable sermons, which are still widely read. At the time of the Interdict he
wrote a noble appeal to the clergy not to forsake their flocks, maintaining
that if the Emperor had sinned, the blame lay with him only, not with his
wretched subjects, so that it was a crying shame to visit his guilt upon the
innocent people, but that their unjust oppression would be recompensed to them
by God hereafter. He acted up to his own principles, and when the Black Death
was raging in Strasburg, where it carried off 16,000 victims, he was unwearied
in his efforts to administer aid and consolation to the sick and dying.
Much of Tauler's religious fervour and light he
himself attributed to the instructions of a layman, his friend. It is now known
from contemporary records that this was Nicholas of Basle, a citizen of that
Free town and a secret Waldensian. Little is known of his life beyond the fact
that he was intimately connected with many of the heads of this party, and was
resorted to by them for guidance and help; for, being under suspicion of
heresy, he had to conceal all his movements from the Inquisition. He succeeded,
however, in carrying on his labours and eluding his enemies, until he reached
an advanced age; but at length, venturing alone and unprotected into France, he
was taken, and burnt at Vienne in 1382. Another friend of Tauler's, and like
him an eloquent and powerful preacher, whose sermons are still read with
delight, was Henry Suso, a Dominican monk, belonging to a knightly family in
Swabia.
One of the leaders of the “Friends of God,” Nicholas
of Strasburg, was in 1326 appointed by John XXII. nuncio, with the oversight of
the Dominican order throughout Germany, and dedicated to that Pope an Essay of
great learning and ability, refuting the prevalent interpretations of
Scripture, which referred the coming of Antichrist and the Judgment day to the
immediate future. Thus we see that the “Friends of God” were not confined to one
political party, and this likewise appears from the history of another
celebrated member of this sect, Henry of Nordlingen, a priest of Constance,
who, like Suso, was banished for his adherence to the Pope. One of the most
remarkable men of this sect was a layman and married, Rulman Merswin, belonging
to a high family at Strasburg. He appears to have been led to a religious life
by the influence of Tauler, who was his confessor. He is the author of several
mystical works which, he says, he wrote “to do good to his fellow creatures,”
but he contributed perhaps still more largely to their benefit by his activity
in charitable works, for he established one hospital and seems to have had the
oversight of others also. He likewise gave largely to churches and convents,
but is best known by having founded a house for the Knights of St. John in
Strasburg. The characteristic doctrines of the “Friends of God” have already
been indicated. That they should not have fallen into some exaggerations was
scarcely possible, but where they have done so, it may generally be traced to
the influence of the monastic life to which most of them were dedicated, and to
the perplexities of their age.
The book before us was probably written somewhere
about I350, since it refers to Tauler as already well known. It was the
practice of the “Friends of God” to conceal their names as much as possible
when they wrote, lest a desire for fame should mingle with their endeavours to
be useful. This is probably the reason why we have no indication of its
authorship beyond a preface, which the Wurtzburg Manuscript possesses in common
with that which was in Luther's hands, and from which it appears that the
writer “was of the Teutonic order, a priest and a warden in the house of the
Teutonic order in Frankfort.” A translation of this Preface is prefixed to the
present volume. Till the discovery of the Wurtzburg Manuscript, it was supposed
that this Preface was from Luther's hand, who merely embodied in it the
tradition which he had received from some source unknown to us; and hence,
some, disregarding its authority, have ascribed the Theologia Germanica to
Tauler, whose style it resembles so much that it might be taken for his work,
but for the reference to him already mentioned. Since, however, the antiquity
of the Preface is now proved, we must be content with the information which it
affords us, unless any further discoveries among old manuscripts should throw
fresh light upon the subject.
Should this attempt to introduce the writings of the
“Friends of God” in England awaken an interest in them and their works, the
Translator proposes to follow up the present volume with an account of Tauler
and selections from his writings; believing that the study of these German
theologians, who were already called old in Luther's age, would furnish the
best antidote to what of mischief English readers may have derived from German
theology, falsely so called.
Manchester, February 1854.
77 Marina, St. Leonard's-on-Sea,
11th May 1854.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
YOUR Letter and the
proof-sheets of your Translation of the Theologia Germanica, with
Kingsley's Preface and your Introduction, were delivered to me yesterday, as I
was leaving Carlton Terrace to breathe once more, for a few days, the
refreshing air of this quiet, lovely place. You told me, at the time, that you
had been led to study Tauler and the Theologia Germanica by some
conversations which we had on their subjects in 1851, and you now wish me to
state to your readers, in a few lines, what place I conceive this school of
Germanic theology to hold in the general development of Christian thought, and
what appears to me to be the bearing of this work in particular upon the
present dangers and prospects of Christianity, as well as upon the eternal
interests of religion in the heart of every man and woman.
In complying willingly with your request, I may
begin by saying that, with Luther, I rank this short treatise next to the
Bible, but, unlike him, should place it before rather than after St. Augustine.
That school of pious, learned, and profound men of which this book is, as it
were, the popular catechism, was the Germanic counterpart of Romanic
scholasticism, and more than the revival of that Latin theology which produced
so many eminent thinkers, from Augustine, its father, to Thomas Aquinas, its
last great genius, whose death did not take place until after the birth of
Dante, who again was the contemporary of the Socrates of the Rhenish school, --
Meister Eckart, the Dominican.
The theology of this school was the first protest of
the Germanic mind against the Judaism and formalism of the Byzantine and
mediaeval Churches, -- the hollowness of science to which scholasticism had
led, and the rottenness of society which a pompous hierarchy strove in vain to
conceal, but had not the power nor the will to correct. Eckart and Tauler, his
pupil, brought religion home from fruitless speculation, and reasonings upon
imaginary or impossible suppositions, to man's own heart and to the
understanding of the common people, as Socrates did the Greek philosophy. There
is both a remarkable analogy and a striking contrast between the great Athenian
and those Dominican friars. Socrates did full justice to the deep ethical ideas
embodied in the established religion of his country and its venerated
mysteries, which he far preferred to the shallow philosophy of the sophists;
but he dissuaded his pupils from seeking an initiation into the mysteries, or
at least from resting their convictions and hopes upon them, exhorting them to
rely, not upon the oracles of Delphi, but upon the oracle in their own bosom.
The “Friends of God,” on the other hand, believing (like Dante) most profoundly
in the truth of the Christian religion, on which the established Church of
their age, notwithstanding its corruptions, was essentially founded,
recommended submission to the ordinances of the church as a wholesome
preparatory discipline for many minds. Like the saint of Athens, however, they
spoke plain truth to the people. To their disciples, and those who came to them
for instruction, they exhibited the whole depth of that real Christian
philosophy, which opens to the mind after all scholastic conventionalism has
been thrown away, and the soul listens to the response which Christ's Gospel
and God's creation find in a sincere heart and a self-sacrificing life; -- a
philosophy which, considered merely as a speculation, is far more profound than
any scholastic system. But, in a style that was intelligible to all, they
preached that no fulfilment of rites and ceremonies, nor of so‑called
religious duties, -- in fact, no outward works, however meritorious, can either
give peace to man's conscience, nor yet give him strength to bear up against
the temptations of prosperity and the trials of adversity.
In following this course they brought the people
back from hollow profession and real despair, to the blessings of gospel
religion, while they opened to philosophic minds a new career of thought. By
teaching that man is justified by ' faith, and by faith alone, they prepared
the popular intellectual element of the Reformation; by teaching that this
faith has its philosophy, as fully able to carry conviction to the
understanding, as faith is to give peace to the troubled conscience, they paved
the way for that spiritual philosophy of the mind, of which Kant laid the
foundation. But they were not controversialists, as the Reformers of the
sixteenth century were driven to be by their position, and not men of science
exclusively, as the masters of modern philosophy in Germany were and are.
Although most of them friars, or laymen connected with the religious orders of
the time, they were men of the people and men of action. They preached the
saving faith to the people in churches, in hospitals, in the streets and public
places. In the strength of this faith, Tauler, when he had been already for
years the universal object of admiration as a theologian and preacher through
all the free cities on the Rhine, from Basle to Cologne, humbled himself, and
remained silent for the space of two years, after the mysterious layman had
shown him the insufficiency of his scholastic learning and preaching. In the
strength of this faith, he braved the Pope's Interdict, and gave the
consolations of religion to the people of Strasburg, during the dreadful plague
which depopulated that flourishing city. For this faith, Eckart suffered with
patience slander and persecution, as formerly he had borne with meekness,
honours and praise. For this faith, Nicolaus of Basle, who sat down as a humble
stranger at Tauler's feet to become the instrument of his real enlightenment,
died a martyr in the flames. In this sense, the “Friends of God” were, like the
Apostles, men of the people and practical Christians, while as men of thought,
their ideas contributed powerfully to the great efforts of the European nations
in the sixteenth century.
Let me, therefore, my dear friend, lay aside all
philosophical and theological terms, and state the principle of the golden book
which you are just presenting to the English public, in what I consider, with
Luther, the best Theological exponent, in plain Teutonic, thus: --
Sin is selfishness:
Godliness is unselfishness:
A godly life is the steadfast working out of
inward freeness from self:
To become thus Godlike is the bringing back
of man's first nature.
On this last point, -- man's divine dignity and
destiny, -- Tauler speaks as strongly as our author, and almost as strongly as
the Bible. Man is indeed to him God's own image. “As a sculptor,” he says
somewhere, with a striking range of mind for a monk of the fourteenth century,
“is said to have exclaimed indignantly on seeing a rude block of marble, 'what
a godlike beauty thou hidest!' thus God looks upon man in whom God's own image
is hidden.” “We may begin,” he says in a kindred passage, “by loving God in
hope of reward, we may express ourselves concerning Him in symbols (Bilder),
but we must throw them all away, and much more we must scorn all idea of
reward, that we may love God only because He is the Supreme Good, and
contemplate His eternal nature as the real substance of our own soul.”
But let no one imagine that these men, although
doomed to passiveness in many respects, thought a contemplative or monkish life
a condition of spiritual Christianity, and not rather a danger to it. “If a man
truly loves God,” says Tauler, “and has no will but to do God's will, the whole
force of the river Rhine may run at him and will not disturb him or break his
peace; if we find outward things a danger and disturbance, it comes from our
appropriating to ourselves what is God's.” But Tauler, as well as our Author,
uses the strongest language to express his horror of Sin, man's own creation,
and their view on this subject forms their great contrast to the philosophers
of the Spinozistic school. Among the Reformers, Luther stands nearest to them,
with respect to the great fundamental points of theological teaching, but their
intense dread of Sin as a rebellion against God, is shared both by Luther and
Calvin. Among later theologians, Julius Muller, in his profound Essay on Sin,
and Richard Rothe, in his great work on Christian Ethics, come nearest to them
in depth of thought and ethical earnestness, and the first of these eminent
writers carries out, as it appears to me, most consistently that fundamental
truth of the Theologia Germanica that there is no sin but Selfishness,
and that all Selfishness is sin.
Such appear to me to be the characteristics of our
book and of Tauler. I may be allowed to add, that this small but golden
Treatise has been now for almost forty years an unspeakable comfort to me and
to many Christian friends (most of whom have already departed in peace), to
whom I had the happiness of introducing it. May it in your admirably faithful
and lucid translation become a real “book for the million” in England, a
privilege which it already shares in Germany with Tauler's matchless Sermons,
of which I rejoice to hear that you are making a selection for publication. May
it become a blessing to many a longing Christian heart in that dear country of
yours, which I am on the point of leaving, after many happy years of residence,
but on which I can never look as a strange land to me, any more than I shall
ever consider myself as a stranger in that home of old Teutonic liberty and
energy, which I have found to be also the home of practical Christianity and of
warm and faithful affection.
Bunsen.
Of that which is perfect and that which is in
part, and how that which is in part is done away, when that which is perfect is
come.
St.
Paul saith, “When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away.”[6]
Now mark what is “that which is perfect,” and “that which is in part.”
“That which is perfect” is a Being, who hath
comprehended and included all things in Himself and His own Substance, and
without whom, and beside whom, there is no true Substance, and in whom all
things have their Substance. For He is the Substance of all things, and is in
Himself unchangeable and immoveable, and changeth and moveth all things else.
But “that which is in part,” or the Imperfect, is that which hath its source
in, or springeth from the Perfect; just as a brightness or a visible appearance
floweth out from the sun or a candle, and appeareth to be somewhat, this or
that. And it is called a creature; and of all these “things which are in part,”
none is the Perfect. So also the Perfect is none of the things which are in
part. The things which are in part can be apprehended, known, and expressed;
but the Perfect cannot be apprehended, known, or expressed by any creature as
creature. Therefore we do not give a name to the Perfect, for it is none of
these. The creature as creature cannot know nor apprehend it, name nor conceive
it.
“Now when that which is Perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away.” But when doth it come? I say, when as
much as may be, it is known, felt and tasted of the soul. For the lack lieth
altogether in us, and not in it. In like manner the sun lighteth the whole
world, and is as near to one as another, yet a blind man seeth it not; but the
fault thereof lieth in the blind man, not in the sun. And like as the sun may
not hide its brightness, but must give light unto the earth (for heaven indeed
draweth its light and heat from another fountain), so also God, who is the
highest Good, willeth not to hide Himself from any, wheresoever He findeth a
devout soul, that is thoroughly purified from all creatures. For in what
measure we put off the creature, in the same measure are we able to put on the
Creator; neither more nor less. For if mine eye is to see anything, it must be
single, or else be purified from all other things; and where heat and light
enter in, cold and darkness must needs depart; it cannot be otherwise.
But one might say, “Now since the Perfect cannot be
known nor apprehended of any creature, but the soul is a creature, how can it
be known by the soul?” Answer: This is why we say, “by the soul as a creature.”
We mean it is impossible to the creature in virtue of its creature-nature and
qualities, that by which it saith “I” and “myself.” For in whatsoever creature
the Perfect shall be known, therein creature-nature, qualities, the I, the Self
and the like, must all be lost and done away. This is the meaning of that
saying of St. Paul: “When that which is perfect is come” (that is, when it is
known), “then that which is in part” (to wit, creature-nature, qualities, the
I, the Self, the Mine) will be despised and counted for nought. So long as we
think much of these things, cleave to them with love, joy, pleasure or desire,
so long remaineth the Perfect unknown to us.
But it might further be said, “Thou sayest, beside
the Perfect there is no Substance, yet sayest again that somewhat floweth out
from it: now is not that which hath flowed out from it, something beside it.”
Answer: This is why we say, beside it, or without it, there is no true
Substance. That which hath flowed forth from it, is no true Substance, and hath
no Substance except in the Perfect, but is an accident, or a brightness, or a
visible appearance, which is no Substance, and hath no Substance except in the
fire whence the brightness flowed forth, such as the sun or a candle.
Of what Sin is, and how we must not take unto
ourselves any good Thing, seeing that it belongeth unto the true Good alone.
The
Scripture and the Faith and the Truth say, Sin is nought else, but that the
creature turneth away from the unchangeable Good and betaketh itself to the changeable;
that is to say, that it turneth away from the Perfect to “that which is in
part” and imperfect, and most often to itself. Now mark: when the creature
claimeth for its own anything good, such as Substance, Life, Knowledge, Power,
and in short whatever we should call good, as if it were that, or possessed
that, or that were itself, or that proceeded from it, -- as often as this
cometh to pass, the creature goeth astray. What did the devil do else, or what
was his going astray and his fall else, but that he claimed for himself to be
also somewhat, and would have it that somewhat was his, and somewhat was due to
him? This setting up of a claim and his I and Me and Mine, these were his going
astray, and his fall. And thus it is to this day.
How Man's Fall and going
astray must be amended as Adam's Fall was.
What
else did Adam do but this same thing? It is said, it was because Adam ate the
apple that he was lost, or fell. I say, it was because of his claiming
something for his own, and because of his I, Mine, Me, and the like. Had he
eaten seven apples, and yet never claimed anything for his own, he would not
have fallen: but as soon as he called something his own, he fell, and would
have fallen if he had never touched an apple. Behold! I have fallen a hundred
times more often and deeply, and gone a hundred times farther astray than Adam;
and not all mankind could mend his fall, or bring him back from going astray.
But how shall my fall be amended? It must be healed as Adam's fall was healed,
and on the self-same wise. By whom, and on what wise was that healing brought
to pass? Mark this: man could not without God, and God should not without man.
Wherefore God took human nature or manhood upon Himself and was made man, and
man was made divine. Thus the healing was brought to pass. So also must my fall
be healed. I cannot do the work without God, and God may not or will not
without me; for if it shall be accomplished, in me, too, God must be made man;
in such sort that God must take to Himself all that is in me, within and
without, so that there may be nothing in me which striveth against God or
hindereth His Work. Now if God took to Himself all men that are in the world,
or ever were, and were made man in them, and they were made divine in Him, and
this work were not fulfilled in me, my fall and my wandering would never be
amended except it were fulfilled in me also. And in this bringing back and
healing, I can, or may, or shall do nothing of myself, but just simply yield to
God, so that He alone may do all things in me and work, and I may suffer Him
and all His work and His divine will. And because I will not do so, but I count
myself to be my own, and say “I,” “Mine,” “Me” and the like, God is hindered,
so that He cannot do His work in me alone and without hindrance; for this cause
my fall and my going astray remain unhealed. Behold! this all cometh of my
claiming somewhat for my own.
How Man, when he claimeth any good Thing for
his own, falleth, and toucheth God in His Honour.
God
saith, “I will not give My glory to another.”[7]
This is as much as to say, that praise and honour and glory belong to none but
to God only. But now, if I call any good thing my own, as if I were it, or of
myself had power or did or knew anything, or as if anything were mine or of me,
or belonged to me, or were due to me or the like, I take unto myself somewhat
of honour and glory, and do two evil things: First, I fall and go astray as
aforesaid: Secondly, I touch God in His honour and take unto myself what
belongeth to God only. For all that must be called good belongeth to none but
to the true eternal Goodness which is God only, and whoso taketh it unto
himself, committeth unrighteousness and is against God.
How we are to take that Saying, that we must
come to be without Will, Wisdom, Love, Desire, Knowledge, and the like.
Certain
men say that we ought to be without will, wisdom, love, desire, knowledge, and
the like. Hereby is not to be understood that there is to be no knowledge in
man, and that God is not to be loved by him, nor desired and longed for, nor
praised and honoured; for that were a great loss, and man were like the beasts
and as the brutes that have no reason. But it meaneth that man's knowledge
should be so clear and perfect that he should acknowledge of a truth that in
himself he neither hath nor can do any good thing, and that none of his
knowledge, wisdom and art, his will, love and good works do come from himself,
nor are of man, nor of any creature, but that all these are of the eternal God,
from whom they all proceed. As Christ Himself saith, “Without Me, ye can do
nothing.”[8]
St. Paul saith also, “What hast thou that thou hast not received?”[9]
As much as to say -- nothing. “Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou
glory as if thou hadst not received it?” Again he saith, “Not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God.”[10] Now when a
man duly perceiveth these things in himself, he and the creature fall behind,
and he doth not call anything his own, and the less he taketh this knowledge
unto himself, the more perfect doth it become. So also is it with the will, and
love and desire, and the like. For the less we call these things our own, the
more perfect and noble and Godlike do they become, and the more we think them
our own, the baser and less pure and perfect do they become.
Behold on this sort must we cast all things from us,
and strip ourselves of them; we must refrain from claiming anything for our
own. When we do this, we shall have the best, fullest, clearest and noblest
knowledge that a man can have, and also the noblest and purest love, will and
desire; for then these will be all of God alone. It is much better that they
should be God's than the creature's. Now that I ascribe anything good to
myself, as if I were, or had done, or knew, or could perform any good thing, or
that it were mine, this is all of sin and folly. For if the truth were rightly known
by me, I should also know that I am not that good thing and that it is not
mine, nor of me, and that I do not know it, and cannot do it, and the like. If
this came to pass, I should needs cease to call anything my own.
It is better that God, or His works, should be
known, as far as it be possible to us, and loved, praised and honoured, and the
like, and even that man should vainly imagine he loveth or praiseth God, than
that God should be altogether unpraised, unloved, unhonoured and unknown. For
when the vain imagination and ignorance are turned into an understanding and
knowledge of the truth, the claiming anything for our own will cease of itself.
Then the man says: “Behold! I, poor fool that I was, imagined it was I, but
behold! it is and was, of a truth, God!”
How that which is best and noblest should
also be loved above all Things by us, merely because it is the best.
A
Master called Boetius saith, “It is of sin that we do not love that which is
Best.” He hath spoken the truth. That which is best should be the dearest of
all things to us; and in our love of it, neither helpfulness nor unhelpfulness,
advantage nor injury, gain nor loss, honour nor dishonour, praise nor blame,
nor anything of the kind should be regarded; but what is in truth the noblest
and best of all things, should be also the dearest of all things, and that for
no other cause than that it is the noblest and best.
Hereby may a man order his life within and without.
His outward life: for among the creatures one is better than another, according
as the Eternal Good manifesteth itself and worketh more in one than in another.
Now that creature in which the Eternal Good most manifesteth itself, shineth
forth, worketh, is most known and loved, is the best, and that wherein the
Eternal Good is least manifested is the least good of all creatures. Therefore
when we have to do with the creatures and hold converse with them, and take
note of their diverse qualities, the best creatures must always be the dearest
to us, and we must cleave to them, and unite ourselves to them, above all to
those which we attribute to God as belonging to Him or divine, such as wisdom,
truth, kindness, peace, love, justice, and the like. Hereby shall we order our
outward man, and all that is contrary to these virtues we must eschew and flee
from.
But if our inward man were to make a leap and spring
into the Perfect, we should find and taste how that the Perfect is without
measure, number or end, better and nobler than all which is imperfect and in
part, and the Eternal above the temporal or perishable, and the fountain and
source above all that floweth or can ever flow from it. Thus that which is
imperfect and in part would become tasteless and be as nothing to us. Be
assured of this: All that we have said must come to pass if we are to love that
which is noblest, highest and best.
Of the Eyes of the Spirit wherewith Man
looketh into Eternity and into Time, and how the one is hindered of the other
in its Working.
Let
us remember how it is written and said that the soul of Christ had two eyes, a
right and a left eye. In the beginning, when the soul of Christ was created,
she fixed her right eye upon eternity and the Godhead, and remained in the full
intuition and enjoyment of the divine Essence and Eternal Perfection; and
continued thus unmoved and undisturbed by all the accidents and travail,
suffering, torment and pain that ever befell the outward man. But with the left
eye she beheld the creature and perceived all things therein, and took note of
the difference between the creatures, which were better or worse, nobler or
meaner; and thereafter was the outward man of Christ ordered.
Thus the inner man of Christ, according to the right
eye of His soul, stood in the full exercise of His divine nature, in perfect
blessedness, joy and eternal peace. But the outward man and the left eye of
Christ's soul, stood with Him in perfect suffering, in all tribulation,
affliction and travail; and this in such sort that the inward and right eye
remained unmoved, unhindered and untouched by all the travail, suffering, grief
and anguish that ever befell the outward man. It hath been said that when
Christ was bound to the pillar and scourged, and when He hung upon the cross,
according to the outward man, yet His inner man, or soul according to the right
eye, stood in as full possession of divine joy and blessedness as it did after
His ascension, or as it doth now. In like manner His outward man, or soul with
the left eye, was never hindered, disturbed or troubled by the inward eye in
its contemplation of the outward things that belonged to it.
Now the created soul of man hath also two eyes. The
one is the power of seeing into eternity, the other of seeing into time and the
creatures, of perceiving how they differ from each other as afore-said, of
giving life and needful things to the body, and ordering and governing it for
the best. But these two eyes of the soul of man cannot both perform their work
at once; but if the soul shall see with the right eye into eternity, then the
left eye must close itself and refrain from working, and be as though it were
dead.
For if the left eye be fulfilling its office toward
outward things; that is, holding converse with time and the creatures; then
must the right eye be hindered in its working; that is, in its contemplation.
Therefore whosoever will have the one must let the other go; for “no man can
serve two masters.”
How the Soul of Man, while it is yet in the
Body, may obtain a Foretaste of eternal Blessedness.
It
hath been asked whether it be possible for the soul, while it is yet in the
body, to reach so high as to cast a glance into eternity, and receive a
foretaste of eternal life and eternal blessedness. This is commonly denied; and
truly so in a sense. For it indeed cannot be so long as the soul is taking heed
to the body, and the things which minister and appertain thereto, and to time
and the creature, and is disturbed and troubled and distracted thereby. For if
the soul shall rise to such a state, she must be quite pure, wholly stripped
and bare of all images, and be entirely separate from all creatures, and above
all from herself. Now many think this is not to be done and is impossible in
this present time. But St. Dionysius maintains that it is possible, as we find
from his words in his Epistle to Timothy, where he saith: “For the beholding of
the hidden things of God, shalt thou forsake sense and the things of the flesh,
and all that the senses can apprehend, and all that reason of her own powers
can bring forth, and all things created and uncreated that reason is able to
comprehend and know, and shalt take thy stand upon an utter abandonment of
thyself, and as knowing none of the aforesaid things, and enter into union with
Him who is, and who is above all existence and all knowledge.” Now if he did
not hold this to be possible in this present time, why should he teach it and
enjoin it on us in this present time? But it behoveth you to know that a master
hath said on this passage of St. Dionysius, that it is possible, and may happen
to a man often, till he become so accustomed to it, as to be able to look into
eternity whenever he will. For when a thing is at first very hard to a man and
strange, and seemingly quite impossible, if he put all his strength and energy
into it, and persevere therein, that will afterward grow quite light and easy,
which he at first thought quite out of reach, seeing that it is of no use to
begin any work, unless it may be brought to a good end.
And a single one of these excellent glances is
better, worthier, higher and more pleasing to God, than all that the creature
can perform as a creature. And as soon as a man turneth himself in spirit, and
with his whole heart and mind entereth into the mind of God which is above time,
all that ever he hath lost is restored in a moment. And if a man were to do
thus a thousand times in a day, each time a fresh and real union would take
place; and in this sweet and divine work standeth the truest and fullest union
that may be in this present time. For he who hath attained thereto, asketh
nothing further, for he hath found the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life on
earth.
How it is better and more profitable for a
Man that he should perceive what God will do with him, or to what end He will
make Use of him, than if he knew all that Gad had ever wrought, or would ever
work through all the Creatures; and how Blessedness lieth alone in God, and not
in the Creatures, or in any Works.
We
should mark and know of a very truth that all manner of virtue and goodness,
and even that Eternal Good which is God Himself, can never make a man virtuous,
good, or happy, so long as it is outside the soul; that is, so long as the man
is holding converse with outward things through his senses and reason, and doth
not withdraw into himself and learn to understand his own life, who and what he
is. The like is true of sin and evil. For all manner of sin and wickedness can never
make us evil, so long as it is outside of us; that is, so long as we do not
commit it, or do not give consent to it.
Therefore although it be good and profitable that we
should ask, and learn and know, what good and holy men have wrought and suffered,
and how God hath dealt with them, and what He hath wrought in and through them,
yet it were a thousand times better that we should in ourselves learn and
perceive and understand, who we are, how and what our own life is, what God is
and is doing in us, what He will have from us, and to what ends He will or will
not make use of us. For, of a truth, thoroughly to know oneself, is above all
art, for it is the highest art. If thou knowest thyself well, thou art better
and more praiseworthy before God, than if thou didst not know thyself, but
didst understand the course of the heavens and of all the planets and stars,
also the dispositions of all mankind, also the nature of all beasts, and, in
such matters, hadst all the skill of all who are in heaven and on earth. For it
is said, there came a voice from heaven, saying, “Man, know thyself.” Thus that
proverb is still true, “Going out were never so good, but staying at home were
much better.”
Further, ye should learn that eternal blessedness
lieth in one thing alone, and in nought else. And if ever man or the soul is to
be made blessed, that one thing alone must be in the soul. Now some might ask,
“But what is that one thing?” I answer, it is Goodness, or that which hath been
made good; and yet neither this good nor that, which we can name, or perceive
or show; but it is all and above all good things.
Moreover, it needeth not to enter into the soul, for
it is there already, only it is unperceived. When we say we should come unto
it, we mean that we should seek it, feel it, and taste it. And now since it is
One, unity and singleness is better than manifoldness. For blessedness lieth
not in much and many, but in One and oneness. In one word, blessedness lieth
not in any creature, or work of the creatures, but it lieth alone in God and in
His works. Therefore I must wait only on God and His work, and leave on one
side all creatures with their works, and first of all myself. In like manner
all the great works and wonders that God has ever wrought or shall ever work in
or through the creatures, or even God Himself with all His goodness, so far as
these things exist or are done outside of me, can never make me blessed, but
only in so far as they exist and are done and loved, known, tasted and felt
within me.
How the perfect Men have no other Desire than
that they may be to the Eternal Goodness what His Hand is to a Man, and how
they have lost the Fear of Hell, and Hope of Heaven.
Now
let us mark: Where men are enlightened with the true light, they perceive that
all which they might desire or choose, is nothing to that which all creatures,
as creatures, ever desired or chose or knew, Therefore they renounce all desire
and choice, and commit and commend themselves and all things to the Eternal
Goodness. Nevertheless, there remaineth in them a desire to go forward and get
nearer to the Eternal Goodness; that is, to come to a clearer knowledge, and
warmer love, and more comfortable assurance, and perfect obedience and
subjection; so that every enlightened man could say: “I would fain be to the
Eternal Goodness, what His own hand is to a man.” And he feareth always that he
is not enough so, and longeth for the salvation of all men. And such men do not
call this longing their own, nor take it unto themselves, for they know well
that this desire is not of man, but of the Eternal Goodness; for whatsoever is
good shall no one take unto himself as his own, seeing that it belongeth to the
Eternal Goodness, only.
Moreover, these men are in a state of freedom,
because they have lost the fear of pain or hell, and the hope of reward or
heaven, but are living in pure submission to the Eternal Goodness, in the
perfect freedom of fervent love. This mind was in Christ in perfection, and is
also in His followers, in some more, and in some less. But it is a sorrow and
shame to think that the Eternal Goodness is ever most graciously guiding and
drawing us, and we will not yield to it. What is better and nobler than true
poorness in spirit? Yet when that is held up before us, we will have none of
it, but are always seeking ourselves, and our own things. We like to have our
mouths always filled with good things, that we may have in ourselves a lively
taste of pleasure and sweetness. When this is so, we are well pleased, and
think it standeth not amiss with us. But we are yet a long way off from a
perfect life. For when God will draw us up to something higher, that is, to an
utter loss and forsaking of our own things, spiritual and natural, and
withdraweth His comfort and sweetness from us, we faint and are troubled, and
can in no wise bring our minds to it; and we forget God and neglect holy
exercises, and fancy we are lost for ever. This is a great error and a bad
sign. For a true lover of God, loveth Him or the Eternal Goodness alike, in
having and in not having, in sweetness and bitterness, in good or evil report,
and the like, for he seeketh alone the honour of God, and not his own, either
in spiritual or natural things. And therefore he standeth alike unshaken in all
things, at all seasons. Hereby let every man prove himself, how he standeth
towards God, his Creator and Lord.
How a righteous Man in this present Time is
brought into hell, and there cannot be comforted, and how he is taken out of
Hell and carried into Heaven, and there cannot be troubled.
Christ's
soul must needs descend into hell, before it ascended into heaven. So must also
the soul of man. But mark ye in what manner this cometh to pass. When a man
truly Perceiveth and considereth himself, who and what he is, and findeth
himself utterly vile and wicked, and unworthy of all the comfort and kindness
that he hath ever received from God, or from the creatures, he falleth into
such a deep abasement and despising of himself, that he thinketh himself
unworthy that the earth should bear him, and it seemeth to him reasonable that
all creatures in heaven and earth should rise up against him and avenge their
Creator on him, and should punish and torment him; and that he were unworthy
even of that. And it seemeth to him that he shall be eternally lost and damned,
and a footstool to all the devils in hell, and that this is right and just and
all too little compared to his sins which he so often and in so many ways hath
committed against God his Creator. And therefore also he will not and dare not
desire any consolation or release, either from God or from any creature that is
in heaven or on earth; but he is willing to be unconsoled and unreleased, and
he doth not grieve over his condemnation and sufferings; for they are right and
just, and not contrary to God, but according to the will of God. Therefore they
are right in his eyes, and he hath nothing to say against them. Nothing
grieveth him but his own guilt and wickedness; for that is not right and is
contrary to God, and for that cause he is grieved and troubled in spirit.
This is what is meant by true repentance for sin.
And he who in this Present time entereth into this hell, entereth afterward
into the Kingdom of Heaven, and obtaineth a foretaste there of which excelleth
all the delight and joy which he ever hath had or could have in this present
time from temporal things. But whilst a man is thus in hell, none may console
him, neither God nor the creature, as it is written, “In hell there is no
redemption.”[11] Of this
state hath one said, “Let me perish, let me die! I live without hope; from
within and from without I am condemned, let no one pray that I may be
released.”
Now God hath not forsaken a man in this hell, but He
is laying His hand upon him, that the man may not desire nor regard anything
but the Eternal Good only, and may come to know that that is so noble and
passing good, that none can search out or express its bliss, consolation and
joy, peace, rest and satisfaction. And then, when the man neither careth for,
nor seeketh, nor desireth, anything but the Eternal Good alone, and seeketh not
himself, nor his own things, but the honour of God only, he is made a partaker
of all manner of joy, bliss, peace, rest and consolation, and so the man is
henceforth in the Kingdom of Heaven.
This hell and this heaven are two good, safe
ways for a man in this present time, and happy is he who truly findeth them.
For
this hell shall pass away,
But
Heaven shall endure for aye.
Also
let a man mark, when he is in this hell, nothing may console him; and he cannot
believe that he shall ever be released or comforted. But when he is in heaven,
nothing can trouble him; he believeth also that none will ever be able to
offend or trouble him, albeit it is indeed true, that after this hell he may be
comforted and released, and after this heaven he may be troubled and left
without consolation.
Again: this hell and this heaven come about a man in
such sort, that he knoweth not whence they come; and whether they come to him,
or depart from him, he can of himself do nothing towards it. Of these things he
can neither give nor take away from himself, bring them nor banish them, but as
it is written, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof,” that is to say, at this time present, “but thou knowest not whence it
cometh, nor whither it goeth.”[12]
And when a man is in one of these two states, all is right with him, and he is
as safe in hell as in heaven, and so long as a man is on earth, it is possible
for him to pass ofttimes from the one into the other; nay even within the space
of a day and night, and all without his own doing. But when the man is in
neither of these two states he holdeth converse with the creature, and wavereth
hither and thither, and knoweth not what manner of man he is. Therefore he
shall never forget either of them, but lay up the remembrance of them in his
heart.
Touching that true inward
Peace, which Christ left to His Disciples at the last.
Many
say they have no peace nor rest, but so many crosses and trials, afflictions
and sorrows, that they know not how they shall ever get through them. Now he
who in truth will perceive and take note, perceiveth clearly, that true peace
and rest lie not in outward things; for if it were so, the Evil Spirit also
would have peace when things go according to his will which is nowise the case;
for the prophet declareth, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”[13]
And therefore we must consider and see what is that peace which Christ left to
His disciples at the last, when He said: “My peace I leave with you, My peace I
give unto you.”[14] We may
perceive that in these words Christ did not mean a bodily and outward peace;
for His beloved disciples, with all His friends and followers, have ever
suffered, from the beginning, great affliction, persecution, nay, often
martyrdom, as Christ Himself said: “In this world ye shall have tribulation.”[15]
But Christ meant that true, inward peace of the heart, which beginneth here,
and endureth for ever hereafter. Therefore He said: “Not as the world giveth,”
for the world is false, and deceiveth in her gifts. She promiseth much, and
performeth little. Moreover there liveth no man on earth who may always have
rest and peace without troubles and crosses, with whom things always go
according to his will; there is always something to be suffered here, turn
which way you will. And as soon as you are quit of one assault, perhaps two
come in its place. Wherefore yield thyself willingly to them, and seek only
that true peace of the heart, which none can take away from thee, that thou
mayest overcome all assaults.
Thus then, Christ meant that inward peace which can
break through all assaults and crosses of oppression, suffering, misery,
humiliation and what more there may be of the like, so that a man may be joyful
and patient therein, like the beloved disciples and followers of Christ. Now he
who will in love give his whole diligence and might thereto, will verily come
to know that true eternal peace which is God Himself, as far as it is possible
to a creature; insomuch that what was bitter to him before, shall become sweet,
and his heart shall remain unmoved under all changes, at all times, and after
this life, he shall attain unto everlasting peace.
How a Man may cast aside
Images too soon.
Tauler
saith: “There be some men at the present time, who take leave of types and
symbols too soon, before they have drawn out all the truth and instruction
contained therein.” Hence they are scarcely or perhaps never able to understand
the truth aright.[16]
For such men will follow no one, and lean unto their own understandings, and
desire to fly before they are fledged. They would fain mount up to heaven in
one flight; albeit Christ did not so, for after His resurrection, He remained
full forty days with His beloved disciples. No one can be made perfect in a
day. A man must begin by denying himself, and willingly forsaking all things
for God's sake, and must give up his own will, and all his natural
inclinations, and separate and cleanse himself thoroughly from all sins and
evil ways. After this, let him humbly take up the cross and follow Christ. Also
let him take and receive example and instruction, reproof, counsel and teaching
from devout and perfect servants of God, and not follow his own guidance. Thus
the work shall be established and come to a good end. And when a man hath thus
broken loose from and outleaped all temporal things and creatures, he may
afterwards become perfect in a life of contemplation. For he who will have the
one must let the other go. There is no other way.
Of three Stages by which a
Man is led upwards till he attaineth true Perfection.
Now
be assured that no one can be enlightened unless he be first cleansed or
purified and stripped. So also, no one can be united with God unless he be
first enlightened. Thus there are three stages: first, the purification;
secondly, the enlightening; thirdly, the union. The purification concerneth
those who are beginning or repenting, and is brought to pass in a threefold
wise; by contrition and sorrow for sin, by full confession, by hearty
amendment. The enlightening belongeth to such as are growing, and also taketh
place in three ways: to wit, by the eschewal of sin, by the practice of virtue
and good works, and by the willing endurance of all manner of temptation and
trials. The union belongeth to such as are perfect, and also is brought to pass
in three ways: to wit, by pureness and singleness of heart, by love, and by the
contemplation of God, the Creator of all things.
How all Men are dead in Adam and are made
alive again in Christ, and of true Obedience and Disobedience.
All
that in Adam fell and died, was raised again and made alive in Christ, and all
that rose up and was made alive in Adam, fell and died in Christ. But what was
that? I answer, true obedience and disobedience. But what is true obedience? I
answer, that a man should so stand free, being quit of himself, that is, of his
I, and Me, and Self, and Mine, and the like, that in all things, he should no
more seek or regard himself, than if he did not exist, and should take as
little account of himself as if he were not, and another had done all his
works. Likewise he should count all the creatures for nothing. What is there
then, which is, and which we may count for somewhat? I answer, nothing but that
which we may call God. Behold! this is very obedience in the truth, and thus it
will be in a blessed eternity. There nothing is sought nor thought of, nor
loved, but the one thing only.
Hereby we may mark what disobedience is: to wit, that
a man maketh some account of himself, and thinketh that he is, and knoweth, and
can do somewhat, and seeketh himself and his own ends in the things around him,
and hath regard to and loveth himself, and the like. Man is created for true
obedience, and is bound of right to render it to God. And this obedience fell
and died in Adam, and rose again and lived in Christ. Yea, Christ's human
nature was so utterly bereft of Self, and apart from all creatures, as no man's
ever was, and was nothing else but “a house and habitation of God.” Neither of
that in Him which belonged to God, nor of that which was a living human nature
and a habitation of God, did He, as man, claim anything for His own. His human
nature did not even take unto itself the Godhead, whose dwelling it was, nor
anything that this same Godhead willed, or did or left undone in Him, nor yet
anything of all that His human nature did or suffered; but in Christ's human
nature there was no claiming of anything, nor seeking nor desire, saving that
what was due might be rendered to the Godhead, and He did not call this very
desire His own. Of this matter no more can be said, or written here, for it is
unspeakable, and was never yet and never will be fully uttered; for it can
neither be spoken nor written but by Him who is and knows its ground; that is,
God Himself, who call do all things well.
Telleth us what is the old
Man, and what is the new Man.
Again,
when we read of the old man and the new man we must mark what that meaneth. The
old man is Adam and disobedience, the Self, the Me, and so forth. But the new
man is Christ and true obedience, a giving up and denying oneself of all
temporal things, and seeking the honour of God alone in all things. And when
dying and perishing and the like are spoken of, it meaneth that the old man
should be destroyed, and not seek its own either in spiritual or in natural
things. For where this is brought about in a true divine light, there the new
man is born again. In like manner, it hath been said that man should die unto
himself, that is, to earthly pleasures, consolations, joys, appetites, the I,
the Self, and all that is thereof in man, to which he clingeth and on which he
is yet leaning with content, and thinketh much of. Whether it be the man himself,
or any other creature, whatever it be, it must depart and die, if the man is to
be brought aright to another mind, according to the truth.
Thereunto doth St. Paul exhort us, saying: “Put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts: . . . and that ye put on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness.”[17]
Now he who liveth to himself after the old man, is called and is truly a child
of Adam; and though he may give diligence to the ordering of his life, he is
still the child and brother of the Evil Spirit. But he who liveth in humble
obedience and in the new man which is Christ, he is, in like manner, the
brother of Christ and the child of God.
Behold! where the old man dieth and the new man is
born, there is that second birth of which Christ saith, “Except a man be born
again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”[18]
Likewise St. Paul saith, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive.”[19] That is to
say, all who follow Adam in pride, in lust of the flesh, and in disobedience,
are dead in soul, and never will or can be made alive but in Christ. And for
this cause, so long as a man is an Adam or his child, he is without God. Christ
saith, “He who is not with Me is against Me.”[20]
Now he who is against God, is dead before God. Whence it followeth that all
Adam's children are dead before God. But he who standeth with Christ in perfect
obedience, he is with God and liveth. As it hath been said already, sin lieth
in the turning away of the creature from the Creator, which agreeth with what
we have now said.
For he who is in disobedience is in sin, and sin can
never be atoned for or healed but by returning to God, and this is brought to
Pass by humble obedience. For so long as a man continueth in disobedience, his
sin can never be blotted out; let him do what he will, it availeth him nothing.
Let us be assured of this. For disobedience is itself sin. But when a man
entereth into the obedience of the faith, all is healed, and blotted out and
forgiven, and not else. Insomuch that if the Evil Spirit himself could come
into true obedience, he would become an angel again, and all his sin and
wickedness would be healed and blotted out and forgiven at once. And could an
angel fall into disobedience, he would straightway become an evil spirit
although he did nothing afresh.
If then it were possible for a man to renounce
himself and all things, and to live as wholly and purely in true obedience, as
Christ did in His human nature, such a man were quite without sin, and were one
thing with Christ, and the same by grace which Christ was by nature. But it is
said this cannot be. So also it is said: “There is none without sin.” But be
that as it may, this much is certain; that the nearer we are to perfect
obedience, the less we sin, and the farther from it we are, the more we sin. In
brief: whether a man be good, better, or best of all; bad, worse, or worst of
all; sinful or saved before God; it all lieth in this matter of obedience.
Therefore it hath been said: the more of Self and Me, the more of sin and
wickedness. So likewise it hath been said: the more the Self, the I, the Me,
the Mine, that is, self-seeking and selfishness, abate in a man, the more doth
God's I, that is, God Himself, increase in him.
Now, if all mankind abode in true obedience, there
would be no grief nor sorrow. For if it were so, all men would be at one, and
none would vex or harm another; so also, none would lead a life or do any deed
contrary to God's will. Whence then should grief or sorrow arise? But now alas!
all men, nay the whole world lieth in disobedience! Now were a man simply and
wholly obedient as Christ was, all disobedience were to him a sharp and bitter
pain. But though all men were against him, they could neither shake nor trouble
him, for while in this obedience a man were one with God, and God Himself were
one with the man.
Behold now all disobedience is contrary to God, and
nothing else. In truth, no Thing is contrary to God; no creature nor creature's
work, nor anything that we can name or think of is contrary to God or
displeasing to Him, but only disobedience and the disobedient man. In short,
all that is, is well-pleasing and good in God's eyes, saving only the
disobedient man. But he is so displeasing and hateful to God and grieveth Him
so sore, that if it were possible for human nature to die a hundred deaths, God
would willingly suffer them all for one disobedient man, that He might slay
disobedience in him, and that obedience might be born again.
Behold! albeit no man may be so single and perfect
in this obedience as Christ was, yet it is possible to every man to approach so
near thereunto as to be rightly called Godlike, and “a partaker of the divine
nature.”[21] And the
nearer a man cometh thereunto, and the more Godlike and divine he becometh, the
more he hateth all disobedience, sin, evil and unrighteousness, and the worse
they grieve him. Disobedience and sin are the same thing, for there is no sin
but disobedience, and what is done of disobedience is all sin. Therefore all we
have to do is to keep ourselves from disobedience.
How we are not to take unto ourselves what we
have done well: but only what we have done amiss.
Behold!
now it is reported there be some who vainly think and say that they are so
wholly dead to self and quit of it, as to have reached and abide in a state
where they suffer nothing and are moved by nothing, just as if all men were
living in obedience, or as if there were no creatures. And thus they profess to
continue always in an even temper of mind, so that nothing cometh amiss to
them, howsoever things fall out, well or ill. Nay verily! the matter standeth
not so, but as we have said. It might be thus, if all men were brought into
obedience; but until then, it cannot be.
But it may be asked: Are not we to be separate from
all things, and neither to take unto ourselves evil nor good? I answer, no one
shall take goodness unto himself, for that belongeth to God and His goodness
only; but thanks be unto the man, and everlasting reward and blessings, who is
fit and ready to be a dwelling and tabernacle of the Eternal Goodness and
Godhead, wherein God may exert His power, and will and work without hindrance.
But if any now will excuse himself for sin, by refusing to take what is evil
unto himself, and laying the guilt thereof upon the Evil Spirit, and thus make
himself out to be quite pure and innocent (as our first Parents Adam and Eve
did while they were yet in paradise; when each laid the guilt upon the other),
he hath no right at all to do this; for it is written, “There is none without
sin.” Therefore I say; reproach, shame, loss, woe, and eternal damnation be to
the man who is fit and ready and willing that the Evil Spirit and falsehood,
lies and all untruthfulness, wickedness and other evil things should have their
will and pleasure, word and work in him, and make him their house and
habitation.
How that the Life of Christ is the noblest
and best Life that ever hath been or can be, and how a careless Life of false
Freedom is the worst Life that can be.
Of
a truth we ought to know and believe that there is no life so noble and good
and well pleasing to God, as the life of Christ, and yet it is to nature and
selfishness the bitterest life. A life of carelessness and freedom is to nature
and the Self and the Me, the sweetest and pleasantest life, but it is not the
best; and in some men may become the worst. But though Christ's life be the
most bitter of all, yet it is to be preferred above all. Hereby shall ye mark
this: There is an inward sight which hath power to perceive the One true Good,
and that it is neither this nor that, but that of which St. Paul saith; “When
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”[22]
By this he meaneth, that the Whole and Perfect excelleth all the fragments, and
that all which is in part and imperfect, is as nought compared to the Perfect.
Thus likewise all knowledge of the parts is swallowed up when the Whole is
known; and where that Good is known, it cannot but be longed for and loved so
greatly, that all other love wherewith the man hath loved himself and other
things, fadeth away. And that inward sight likewise perceiveth what is best and
noblest in all things, and loveth it in the one true Good, and only for the
sake of that true Good.
Behold! where there is this inward sight, the man
perceiveth of a truth, that Christ's life is the best and noblest life, and
therefore the most to be preferred, and he willingly accepteth and endureth it,
without a question or a complaint, whether it please or offend nature or other
men, whether he like or dislike it, find it sweet or bitter and the like. And
therefore wherever this Perfect and true Good is known, there also the life of
Christ must be led, until the death of the body. And he who vainly thinketh
otherwise is deceived, and he who saith otherwise, lieth, and in what man the
life of Christ is not, of him the true Good and eternal Truth will nevermore be
known.
How we cannot come to the true Light and
Christ's Life, by much Questioning or Reading, or by high natural Skill and
Reason, but by truly renouncing ourselves and all Things.
Let
no one suppose, that we may attain to this true light and perfect knowledge, or
life of Christ, by much questioning, or by hearsay, or by reading and study,
nor yet by high skill and great learning. Yea, so long as a man taketh account
of anything which is this or that, whether it be himself, or any other
creature; or doeth anything, or frameth a purpose, for the sake of his own
likings or desires, or opinions, or ends, he cometh not unto the life of
Christ. This hath Christ Himself declared, for He saith: “If any man will come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”[23]
“He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.”[24]
And if he “hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”[25]
He meaneth it thus: “He who doth not forsake and part with everything, can
never know My eternal truth, nor attain unto My life.” And though this had
never been declared unto us, yet the truth herself sayeth it, for it is so of a
truth. But so long as a man clingeth unto the elements and fragments of this
world (and above all to himself), and holdeth converse with them, and maketh
great account of them, he is deceived and blinded, and perceiveth what is good
no further than as it is most convenient and pleasant to himself and profitable
to his own ends. These he holdeth to be the highest good and loveth above all.
Thus he never cometh to the truth.
How, seeing that the Life of Christ is most
bitter to Nature and Self, Nature will have none of it, and chooseth a false
careless Life, as is most convenient to her.
Now,
since the life of Christ is every way most bitter to nature and the Self and
the Me (for in the true life of Christ, the Self and the Me and nature must be
forsaken and lost, and die altogether), therefore, in each of us, nature hath a
horror of it, and thinketh it evil and unjust and a folly, and graspeth after
such a life as shall be most comfortable and pleasant to herself, and saith,
and believeth also in her blindness, that such a life is the best possible.
Now, nothing is so comfortable and pleasant to nature, as a free, careless way
of life, therefore she clingeth to that, and taketh enjoyment in herself and
her own powers, and looketh only to her own peace and comfort and the like. And
this happeneth most of all, where there are high natural gifts of reason, for
that soareth upwards in its own light and by its own power, till at last it
cometh to think itself the true Eternal Light, and giveth itself out as such,
and is thus deceived in itself, and deceiveth other people along with it, who
know no better, and also are thereunto inclined.
How a friend of Christ willingly fulfilleth
by his outward Works, such Things as must be and ought to be, and doth not
concern himself with the rest.
Now,
it may be asked, what is the state of a man who followeth the true Light to the
utmost of his power? I answer truly, it will never be declared aright, for he
who is not such a man, can neither understand nor know it, and he who is,
knoweth it indeed; but he cannot utter it, for it is unspeakable. Therefore let
him who would know it, give his whole diligence that he may enter therein; then
will he see and find what hath never been uttered by man's lips. However, I
believe that such a man hath liberty as to his outward walk and conversation,
so long as they consist with what must be or ought to be; but they may not
consist with what he merely willeth to be. But oftentimes a man maketh to
himself many must-be's and ought-to-be's which are false. The which ye may see
hereby, that when a man is moved by his pride or covetousness or other evil
dispositions, to do or leave undone anything, he ofttimes saith, “It must needs
be so, and ought to be so.” Or if he is driven to, or held back from anything
by the desire to find favour in men's eyes, or by love, friendship, enmity, or
the lusts and appetites of his body, he saith, “It must needs be so, and ought
to be so.” Yet behold, that is utterly false. Had we no must-be's, nor
ought-to-be's, but such as God and the Truth show us, and constrain us to, we
should have less, forsooth, to order and do than now; for we make to ourselves
much disquietude and difficulty which we might well be spared and raised above.
How sometimes the Spirit of God, and
sometimes also the Evil Spirit may possess a Man and have the mastery over him.
It
is written that sometimes the Devil and his spirit do so enter into and possess
a man, that he knoweth not what he doeth and leaveth undone, and hath no power
over himself, but the Evil Spirit hath the mastery over him, and doeth and
leaveth undone in, and with, and through, and by the man what he will. It is
true in a sense that all the world is subject to and possessed with the Evil
Spirit, that is, with lies, falsehood, and other vices and evil ways; this also
cometh of the Evil Spirit, but in a different sense,
Now, a man who should be in like manner possessed by
the Spirit of God, so that he should not know what he doeth or leaveth undone,
and have no power over himself, but the will and Spirit of God should have the
mastery over him, and work, and do, and leave undone with him and by him, what
and as God would; such a man were one of those of whom St. Paul saith: “For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,”[26]
and they “are not under the law, but under grace,”[27]
and to whom Christ saith: “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your
Father which speaketh in you.”[28]
But I fear that for one who is truly possessed with
the Spirit of God, there are a hundred thousand or an innumerable multitude
possessed with the Evil Spirit. This is because men have more likeness to the
Evil Spirit than to God. For the Self, the I, the Me and the like, all belong
to the Evil Spirit, and therefore it is, that he is an Evil Spirit. Behold one
or two words can utter all that hath been said by these many words: “Be simply
and wholly bereft of Self.” But by these many words, the matter hath been more
fully sifted, proved, and set forth.
Now men say, “I am in no wise prepared for this
work, and therefore it cannot be wrought in me,” and thus they find an excuse,
so that they neither are ready nor in the way to be so. And truly there is no
one to blame for this but themselves. For if a man were looking and striving
after nothing but to find a preparation in all things, and diligently gave his
whole mind to see how he might become prepared; verily God would well prepare
him, for God giveth as much care and earnestness and love to the preparing of a
man, as to the pouring in of His Spirit when the man is prepared.
Yet there be certain means thereunto, as the saying
is, “To learn an art which thou knowest not, four things are needful.”[29]
The first and most needful of all is, a great desire and diligence and constant
endeavour to learn the art. And where this is wanting, the art will never be
learned. The second is, a copy or ensample by which thou mayest learn. The
third is to give earnest heed to the master, and watch how he worketh, and to
be obedient to him in all things, and to trust him and follow him. The fourth
is to put thy own hand to the work, and practise it with all industry. But
where one of these four is wanting, the art will never be learned and mastered.
So likewise is it with this preparation. For he who hath the first, that is, thorough
diligence and constant, persevering desire towards his end, will also seek and
find all that appertaineth thereunto, or is serviceable and profitable to it.
But he who hath not that earnestness and diligence, love and desire, seeketh
not, and therefore findeth not, and therefore remaineth ever unprepared. And
therefore he never attaineth unto that end.
He who will submit himself to God and be
obedient to Him, must be ready to bear with all Things; to wit, God, himself,
and all Creatures, and must be obedient to them all whether he have to suffer
or to do.
There
be some who talk of other ways and preparations to this end, and say we must
lie still under God's hand, and be obedient and resigned and submit to Him.
This is true; for all this would be perfected in a man who should attain to the
uttermost that can be reached in this present time. But if a man ought and is
willing to lie still under God's hand, he must and ought also to be still under
all things, whether they come from God himself, or the creatures, nothing
excepted. And he who would be obedient, resigned and submissive to God, must
and ought to be also resigned, obedient and submissive to all things, in a
spirit of yielding, and not of resistance, and take them in silence, resting on
the hidden foundations of his soul, and having a secret inward patience, that
enableth him to take all chances or crosses willingly, and whatever befalleth,
neither to call for nor desire any redress, or deliverance, or resistance, or
revenge, but always in a loving, sincere humility to cry, “Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do!”
Behold! this were a good path to that which is Best,
and a noble and blessed preparation for the farthest goal which a man may reach
in this present time. This is the lovely life of Christ, for He walked in the
aforesaid paths perfectly and wholly unto the end of His bodily life on earth.
Therefore there is no other and better way or preparation to the joyful life of
Jesus Christ, than this same course, and to exercise oneself therein, as much
as may be. And of what belongeth thereunto we have already said somewhat; nay,
all that we have here or elsewhere said and written, is but a way or means to
that end. But what the end is, knoweth no man to declare. But let him who would
know it, follow my counsel and take the right path thereunto, which is the
humble life of Jesus Christ; let him strive after that with unwearied
perseverance, and so, without doubt, he shall come to that end which endureth
for ever. “For he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”[30]
How that four Things are needful before a Man
can receive divine Truth and be possessed with the Spirit of God.[31]
Moreover
there are yet other ways to the lovely life of Christ, besides those we have
spoken of: to wit, that God and man should be wholly united, so that it can be
said of a truth, that God and man are one. This cometh to Pass on this wise.
Where the Truth always reigneth, so that true perfect God and true perfect man
are at one, and man so giveth place to God, that God Himself is there and yet
the man too, and this same unity worketh continually, and doeth and leaveth
undone without any I, and Me, and Mine, and the like; behold, there is Christ,
and nowhere else. Now, seeing that here there is true perfect manhood, so there
is a perfect perceiving and feeling of pleasure and pain, liking and disliking,
sweetness and bitterness, joy and sorrow, and all that can be perceived and
felt within and without. And seeing that God is here made man, He is also able
to perceive and feel love and hatred, evil and good and the like. As a man who
is not God, feeleth and taketh note of all that giveth him pleasure and pain,
and it pierceth him to the heart, especially what offendeth him; so is it also
when God and man are one, and yet God is the man; there everything is perceived
and felt that is contrary to God and man. And since there man becometh nought,
and God alone is everything, so is it with that which is contrary to man, and a
sorrow to him. And this must hold true of God so long as a bodily and
substantial life endureth.
Furthermore, mark ye, that the one Being in whom God
and man are united, standeth free of himself and of all things, and whatever is
in him is there for God's sake and not for man's, or the creature's. For it is
the property of God to be without this and that, and without Self and Me, and
without equal or fellow; but it is the nature and property of the creature to
seek itself and its own things, and this and that, here and there; and in all
that it doeth and leaveth undone its desire is to its own advantage and profit.
Now where a creature or a man forsaketh and cometh out of himself and his own
things, there God entereth in with His own, that is, with Himself.
Of two evil Fruits that do spring up from the
Seed of the Evil Spirit, and are two Sisters who love to dwell together. The
one is called spiritual Pride and Highmindedness, the other is false, lawless
Freedom.
Now,
after that a man hath walked in all the ways that lead him unto the truth, and
exercised himself therein, not sparing his labour; now, as often and as long as
he dreameth that his work is altogether finished, and he is by this time quite
dead to the world, and come out from Self and given up to God alone, behold!
the Devil cometh and soweth his seed in the man's heart. From this seed spring
two fruits; the one is spiritual fulness or pride, the other is false, lawless
freedom. These are two sisters who love to be together. Now, it beginneth on this
wise: the Devil puffeth up the man, till he thinketh himself to have climbed
the topmost pinnacle, and to have come so near to heaven, that he no longer
needeth Scripture, nor teaching, nor this nor that, but is altogether raised
above any need. Whereupon there ariseth a false peace and satisfaction with
himself, and then it followeth that he saith or thinketh: “Yea, now I am above
all other men, and know and understand more than any one in the world;
therefore it is certainly just and reasonable that I should be the lord and
commander of all creatures, and that all creatures, and especially all men,
should serve me and be subject unto me.” And then he seeketh and desireth the
same, and taketh it gladly from all creatures, especially men, and thinketh himself
well worthy of all this, and that it is his due, and looketh on men as if they
were the beasts of the field, and thinketh himself worthy of all that
ministereth to his body and life and nature, in profit, or joy, or pleasure, or
even pastime and amusement, and he seeketh and taketh it wherever he findeth
opportunity. And whatever is done or can be done for him, seemeth him all too
little and too poor, for he thinketh himself worthy of still more and greater
honour than can be rendered to him. And of all the men who serve him and are
subject to him, even if they be downright thieves and murderers, he saith
nevertheless, that they have faithful, noble hearts, and have great love and
faithfulness to the truth and to poor men. And such men are praised by him, and
he seeketh them and followeth after them wherever they be. But he who doth not
order himself according to the will of these high-minded men, nor is subject
unto them, is not sought after by them, nay, more likely blamed and spoken ill
of, even though he were as holy as St. Peter himself. And seeing that this
proud and puffed-up spirit thinketh that she needeth neither Scripture, nor
instruction, nor anything of the kind, therefore she giveth no heed to the
admonitions, order, laws and precepts of the holy Christian Church, nor to the
Sacraments, but mocketh at them and at all men who walk according to these
ordinances and hold them in reverence. Hereby we may plainly see that those two
sisters dwell together.
Moreover since this sheer pride thinketh to know and
understand more than all men besides, therefore she chooseth to prate more than
all other men, and would fain have her opinions and speeches to be alone
regarded and listened to, and counteth all that others think and say to be
wrong, and holdeth it in derision as a folly.
Touching Poorness of Spirit and true Humility
and whereby we may discern the true and lawful free Men whom the Truth hath
made free.
But
it is quite otherwise where there is poorness of spirit, and true humility; and
it is so because it is found and known of a truth that a man, of himself and
his own power, is nothing, hath nothing, can do and is capable of nothing but
only infirmity and evil. Hence followeth that the man findeth himself
altogether unworthy of all that hath been or ever will be done for him, by God
or the creatures, and that he is a debtor to God and also to all the creatures
in God's stead, both to bear with, and to labour for, and to serve them. And
therefore he doth not in any wise stand up for his own rights, but from the
humility of his heart he saith, “It is just and reasonable that God and all
creatures should be against me, and have a right over me, and to me, and that I
should not be against any one, nor have a right to anything.” Hence it
followeth that the man doth not and will not crave or beg for anything, either
from God or the creatures, beyond mere needful things, and for those only with
shamefacedness, as a favour and not as a right. And he will not minister unto
or gratify his body or any of his natural desires, beyond what is needful, nor
allow that any should help or serve him except in case of necessity, and then
always in trembling; for he hath no right to anything and therefore he thinketh
himself unworthy of anything. So likewise all his own discourse, ways, words
and works seem to this man a thing of nought and a folly. Therefore he speaketh
little, and doth not take upon himself to admonish or rebuke any, unless he be
constrained thereto by love or faithfulness towards God, and even then he doth
it in fear, and so little as may be.
Moreover, when a man hath this poor and humble
spirit, he cometh to see and understand aright, how that all men are bent upon
themselves, and inclined to evil and sin, and that on this account it is
needful and profitable that there be order, customs, law and precepts, to the
end that the blindness and foolishness of men may be corrected, and that vice
and wickedness may be kept under, and constrained to seemliness. For without
ordinances, men would be much more mischievous and ungovernable than dogs and
cattle. And few have come to the knowledge of the truth but what have begun
with holy practices and ordinances, and exercised themselves therein so long as
they knew nothing more nor better.
Therefore one who is poor in spirit and of a humble
mind doth not despise or make light of law, order, precepts and holy customs,
nor yet of those who observe and cleave wholly to them, but with loving pity
and gentle sorrow, crieth: “Almighty Father, Thou Eternal Truth, I make my
lament unto Thee, and it grieveth Thy Spirit too, that through man's blindness,
infirmity, and sin, that is made needful and must be, which in deed and truth
were neither needful nor right.” For those who are perfect are under no law.
So order, laws, precepts and the like are merely an
admonition to men who understand nothing better and know and perceive not
wherefore all law and order is ordained. And the perfect accept the law along
with such ignorant men as understand and know nothing better, and practise it
with them, to the intent that they may be restrained thereby, and kept from
evil ways, or if it be possible, brought to something higher.
Behold! all that we have said of poverty and
humility is so of a truth, and we have the proof and witness thereof in the
pure life of Christ, and in His words. For He both practised and fulfilled
every work of true humility and all other virtues, as shineth forth in His holy
life, and He saith also expressly: “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”[32]
Moreover He did not despise and set at nought the law and the commandments, nor
yet the men who are under the law. He saith: “I am not come to destroy the law
or the prophets, but to fulfil.” But he saith further, that to keep them is not
enough, we must press forward to what is higher and better, as is indeed true.
He saith: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”[33]
For the law forbiddeth evil works, but Christ condemneth also evil thoughts;
the law alloweth us to take vengeance on our enemies, but Christ commandeth us
to love them. The law forbiddeth not the good things of this world, but He
counselleth us to despise them. And He hath set His seal upon all He said, with
His own holy life; for He taught nothing that He did not fulfil in work, and He
kept the law and was subject unto it to the end of His mortal life. Likewise
St. Paul saith: “Christ was made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law.”[34] That is,
that He might bring them to something higher and nearer to Himself. He said
again, “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”[35]
In a word: in Christ's life and words and works, we
find nothing but true, pure humility and poverty such as we have set forth. And
therefore where God dwelleth in a man, and the man is a true follower of
Christ, it will be, and must be, and ought to be the same. But where there is
pride, and a haughty spirit, and a light careless mind, Christ is not, nor any
true follower of His.
Christ said: “My soul is troubled, even unto death.”
He meaneth His bodily death. That is to say: from the time that He was born of
Mary, until His death on the cross, He had not one joyful day, but only
trouble, sorrow and contradiction. Therefore it is just and reasonable that His
servants should be even as their Master. Christ saith also: “Blessed are the
poor in spirit” (that is, those who are truly humble), “for theirs is the
kingdom of Heaven.” And thus we find it of a truth, where God is made man. For
in Christ and in all His true followers, there must needs be thorough humility
and poorness of spirit, a lowly retiring disposition, and a heart laden with a
secret sorrow and mourning, so long as this mortal life lasteth. And he who
dreameth otherwise is deceived, and deceiveth others with him as aforesaid.
Therefore nature and Self always avoid this life, and cling to a life of false
freedom and ease, as we have said.
Behold! now cometh an Adam or an Evil Spirit,
wishing to justify himself and make excuse, and saith: “Thou wilt almost have
it that Christ was bereft of self and the like, yet He spake often of Himself,
and glorified Himself in this and that.” Answer: when a man in whom the truth
worketh, hath and ought to have a will towards anything, his will and endeavour
and works are for no end, but that the truth may be seen and manifested; and
this will was in Christ, and to this end, words and works were needful. And
what Christ did because it was the most profitable and best means thereunto, He
no more took unto Himself than anything else that happened. Dost thou say now:
“Then there was a Wherefore in Christ”? I answer, if thou wert to ask the sun,
“Why shinest thou?” he would say: “I must shine, and cannot do otherwise, for
it is my nature and property; but this my property, and the light I give, is
not of myself, and I do not call it mine.” So likewise is it with God and
Christ and all who are godly and belong unto God. In them is no willing, nor
working nor desiring but has for its end, goodness as goodness, for the sake of
goodness, and they have no other Wherefore than this.
How we are to take Christ's Words when He
bade forsake all Things; and wherein the Union with the Divine Will standeth.
Now,
according to what hath been said, ye must observe that when we say, as Christ
also saith, that we ought to resign and forsake all things, this is not to be
taken in the sense that a man is neither to do nor to purpose anything; for a
man must always have something to do and to order so long as he liveth. But we
are to understand by it that the union with God standeth not in any man's powers,
in his working or abstaining, perceiving or knowing, nor in that of all the
creatures taken together.
Now what is this union? It is that we should
be of a truth purely, simply, and wholly at one with the One Eternal Will of
God, or altogether without will, so that the created will should flow out into
the Eternal Will, and be swallowed up and lost therein, so that the Eternal
Will alone should do and leave undone in us. Now mark what may help or further
us towards this end. Behold, neither exercises, nor words, nor works, nor any
creature nor creature's work can do this. In this wise therefore must we
renounce and forsake all things, that we must not imagine or suppose that any
words, works, or exercises, any skill or cunning or any created thing can help
or serve us thereto. Therefore we must suffer these things to be what they are,
and enter into the union with God. Yet outward things must be, and we must do
and refrain so far as is necessary, especially we must sleep and wake, walk and
stand still, speak and be silent and much more of the like. These must go on so
long as we live.
How, after a Union with the Divine Will, the
inward Man standeth immoveable, the while the outward Man is moved hither and
thither.
Now,
when this union truly cometh to pass and becometh established, the inward man
standeth henceforward immoveable in this union; and God suffereth the outward
man to be moved hither and thither, from this to that, of such things as are
necessary and right. So that the outward man saith in sincerity “I have no will
to be or not to be, to live or die, to know or not to know, to do or to leave
undone and the like; but I am ready for all that is to be, or ought to be, and
obedient thereunto, whether I have to do or to suffer.” And thus the outward
man hath no Wherefore or purpose, but only to do his part to further the
Eternal Will. For it is perceived of a truth, that the inward man shall stand
immoveable, and that it is needful for the outward man to be moved. And if the
inward man have any Wherefore in the actions of the outward man, he saith only
that such things must be and ought to be, as are ordained by the Eternal Will.
And where God Himself dwelleth in the man, it is thus; as we plainly see in
Christ. Moreover, where there is this union, which is the offspring of a Divine
light and dwelleth in its beams, there is no spiritual pride or irreverent
spirit, but boundless humility, and a lowly broken heart; also an honest
blameless walk, justice, peace, content, and all that is of virtue must needs
be there. Where they are not, there is no right union, as we have said. For
just as neither this thing nor that can bring about or further this union, so
there is nothing which hath power to frustrate or hinder it, save the man
himself with his self-will, that doeth him this great wrong. Of this be well
assured.
How a Man may not attain so high before Death
as not to be moved or touched by outward Things.
There
be some who affirm, that a man, while in this present time, may and ought to be
above being touched by outward things, and in all respects as Christ was after
His resurrection. This they try to prove and establish by Christ's words: “I go
before you into Galilee there; shall ye see Me.”[36]
And again, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.”[37]
These sayings they interpret thus: “As ye have seen Me, and been followers of
Me, in My mortal body and life, so also it behoveth you to see Me and follow
Me, as I go before you into Galilee; that is to say, into a state in which
nothing hath power to move or grieve the soul; on which state ye shall enter,
and live and continue therein, before that ye have suffered and gone through
your bodily death. And as ye see Me having flesh and bones, and not liable to
suffer, so shall ye likewise, while yet in the body and having your mortal
nature, cease to feel outward things, were it even the death of the body.”
Now, I answer, in the first place, to this affirmation,
that Christ did not mean that a man should or could attain unto this state,
unless he have first gone through and suffered all that Christ did. Now, Christ
did not attain thereunto, before He had passed through and suffered His natural
death, and what things appertain thereto. Therefore no man can or ought to come
to it so long as he is mortal and liable to suffer. For if such a state were
the noblest and best, and if it were possible and right to attain to it, as
aforesaid, in this present time, then it would have been attained by Christ;
for the life of Christ is the best and noblest, the worthiest and loveliest in
God's sight that ever was or will be. Therefore if it was not and could not be
so with Christ, it will never be so with any man. Therefore though some may
imagine and say that such a life is the best and noblest life, yet it is not
so.
On what wise we may came to be beyond and
above all Custom, Order, Law, Precepts and the like.
Some
say further, that we can and ought to get beyond all virtue, all custom and
order, all law, precepts and seemliness, so that all these should be laid
aside, thrown off and set at nought. Herein there is some truth, and some
falsehood. Behold and mark: Christ was greater than His own life, and above all
virtue, custom, ordinances and the like, and so also is the Evil Spirit above
them, but with a difference. For Christ was and is above them on this wise,
that His words, and works, and ways, His doings and refrainings, His speech and
silence, His sufferings, and whatsoever happened to Him, were not forced upon
Him, neither did He need them, neither were they of any profit to Himself. It
was and is the same with all manner of virtue, order, laws, decency, and the
like; for all that may be reached by them is already in Christ to perfection.
In this sense, that saying of St. Paul is true and receiveth its fulfilment,
“As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” “and are
not under the law, but under grace.”[38]
That meaneth, man need not teach them what they are to do or abstain from; for
their Master, that is, the Spirit of God, shall verily teach them what is
needful for them to know. Likewise they do not need that men should give them
precepts, or command them to do right and not to do wrong, and the like; for
the same admirable Master who teacheth them what is good or not good, what is
higher and lower, and in short leadeth them into all truth, He reigneth also
within them, and biddeth them to hold fast that which is good, and to let the
rest go, and to Him they give ear. Behold! in this sense they need not to wait
upon any law, either to teach or to command them. In another sense also they
need no law; namely, in order to seek or win something thereby or get any
advantage for themselves. For whatever help toward eternal life, or furtherance
in the way everlasting, they might obtain from the aid, or counsel, or words,
or works of any creature, they possess already beforehand. Behold! in this
sense also it is true, that we may rise above all law and virtue, and also
above the works and knowledge and powers of any creature.
How we are not to cast off the Life of
Christ, but practise it diligently, and walk in it until Death
But
that other thing which they affirm, how that we ought to throw off and cast
aside the life of Christ, and all laws and commandments, customs and order and
the like, and pay no heed to them, but despise and make light of them, is
altogether false and a lie. Now some may say; “Since neither Christ nor others
can ever gain anything, either by a Christian life, or by all these exercises
and ordinances, and the like, nor turn them to any account, seeing that they
possess already all that can be had through them, what cause is there why they
should not henceforth eschew them altogether? Must they still retain and
practise them?”
Behold, ye must look narrowly into this matter.
There are two kinds of Light; the one is true and the other is false. The true
light is that Eternal Light which is God; or else it is a created light, but
yet divine, which is called grace. And these are both the true Light. So is the
false light Nature or of Nature. But why is the first true, and the second
false? This we can better perceive than say or write. To God, as Godhead,
appertain neither will, nor knowledge, nor manifestation, nor anything that we
can name, or say, or conceive. But to God as God,[39]
it belongeth to express Himself, and know and love Himself, and to reveal
Himself to Himself; and all this without any creature. And all this resteth in
God as a substance but not as a working, so long as there is no creature. And
out of this expressing and revealing of Himself unto Himself, ariseth the
distinction of Persons. But when God as God is made man, or where God dwelleth
in a godly man, or one who is “made a partaker of the divine nature,” in such a
man somewhat appertaineth unto God which is His own, and belongeth to Him only
and not to the creature. And without the creature, this would lie in His own
Self as a Substance or well-spring, but would not be manifested or wrought out
into deeds. Now God will have it to be exercised and clothed in a form, for it
is there only to be wrought out and executed. What else is it for? Shall it lie
idle? What then would it profit? As good were it that it had never been; nay
better, for what is of no use existeth in vain, and that is abhorred by God and
Nature. However God will have it wrought out, and this cannot come to pass
(which it ought to do) without the creature. Nay, if there ought not to be, and
were not this and that -- works, and a world full of real things, and the like,
-- what were God Himself, and what had He to do, and whose God would He be?
Here we must turn and stop, or we might follow this matter and grope along
until we knew not where we were, nor how we should find our way out again.
How God is a true, simple, perfect Good, and
how He is a Light and a Reason and all Virtues, and how what is highest and
best, that is, God, ought to be most loved by us.
In
short, I would have you to understand, that God (in so far as He is good) is
goodness as goodness, and not this or that good. But here mark one thing.
Behold! what is sometimes here and sometimes there is not everywhere, and above
all things and places; so also, what is to-day, or to-morrow, is not always, at
all times, and above all time; and what is some thing, this or that, is not all
things and above all things. Now behold, if God were some thing, this or that,
He would not be all in all, and above all, as He is; and so also, He would not
be true Perfection. Therefore God is, and yet He is neither this nor that which
the creature, as creature, can perceive, name, conceive or express. Therefore
if God (in so far as He is good) were this or that good, He would not be all
good, and therefore He would not be the One Perfect Good, which He is. Now God
is also a Light and a Reason,[40]
the property of which is to give light and shine, and take knowledge; and inasmuch
as God is Light and Reason, He must give light and perceive. And all this
giving and perceiving of light existeth in God without the creature; not as a
work fulfilled, but as a substance or well-spring. But for it to flow out into
a work, something really done and accomplished,[41]
there must be creatures through whom this can come to pass. Look ye: where this
Reason and Light is at work in a creature, it perceiveth and knoweth and
teacheth what itself is; how that it is good in itself and neither this thing
nor that thing. This Light and Reason knoweth and teacheth men, that it is a
true, simple, perfect Good, which is neither this nor that special good, but
comprehendeth every kind of good.
Now, having declared that this Light teacheth the
One Good, what doth it teach concerning it? Give heed to this. Behold! even as
God is the one Good and Light and Reason, so is He also Will and Love and
Justice and Truth, and in short all virtues. But all these are in God one
Substance, and none of them can be put in exercise and wrought out into deeds
without the creature, for in God, without the creature, they are only as a
Substance or well-spring, not as a work. But where the One, who is yet all
these, layeth hold of a creature, and taketh possession of it, and directeth
and maketh use of it, so that He may perceive in it somewhat of His own,
behold, in so far as He is Will and Love, He is taught of Himself, seeing that
He is also Light and Reason, and He willeth nothing but that One thing which He
is.
Behold! in such a creature, there is no longer
anything willed or loved but that which is good, because it is good, and for no
other reason than that it is good, not because it is this or that, or pleaseth
or displeaseth such a one, is pleasant or painful, bitter or sweet, or what
not. All this is not asked about nor looked at. And such a creature doth
nothing for its own sake, or in its own name, for it hath quitted all Self, and
Me, and Mine, and We and Ours, and the like, and these are departed. It no
longer saith, “I love myself, or this or that, or what not.” And if you were to
ask Love, “What lovest thou?” she would answer, “I love Goodness.” “Wherefore?”
“Because it is good, and for the sake of Goodness.” So it is good and just and
right to deem that if there were ought better than God, that must be loved
better than God. And thus God loveth not Himself as Himself, but as Goodness.
And if there were, and He knew, ought better than God, He would love that and
not Himself. Thus the Self and the Me are wholly sundered from God, and belong
to Him only in so far as they are necessary for Him to be a Person.
Behold! all that we have said must indeed come to
pass in a Godlike man, or one who is truly “made a partaker of the divine
nature”; for else he would not be truly such.
How when a Man is made truly Godlike, his
Love is pure and unmixed, and he loveth all Creatures, and doth his best for
them.
Hence
it followeth, that in a truly Godlike man, his love is pure and unmixed, and
full of kindness, insomuch that he cannot but love in sincerity all men and
things, and wish well, and do good to them, and rejoice in their welfare. Yea,
let them do what they will to such a man, do him wrong or kindness, bear him
love or hatred or the like, yea, if one could kill such a man a hundred times
over, and he always came to life again, he could not but love the very man who
had so often slain him, although he had been treated so unjustly, and wickedly,
and cruelly by him, and could not but wish well, and do well to him, and show
him the very greatest kindness in his power, if the other would but only
receive and take it at his hands. The proof and witness whereof may be seen in
Christ; for He said to Judas, when he betrayed Him: “Friend, wherefore art thou
come?” Just as if He had said: “Thou hatest Me, and art Mine enemy, yet I love
thee and am thy friend. Thou desirest and rejoicest in My affliction, and dost
the worst thou canst unto Me; yet I desire and wish thee all good, and would
fain give it thee, and do it for thee, if thou wouldst but take and receive
it.” As though God in human nature were saying: “I am pure, simple Goodness,
and therefore I cannot will, or desire, or rejoice in, or do or give anything
but goodness. If I am to reward thee for thy evil and wickedness, I must do it
with goodness, for I am and have nothing else.” Hence therefore God, in a man
who is “made partaker of His nature,” desireth and taketh no revenge for all
the wrong that is or can be done unto Him. This we see in Christ, when He said:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Likewise it is God's property that He doth not
constrain any by force to do or not to do anything, but He alloweth every man
to do and leave undone according to his will, whether it be good or bad, and
resisteth none. This too we see in Christ, who would not resist or defend
Himself when His enemies laid hands on Him. And when Peter would have defended
Him, He said unto Peter: “Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which My Father
hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” Neither may a man who is made a partaker
of the divine nature, oppress or grieve any one. That is, it never entereth
into his thoughts, or intents, or wishes, to cause pain or distress to any,
either by deed or neglect, by speech or silence.
How that if a Man will attain to that which
is best, he must forswear his own Will; and he who helpeth a Man to his own
Will helpeth him to the worst Thing he can.
Some
may say: “Now since God willeth and desireth and doeth the best that may be to
every one, He ought so to help each man and order things for him, that they
should fall out according to his will and fulfil his desires, so that one might
be a Pope, another a Bishop, and so forth.” Be assured, he who helpeth a man to
his own will, helpeth him to the worst that he can. For the more a man
followeth after his own self-will, and self-will groweth in him, the farther
off is he from God, the true Good, for nothing burneth in hell but self-will.
Therefore it hath been said, “Put off thine own will, and there will be no
hell.” Now God is very willing to help a man and bring him to that which is
best in itself, and is of all things the best for man. But to this end, all
self-will must depart, as we have said. And God would fain give man His help
and counsel thereunto, for so long as a man is seeking his own good, he doth
not seek what is best for him, and will never find it. For a man's highest good
would be and truly is, that he should not seek himself nor his own things, nor
be his own end in any respect, either in things spiritual or things natural,
but should seek only the praise and glory of God and His holy will. This doth
God teach and admonish us. Let him therefore who wisheth that God should help
him to what is best, and best for him, give diligent heed to God's counsels and
teachings, and obey His commandments; thus, and not else, will he have, and
hath already, God's help. Now God teacheth and admonisheth man to forsake
himself and all things, and to follow Him only. “For he who loveth his soul,”[42]
that is himself, and will guard it and keep it, “he shall lose it”; that is, he
who seeketh himself and his own advantage in all things, in so doing loseth his
soul. “But he who hateth his soul for My sake shall keep it unto life eternal”;
that is, he who forsaketh himself and his own things, and giveth up his own
will, and fulfilleth God's will, his soul will be kept and preserved unto Life
Eternal.
How there is deep and true Humility and
Poorness of Spirit in a Man who is “made a Partaker of the Divine Nature.”
Moreover,
in a man who is “made a partaker of the divine nature,” there is a thorough and
deep humility, and where this is not, the man hath not been “made a partaker of
the divine nature.” So Christ taught in words and fulfilled in works. And this
humility springeth up in the man, because in the true Light he seeth (as it
also really is) that Substance, Life, Perceiving, Knowledge, Power, and what is
thereof, do all belong to the True Good, and not to the creature; but that the
creature of itself is nothing and hath nothing, and that when it turneth itself
aside from the True Good in will or in works, nothing is left to it but pure
evil. And therefore it is true to the very letter, that the creature, as
creature, hath no worthiness in itself, and no right to anything, and no claim
over any one, either over God or over the creature, and that it ought to give
itself up to God and submit to Him because this is just. And this is the
chiefest and most weighty matter.
Now, if we ought to be, and desire to be, obedient and
submit unto God, we must also submit to what we receive at the hands of any of
His creatures, or our submission is all false. From this latter article floweth
true humility, as indeed it doth also from the former.[43]
And unless this verily ought to be, and were wholly agreeable to God's justice,
Christ would not have taught it in words, and fulfilled it in His life. And
herein there is a veritable manifestation of God; and it is so of a truth, that
of God's truth and justice this creature shall be subject to God and all
creatures, and no thing or person shall be subject or obedient to her. God and
all the creatures have a right over her and to her, but she hath a right to
nothing: she is a debtor to all, and nothing is owing to her, so that she shall
be ready to bear all things from others, and also if needs be to do all things
for others. And out of this groweth that poorness of spirit of which Christ
said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (that is to say, the truly humble), “for
theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” All this hath Christ taught in words and
fulfilled with His life.
How nothing is contrary to God but Sin only;
and what Sin is in Kind and Act.
Further
ye shall mark: when it is said that such a thing or such a deed is contrary to
God, or that such a thing is hateful to God and grieveth His Spirit, ye must
know that no creature is contrary to God, or hateful or grievous unto Him, in
so far as it is, liveth, knoweth, hath power to do, or produce ought, and so
forth, for all this is not contrary to God. That an evil spirit, or a man is,
liveth, and the like, is altogether good and of God; for God is the Being of
all that are, and the Life of all that live, and the Wisdom of all the wise;
for all things have their being more truly in God than in themselves, and also
all their powers, knowledge, life, and the rest; for if it were not so, God
would not be all good; And thus all creatures are good. Now what is good is
agreeable to God, and He will have it. Therefore it cannot be contrary to Him.
But what then is there which is contrary to God and
hateful to Him? Nothing but Sin. But what is Sin? Mark this: Sin is nothing
else than that the creature willeth otherwise than God willeth, and contrary to
Him. Each of us may see this in himself; for he who willeth otherwise than I,
or whose will is contrary to mine, is my foe; but he who willeth the same as I,
is my friend, and I love him. It is even so with God: and that is sin, and is
contrary to God, and hateful and grievous to Him. And he who willeth, speaketh,
or is silent, doeth or leaveth undone, otherwise than as I will, is contrary to
me, and an offence unto me. So it is also with God: when a man willeth
otherwise than God, or contrary to God, whatever he doeth or leaveth undone, in
short all that proceedeth from him, is contrary to God and is sin. And
whatsoever Will willeth otherwise than God, is against God's will. As Christ
said: “He who is not with Me is against me.” Hereby may each man see plainly
whether or not he be without sin, and whether or not he be committing sin, and
what sin is, and how sin ought to be atoned for, and wherewith it may be
healed. And this contradiction to God's will is what we call, and is,
disobedience. And therefore Adam, the I, the Self, Self-will, Sin, or the Old
Man, the turning aside or departing from God, do all mean one and the same
thing.
How in God, as God, there can neither be
Grief, Sorrow, Displeasure, nor the like, but how it is otherwise in a Man who
is “made a Partaker of the Divine Nature.”
In
God, as God, neither sorrow nor grief nor displeasure can have place, and yet
God is grieved on account of men's sins. Now since grief cannot befall God
without the creature, this cometh to pass where He is made man, or when He
dwelleth in a Godlike man. And there, behold, sin is so hateful to God, and
grieveth Him so sore, that He would willingly suffer agony and death, if one
man's sins might be thereby washed out. And if He were asked whether He would
rather live and that sin should remain, or die and destroy sin by His death, He
would answer that He would a thousand times rather die. For to God one man's
sin is more hateful, and grieveth Him worse than His own agony and death. Now
if one man's sin grieveth God so sore, what must the sins of all men do? Hereby
ye may consider, how greatly man grieveth God with his sins.
And therefore where God is made man, or when He
dwelleth in a truly Godlike man, nothing is complained of but sin, and nothing
else is hateful; for all that is, and is done, without sin, is as God will have
it, and is His. But the mourning and sorrow of a truly Godlike man on account
of sin, must and ought to last until death, should he live till the Day of
Judgment, or for ever. From this cause arose that hidden anguish of Christ, of
which none can tell or knoweth ought save Himself alone, and therefore is it
called a mystery.
Moreover, this is an attribute of God, which He will
have, and is well pleased to see in a man; and it is indeed God's own, for it
belongeth not unto the man, he cannot make sin to be so hateful to himself. And
where God findeth this grief for sin, He loveth and esteemeth it more than
ought else; because it is, of all things, the bitterest and saddest that man
can endure.
All that is here written touching this divine
attribute, which God will have man to possess, that it may be brought into
exercise in a living soul, is taught us by that true Light, which also teacheth
the man in whom this Godlike sorrow worketh, not to take it unto himself, any
more than if he were not there. For such a man feeleth in himself that he hath
not made it to spring up in his heart, and that it is none of his, but
belongeth to God alone.
How we are to put on the Life of Christ from
Love, and not for the sake of Reward, and how we must never grow careless
concerning it, or cast it off.
Now,
wherever a man hath been made a partaker of the divine nature, in him is
fulfilled the best and noblest life, and the worthiest in God's eyes, that hath
been or can be. And of that eternal love which loveth Goodness as Goodness and
for the sake of Goodness, a true, noble, Christ-like life is so greatly
beloved, that it will never be forsaken or cast off. Where a man hath tasted this
life, it is impossible for him ever to part with it, were he to live until the
Judgment Day. And though he must die a thousand deaths, and though all the
sufferings that ever befell all creatures could be heaped upon him, he would
rather undergo them all, than fall away from this excellent life; and if he
could exchange it for an angel's life, he would not.
This is our answer to the question, “If a man, by
putting on Christ's life, can get nothing more than he hath already, and serve
no end, what good will it do him?” This life is not chosen in order to serve
any end, or to get anything by it, but for love of its nobleness, and because
God loveth and esteemeth it so greatly. And whoever saith that he hath had
enough of it, and may now lay it aside, hath never tasted nor known it; for he
who hath truly felt or tasted it, can never give it up again. And he who hath
put on the life of Christ with the intent to win or deserve ought thereby, hath
taken it up as an hireling and not for love, and is altogether without it. For
he who doth not take it up for love, hath none of it at all; he may dream
indeed that he hath put it on, but he is deceived. Christ did not lead such a
life as His for the sake of reward, but out of love; and love maketh such a
life light and taketh away all its hardships, so that it becometh sweet and is
gladly endured. But to him who hath not put it on from love, but hath done so,
as he dreameth, for the sake of reward, it is utterly bitter and a weariness,
and he would fain be quit of it. And it is a sure token of an hireling that he
wisheth his work were at an end. But he who truly loveth it, is not offended at
its toil or suffering, nor the length of time it lasteth. Therefore it is
written, “To Serve God and live to Him, is easy to him who doeth it.” Truly is
so to him who doth it for love, but it is hard and wearisome to him who doth it
for hire. It is the same with all virtue and good works, and likewise with
order, laws, obedience to precepts, and the like. But God rejoiceth more over
one man who truly loveth, than over a thousand hirelings.
How God will have Order, Custom, Measure, and
the like in the Creature, seeing that He cannot have them without the Creature,
and of four sorts of Men who are concerned with this Order, Law, and Custom.
It
is said, and truly, God is above and without custom, measure, and order, and
yet giveth to all things their custom, order, measure, fitness, and the like.
The which is to be thus understood. God will have all these to be, and they
cannot have a being in Himself without the creature, for in God, apart from the
creature, there is neither order nor disorder, custom nor chance, and so forth;
therefore He will have things so that these shall be, and shall be put in
exercise. For wherever there is word, work, or change, these must be either
according to order, custom, measure and fitness, or according to unfitness and
disorder. Now fitness and order are better and nobler than their contraries.
But ye must mark: There are four sorts of men who
are concerned with order, laws, and customs. Some keep them neither for God's
sake, nor to serve their own ends, but from constraint: these have as little to
do with them as may be, and find them a burden and heavy yoke. The second sort
obey for the sake of reward: these are men who know nothing beside, or better
than, laws and precepts, and imagine that by keeping them they may obtain the
kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life, and not otherwise; and him who practiseth
many ordinances they think to be holy, and him who omitteth any tittle of them
they think to be lost. Such men are very much in earnest and give great
diligence to the work, and yet they find it a weariness. The third sort are
wicked, false-hearted men, who dream and declare that they are perfect and need
no ordinances, and make a mock of them.
The fourth are those who are enlightened with the
True Light, who do not practise these things for reward, for they neither look
nor desire to get anything thereby, but all that they do is from love alone.
And these are not so anxious and eager to accomplish much and with all speed as
the second sort, but rather seek to do things in peace and good leisure; and if
some not weighty matter be neglected, they do not therefore think themselves
lost, for they know very well that order and fitness are better than disorder,
and therefore they choose to walk orderly, yet know at the same time that their
salvation hangeth not thereon. Therefore they are not in so great anxiety as
the others. These men are judged and blamed by both the other parties, for the
hirelings say that they neglect their duties and accuse them of being
unrighteous, and the like; and the others (that is, the Free Spirits[44])
hold them in derision, and say that they cleave unto weak and beggarly
elements, and the like. But these enlightened men keep the middle path, which
is also the best; for a lover of God is better and dearer to Him than a hundred
thousand hirelings. It is the same with all their doings.
Furthermore, ye must mark, that to receive God's
commands and His counsel and all His teaching, is the privilege of the inward
man, after that he is united with God. And where there is such a union, the
outward man is surely taught and ordered by the inward man, so that no outward
commandment or teaching is needed. But the commandments and laws of men belong
to the outer man, and are needful for those men who know nothing better, for
else they would not know what to do and what to refrain from, and would become
like unto the dogs or other beasts.
A good Account of the False
Light and its Kind.
Now
I have said that there is a False Light; but I must tell you more particularly
what it is, and what belongeth thereunto. Behold, all that is contrary to the
True Light belongeth unto the False. To the True Light it belongeth of
necessity, that it seeketh not to deceive, nor consenteth that any should be
wronged or deceived, neither can it be deceived. But the false is deceived and
a delusion, and deceiveth others along with itself. For God deceiveth no man,
nor willeth that any should be deceived, and so it is with His True Light. Now
mark, the True Light is God or divine, but the False Light is Nature or
natural. Now it belongeth to God, that He is neither this nor that, neither
willeth nor desireth, nor seeketh anything in the man whom He hath made a
partaker of the divine nature, save Goodness as Goodness, and for the sake of
Goodness. This is the token of the True Light. But to the Creature and Nature
it belongeth to be somewhat, this or that, and to intend and seek something,
this or that, and not simply what is good without any Wherefore. And as God and
the True Light are without all self-will, selfishness, and self-seeking, so do
the I, the Me, the Mine, and the like, belong unto the natural and false Light;
for in all things it seeketh itself and its own ends, rather than Goodness for
the sake of Goodness. This is its property, and the property of nature or the
carnal man in each of us.
Now mark how it first cometh to be deceived. It doth
not desire nor choose Goodness as Goodness, and for the sake of Goodness, but
desireth and chooseth itself and its own ends, rather than the Highest Good;
and this is an error, and is the first deception.
Secondly, it dreameth itself to be that which it is
not, for it dreameth itself to be God, and is truly nothing but nature. And
because it imagineth itself to be God, it taketh to itself what belongeth to
God; and not that which is God's, when He is made man, or dwelleth in a Godlike
man, but that which is God's, and belongeth unto Him, as He is in eternity,
without the creature. For, as it is said, God needeth nothing, is free, not
bound to work, apart by Himself, above all things, and so forth (which is all true);
and God is unchangeable, not to be moved by anything, and is without
conscience, and what He doeth that is well done; “So will I be,” saith the
False Light, “for the more like God one is, the better one is, and therefore I
will be like God and will be God, and will sit and go and stand at His right
hand”: as Lucifer the Evil Spirit also said.[45]
Now God in Eternity is without contradiction, suffering and grief, and nothing
can hurt or vex Him of all that is or befalleth. But with God, when He is made
Man, it is otherwise.
In a word: all that can be deceived is deceived by
this False Light. Now since all is deceived by this False Light that can be
deceived, and all that is creature and nature, and all that is not God nor of
God, may be deceived, and since this False Light itself is nature, it is
possible for it to be deceived. And therefore it becometh and is deceived by
itself, in that it riseth and climbeth to such a height that it dreameth itself
to be above nature, and fancieth it to be impossible for nature or any creature
to get so high, and therefore it cometh to imagine itself God. And hence it
taketh unto itself all that belongeth unto God, and specially what is His as He
is in Eternity, and not as He is made Man. Therefore it thinketh and declareth
itself to be above all works, words, customs, laws and order, and above that
life which Christ led in the body which He possessed in His holy human nature.
So likewise it professeth to remain unmoved by any of the creature's works; whether
they be good or evil, against God or not, is all alike to it; and it keepeth
itself apart from all things, like God in Eternity, and all that belongeth to
God and to no creature it taketh unto itself, and vainly dreameth that this
belongeth unto it; and deemeth itself well worthy of all this, and that it is
just and right that all creatures should serve it, and do it homage. And thus
no contradiction, suffering or grief is left unto it; indeed nothing but a mere
bodily and carnal perceiving: this must remain until the death of the body, and
what suffering may accrue therefrom. Furthermore, this False Light imagineth,
and saith, that it has got beyond Christ's life in the flesh, and that outward
things have lost all power to touch it or give it pain, as it was with Christ
after His resurrection, together with many other strange and false conceits
which arise and grow up from these.
And now since this False Light is nature, it
possesseth the property of nature, which is to intend and seek itself and its
own in all things, and what may be most expedient, easy and pleasant to nature
and itself. And because it is deceived, it imagineth and proclaimeth it to be
best that each should seek and do what is best for himself. It refuseth also to
take knowledge of any Good but its own, that which it vainly fancieth to be
Good. And if one speak to it of the One, true, everlasting Good, which is
neither this nor that, it knoweth nothing thereof, and thinketh scorn of it.
And this is not unreasonable, for nature as nature cannot attain thereunto. Now
this False Light is merely nature, and therefore it cannot attain thereunto.
Further, this False Light saith that it hath got
above conscience and the sense of sin, and that whatever it doeth is right,
Yea, it was said by such a false Free Spirit, who was in this error, that if he
had killed ten men he should have as little sense of guilt as if he had killed
a dog. Briefly: this false and deceived Light fleeth all that is harsh and
contrary to nature, for this belongeth to it, seeing that it is nature. And
seeing also that it is so utterly deceived as to dream that it is God, it were
ready to swear by all that is holy, that it knoweth truly what is best, and
that both in belief and practice it hath reached the very summit. For this
cause it cannot be converted or guided into the right path, even as it is with
the Evil Spirit.
Mark further: in so far as this Light imagineth
itself to be God and taketh His attributes unto itself, it is Lucifer, the Evil
Spirit; but in so far as it setteth at nought the life of Christ, and other
things belonging to the True Light, which have been taught and fulfilled by
Christ, it is Antichrist, for it teacheth contrary to Christ. And as this Light
is deceived by its own cunning and discernment, so all that is not God, or of
God, is deceived by it, that is, all men who are not enlightened by the True
Light and its love. For all who are enlightened by the True Light can never
more be deceived, but whoso hath it not and chooseth to walk by the False
Light, he is deceived.
This cometh herefrom, that all men in whom the True
Light is not, are bent upon themselves, and think much of themselves, and seek
and propose their own ends in all things, and whatever is most pleasant and
convenient to themselves they hold to be best. And whoso declareth the same to
be best, and helpeth and teacheth them to attain it, him they follow after, and
maintain to be the best and wisest of teachers. Now the False Light teacheth
them this very doctrine, and showeth them all the means to come by their
desire; therefore all those follow after it, who know not the True Light. And
thus they are together deceived.
It is said of Antichrist, that when he cometh, he
who hath not the seal of God in his forehead, followeth after him, but as many
as have the seal follow not after him. This agreeth with what hath been said.
It is indeed true, that it is good for a man that he should desire, or come by
his own good. But this cannot come to pass so long as a man is seeking, or
purposing his own good; for if he is to find and come by his own highest good,
he must lose it that he may find it. As Christ said: “He who loveth his life
shall lose it.” That is; he shall forsake and die to the desires of the flesh,
and shall not obey his own will nor the lusts of the body, but obey the
commands of God and those who are in authority over him, and not seek his own,
either in spiritual or natural things, but only the praise and glory of God in
all things. For he who thus loseth his life shall find it again in Eternal
Life. That is: all the goodness, help, comfort, and joy which are in the
creature, in heaven or on earth, a true lover of God findeth comprehended in
God Himself; yea, unspeakably more, and as much nobler and more perfect as God
the Creator is better, nobler, and more perfect than His creature. But by these
excellences in the creature the False Light is deceived, and seeketh nothing
but itself and its own in all things. Therefore it cometh never to the right
way.
Further, this False Light saith, that we should be
without conscience or sense of sin, and that it is a weakness and folly to have
anything to do with them: and this it will prove by saying that Christ was
without conscience or sense of sin. We may answer and say: Satan is also without
them, and is none the better for that. Mark what a sense of sin is. It is that
we perceive how man has turned away from God in his will (this is what we call
sin), and that this is man's fault, not God's, for God is guiltless of sin.
Now, who is there that knoweth himself to be free from sin save Christ alone?
Scarcely will any other affirm this. Now he who is without sense of sin is
either Christ or the Evil Spirit.
Briefly: where this True Light is, there is a true,
just life such as God loveth and esteemeth. And if the man's life is not
perfect as Christ's was, yet it is framed and builded after His, and his life
is loved, together with all that agreeth with decency, order, and all other
virtues, and all Self-will, I, Mine, Me, and the like, is lost; nothing is
purposed or sought but Goodness, for the sake of Goodness, and as Goodness. But
where that False Light is, there men become heedless of Christ's life and all
virtue, and seek and intend whatever is convenient and pleasant to nature. From
this ariseth a false, licentious freedom, so that men grow regardless and
careless of everything. For the True Light is God's seed, and therefore it
bringeth forth the fruits of God. And so likewise the False Light is the seed
of the Devil; and where that is sown, the fruits of the Devil spring up -- nay,
the very Devil himself. This ye may understand by giving heed to what hath been
said.
Now that he is to be called, and is truly, a
Partaker of the Divine Nature, who is illuminated with the Divine Light, and
inflamed with Eternal Love, and how Light and Knowledge are worth nothing
without Love.
Some
may ask, “What is it to be a 'partaker of the divine nature,' or a Godlike
man?” Answer: he who is imbued with or illuminated by the Eternal or divine
Light, and inflamed or consumed with Eternal or divine love, he is a Godlike
man and a partaker of the divine nature; and of the nature of this True Light
we have said somewhat already.
But ye must know that this Light or knowledge is
worth nothing without Love. This ye may see if ye call to mind, that though a
man may know very well what is virtue or wickedness, yet if he doth not love
virtue, he is not virtuous, for he obeyeth vice. But if he loveth virtue he
followeth after it, and his love maketh him an enemy to wickedness, so that he
will not do or practise it, and hateth it also in other men; and he loveth
virtue so that he would not leave a virtue unpractised even if he might, and
this for no reward, but simply for the love of virtue. And to him virtue is its
own reward, and he is content therewith, and would take no treasure or riches
in exchange for it. Such an one is already a virtuous man, or he is in the way
to be so. And he who is a truly virtuous man would not cease to be so, to gain
the whole world, yea, he would rather die a miserable death.
It is the same with justice. Many a man knoweth full
well what is just or unjust, and yet neither is nor ever will become a just
man. For he loveth not justice, and therefore he worketh wickedness and
injustice. If he loved justice, he would not do an unjust thing; for he would
feel such hatred and indignation towards injustice wherever he saw it, that he
would do or suffer anything that injustice might be put an end to, and men
might become just. And he would rather die than do an injustice, and all this
for nothing but the love of justice. And to him, justice is her own reward, and
rewardeth him with herself; and so there liveth a just man, and he would rather
die a thousand times over than live as an unjust man. It is the same with
truth: a man may know full well what is true or a lie, but if he loveth not the
truth he is not a true man; but if he loveth, it is with truth even as with
justice. Of justice speaketh Isaiah in the fifth chapter: “Woe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
Thus may we perceive that knowledge and light profit
nothing without Love. We see this in the Evil Spirit; he perceiveth and knoweth
good and evil, right and wrong, and the like; but since he hath no love for the
good that he seeth, he becometh not good, as he would if he had any love for
the truth and other virtues which he seeth. It is indeed true that Love must be
guided and taught of Knowledge, but if Knowledge be not followed by love, it
will avail nothing. It is the same with God and divine things. Let a man know
much about God and divine things, nay, dream that he seeth and understandeth
what God Himself is, if he have not Love, he will never become like unto God,
or a “partaker of the divine nature.” But if there be true Love along with his
knowledge, he cannot but cleave to God, and forsake all that is not God or of
Him, and hate it and fight against it, and find it a cross and a sorrow.
And this Love so maketh a man one with God, that he
can nevermore be separated from Him.
A Question: whether we can know God and not
love Him, and how there are two kinds of Light and Love -- a true and a false.
Here
is an honest question; namely, it hath been said that he who knoweth God and
loveth Him not, will never be saved by his knowledge; the which sounds as if we
might know God and not love Him. Yet we have said elsewhere, that where God is
known, He is also loved, and whosoever knoweth God must love Him. How may these
things agree? Here ye must mark one thing. We have spoken of two Lights -- a
True and a False. So also there are two kinds of Love, a True and a False. And
each kind of Love is taught or guided by its own kind of Light or Reason. Now,
the True Light maketh True Love, and the False Light maketh False Love; for
whatever Light deemeth to be best, she delivereth unto Love as the best, and
biddeth her love it, and Love obeyeth, and fulfilleth her commands.
Now, as we have said, the False Light is natural,
and is Nature herself. Therefore every property belongeth unto it which belongeth
unto nature, such as the Me, the Mine, the Self, and the like; and therefore it
must needs be deceived in itself and be false; for no I, Me, or Mine, ever came
to the True Light or Knowledge undeceived, save once only; to wit, in God made
Man. And if we are to come to the knowledge of the simple Truth, all these must
depart and perish. And in particular it belongeth to the natural Light that it
would fain know or learn much, if it were possible, and hath great pleasure,
delight and glorying in its discernment and knowledge; and therefore it is
always longing to know more and more, and never cometh to rest and
satisfaction, and the more it learneth and knoweth, the more doth it delight
and glory therein. And when it hath come so high, that it thinketh to know all
things and to be above all things, it standeth on its highest pinnacle of
delight and glory, and then it holdeth Knowledge to be the best and noblest of
all things, and therefore it teacheth Love to love knowledge and discernment as
the best and most excellent of all things. Behold, then knowledge and
discernment come to be more loved than that which is discerned, for the false
natural Light loveth its knowledge and powers, which are itself, more than that
which is known. And were it possible that this false natural Light should
understand the simple Truth, as it is in God and in truth, it still would not
lose its own property, that is, it would not depart from itself and its own
things. Behold, in this sense there is knowledge without the love of that which
is or may be known.
Also this Light riseth and climbeth so high that it
vainly thinketh that it knoweth God and the pure, simple Truth, and thus it
loveth itself in Him. And it is true that God can be known only by God.
Wherefore as this Light vainly thinketh to understand God, it imagineth itself
to be God, and giveth itself out to be God, and wisheth to be accounted so, and
thinketh itself to be above all things, and well worthy of all things, and that
it hath a right to all things, and hath got beyond all things, such as
commandments, laws, and virtue, and even beyond Christ and a Christian life,
and setteth all these at nought, for it doth not set up to be Christ, but the
Eternal God. And this is because Christ's life is distasteful and burdensome to
nature, therefore she will have nothing to do with it; but to be God in
eternity and not man, or to be Christ as He was after His resurrection, is all
easy, and pleasant, and comfortable to nature, and so she holdeth it to be
best. Behold, with this false and deluded Love, something may be known without
being loved, for the seeing and knowing is more loved than that which is known.
Further, there is a kind of learning which is called knowledge; to wit, when,
through hearsay, or reading, or great acquaintance with Scripture, some fancy
themselves to know much, and call it knowledge, and say, “I know this or that.”
And if you ask, “How dost thou know it?” they answer, “I have read it in the
Scriptures,” and the like. Behold, this they call understanding, and knowing.
Yet this is not knowledge, but belief, and many things are known and loved and
seen only with this sort of perceiving and knowing.
There is also yet another kind of Love, which is
especially false, to wit, when something is loved for the sake of a reward, as
when justice is loved not for the sake of justice, but to obtain something
thereby, and so on. And where a creature loveth other creatures for the sake of
something that they have, or loveth God, for the sake of something of her own,
it is all false Love; and this Love belongeth properly to nature, for nature as
nature can feel and know no other love than this; for if ye look narrowly into
it, nature as nature loveth nothing beside herself. On this wise something may
be seen to be good and not loved.
But true Love is taught and guided by the true Light
and Reason, and this true, eternal and divine Light teacheth Love to love
nothing but the One true and Perfect Good, and that simply for its own sake,
and not for the sake of a reward, or in the hope of obtaining anything, but
simply for the Love of Goodness, because it is good and hath a right to be
loved. And all that is thus seen by the help of the True Light must also be
loved of the True Love. Now that Perfect Good, which we call God, cannot be
perceived but by the True Light; therefore He must be loved wherever He is seen
or made known.
Whereby we may know a Man who is made a
partaker of the divine Nature, and what belongeth unto him; and further, what
is the token of a False Light, and a False Free-Thinker.
Further
mark ye; that when the True Love and True Light are in a man, the Perfect Good
is known and loved for itself and as itself; and yet not so that it loveth
itself of itself and as itself, but the one True and Perfect Good can and will
love nothing else, in so far as it is in itself, save the one, true Goodness.
Now if this is itself, it must love itself, yet not as itself nor as of itself,
but in this wise: that the One true Good loveth the One Perfect Goodness, and
the One Perfect Goodness is loved of the One, true and Perfect Good. And in
this sense that saying is true, that “God loveth not Himself as Himself.” For
if there were ought better than God, God would love that, and not Himself. For
in this True Light and True Love there neither is nor can remain any I, Me,
Mine, Thou, Thine, and the like, but that Light perceiveth and knoweth that
there is a Good which is all Good and above all Good, and that all good things
are of one substance in the One Good, and that without that One, there is no
good thing. And therefore, where this Light is, the man's end and aim is not
this or that, Me or Thee, or the like, but only the One, who is neither I nor
Thou, this nor that, but is above all I and Thou, this and that; and in Him all
Goodness is loved as One Good, according to that saying: “All in One as One,
and One in All as All, and One and all Good, is loved through the One in One,
and for the sake of the One, for the love that man hath to the One.”
Behold, in such a man must all thought of Self, all
self-seeking, self-will, and what cometh thereof, be utterly lost and
surrendered and given over to God, except in so far as they are necessary to
make up a person. And whatever cometh to pass in a man who is truly Godlike,
whether he do or suffer, all is done in this Light and this Love, and from the
same, through the same, unto the same again. And in his heart there is a
content and a quietness, so that he doth not desire to know more or less, to
have, to live, to die, to be, or not to be, or anything of the kind; these
become all one and alike to him, and he complaineth of nothing but of sin only.
And what sin is, we have said already, namely, to desire or will anything
otherwise than the One Perfect Good and the One Eternal Will, and apart from
and contrary to them, or to wish to have a will of one's own. And what is done
of sin, such as lies, fraud, injustice, treachery, and all iniquity, in short,
all that we call sin, cometh hence, that man hath another will than God and the
True Good; for were there no will but the One Will, no sin could ever be
committed. Therefore we may well say that all self-will is sin, and there is no
sin but what springeth therefrom. And this is the only thing which a truly
Godlike man complaineth of; but to him, this is such a sore pain and grief,
that he would die a hundred deaths in agony and shame, rather than endure it;
and this his grief must last until death, and where it is not, there be sure
that the man is not truly Godlike, or a partaker of the divine nature.
Now, seeing that in this Light and Love, all Good is
loved in One and as One, and the One in all things, and in all things as One
and as All, therefore all those things must be loved that rightly are of good
report; such as virtue, order, seemliness, justice, truth, and the like; and
all that belongeth to God is the true Good and is His own, is loved and
praised; and all that is without this Good, and contrary to it, is a sorrow and
a pain, and is hated as sin, for it is of a truth sin. And he who liveth in the
true Light and true Love, hath the best, noblest, and worthiest life that ever
was or will be, and therefore it cannot but be loved and praised above any
other life. This life was and is in Christ to perfection, else He were not the
Christ.
And the love wherewith the man loveth this noble
life and all goodness, maketh, that all which he is called upon to do, or
suffer, or pass through, and which must needs be, he doeth or endureth
willingly and worthily, however hard it may be to nature. Therefore saith
Christ: “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”[46]
This cometh of the love which loveth this admirable life. This we may see in
the beloved Apostles and Martyrs; they suffered willingly and gladly all that
was done unto them, and never asked of God that their suffering and tortures
might be made shorter, or lighter or fewer, but only that they might remain
steadfast and endure to the end. Of a truth all that is the fruit of divine
Love in a truly Godlike man is so simple, plain, and straightforward, that he
can never properly give an account of it by writing or by speech, but only say
that so it is. And he who hath it not doth not even believe in it; how then can
he come to know it?
On the other hand, the life of the natural man,
where he hath a lively, subtle, cunning nature, is so manifold and complex, and
seeketh and inventeth so many turnings and windings and falsehoods for its own
ends, and that so continually, that this also is neither to be uttered nor set
forth.
Now, since all falsehood is deceived, and all
deception beginneth in self-deception, so is it also with this false Light and
Life, for he who deceiveth is also deceived, as we have said before. And in
this false Light and Life is found everything that belongeth to the Evil Spirit
and is his, insomuch that they cannot be discerned apart; for the false Light
is the Evil Spirit, and the Evil Spirit is this false Light. Hereby we may know
this. For even as the Evil Spirit thinketh himself to be God, or would fain be
God, or be thought to be God, and in all this is so utterly deceived that he
doth not think himself to be deceived, so is it also with this false Light, and
the Love and Life that is thereof. And as the Devil would fain deceive all men,
and draw them to himself and his works, and make them like himself, and useth
much art and cunning to this end, so is it also with this false Light; and as
no one may turn the Evil Spirit from his own way, so no one can turn this
deceived and deceitful Light from its errors. And the cause thereof is, that
both these two, the Devil and Nature, vainly think that they are not deceived,
and that it standeth quite well with them. And this is the very worst and most
mischievous delusion. Thus the Devil and Nature are one, and where nature is
conquered the Devil is also conquered, and, in like manner, where nature is not
conquered the Devil is not conquered. Whether as touching the outward life in
the world, or the inward life of the spirit, this false Light continueth in its
state of blindness and falsehood, so that it is both deceived itself and
deceiveth others with it, wheresoever it may.
From what hath here been said, ye may understand and
perceive more than hath been expressly set forth. For whenever we speak of the
Adam, and disobedience, and of the old man, of self-seeking, self-will, and
self-serving, of the I, the Me, and the Mine, nature, falsehood, the Devil,
sin; it is all one and the same thing. These are all contrary to God, and
remain without God.
How nothing is contrary to God but Self-will
and how he who seeketh his own Good for his own sake, findeth it not; and how a
Man of himself neither knoweth nor can do any good Thing.
Now,
it may be asked; is there aught which is contrary to God and the true Good? I
say, No. Likewise, there is nothing without God, except to will otherwise than
is willed by the Eternal Will; that is, contrary to the Eternal Will. Now the
Eternal Will willeth that nothing be willed or loved but the Eternal Goodness.
And where it is otherwise, there is something contrary to Him, and in this
sense it is true that he who is without God is contrary to God; but in truth
there is no Being contrary to God or the true Good.
We must understand it as though God said: “He who
willeth without Me, or willeth not what I will, or otherwise than as I will, he
willeth contrary to Me, for My will is that no one should will otherwise than
I, and that there should be no will without Me, and without My will; even as
without Me, there is neither Substance, nor Life, nor this, nor that, so also
there should be no Will apart from Me, and without My will.” And even as in
truth all beings are one in substance in the Perfect Being, and all good is one
in the One Being, and so forth, and cannot exist without that One, so shall all
wills be one in the One Perfect Will, and there shall be no will apart from
that One. And whatever is otherwise is wrong, and contrary to God and His will,
and therefore it is sin. Therefore all will apart from God's will (that is, all
self-will) is sin, and so is all that is done from self-will. So long as a man
seeketh his own will and his own highest Good, because it is His and for his
own sake, he will never find it; for so long as he doeth this, he is not
seeking his own highest Good, and how then should he find it? For so long as he
doeth this, he seeketh himself, and dreameth that he is himself the highest
Good; and seeing that he is not the highest Good, he seeketh not the highest
Good, so long as he seeketh himself. But whosoever seeketh, loveth, and
pursueth Goodness as Goodness and for the sake of Goodness, and maketh that his
end, for nothing but the love of Goodness, not for love of the I, Me, Mine,
Self, and the like, he will find the highest Good, for he seeketh it aright,
and they who seek it otherwise do err. And truly it is on this wise that the
true and Perfect Goodness seeketh and loveth and pursueth itself, and therefore
it findeth itself.
It is a great folly when a man, or any creature,
dreameth that he knoweth or can accomplish aught of himself, and above all when
he dreameth that he knoweth or can fulfil any good thing, whereby he may
deserve much at God's hands, and prevail with Him. If he understood rightly, he
would see that this is to put a great affront upon God. But the True and
Perfect Goodness hath compassion on the foolish simple man who knoweth no
better, and ordereth things for the best for him, and giveth him as much of the
good things of God as he is able to receive. But as we have said afore, he
findeth and receiveth not the True Good so long as he remaineth unchanged; for
unless Self and Me depart, he will never find or receive it.
How that where there is a Christian Life,
Christ dwelleth, and how Christ's Life is the best and most admirable Life that
ever hath been or can be.
He
who knoweth and understandeth Christ's life, knoweth and understandeth Christ
Himself; and in like manner, he who understandeth not His life, doth not
understand Christ Himself. And he who believeth on Christ, believeth that His
life is the best and noblest life that can be, and if a man believe not this,
neither doth he believe on Christ Himself. And in so far as a man's life is
according to Christ, Christ Himself dwelleth in him, and if he hath not the one
neither hath he the other. For where there is the life of Christ, there is
Christ Himself, and where His life is not, Christ is not, and where a man hath
His life, he may say with St. Paul, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me.”[47]
And this is the noblest and best life; for in him who hath it, God Himself
dwelleth, with all goodness. So how could there be a better life? When we speak
of obedience, of the new man, of the True Light, the True Love, or the life of
Christ, it is all the same thing, and where one of these is, there are they
all, and where one is wanting, there is none of them, for they are all one in
truth and substance. And whatever may bring about that new birth which maketh
alive in Christ, to that let us cleave with all our might and to nought else;
and let us forswear and flee all that may hinder it. And he who hath received
this life in the Holy Sacrament, hath verily and indeed received Christ, and
the more of that life he hath received, the more he hath received of Christ,
and the less, the less of Christ.
How entire Satisfaction and true Rest are to
be found in God alone, and not in any Creature; and how he who Will be obedient
unto God, must also be obedient to the Creatures, with all Quietness, and he
who would love God, must love all Things in One.
It
is said, that he who is content to find all his satisfaction in God, hath
enough; and this is true. And he who findeth satisfaction in aught which is
this and that, findeth it not in God; and he who findeth it in God, findeth it
in nothing else, but in that which is neither this nor that, but is All. For
God is One and must be One, and God is All and must be All. And now what is,
and is not One, is not God; and what is, and is not All and above All, is also
not God, for God is One and above One, and All and above All. Now he who
findeth full satisfaction in God, receiveth all his satisfaction from One
source, and from One only, as One. And a man cannot find all satisfaction in
God, unless all things are One to him, and One is All, and something and
nothing are alike.[48]
But where it should be thus, there would be true satisfaction, and not else.
Therefore also, he who will wholly commit himself
unto God and be obedient to Him, must also resign himself to all things, and be
willing to suffer them, without resisting or defending himself or calling for succour.
And he who doth not thus resign or submit himself to all things in One as One,
doth not resign or submit himself to God. Let us look at Christ. And he who
shall and will lie still under God's hand, must lie still under all things in
One as One, and in no wise withstand any suffering. Such an one were a Christ.
And he who fighteth against affliction, and refuseth to endure it, is truly
fighting against God. That is to say, we may not withstand any creature or
thing by force of war, either in will or works. But we may indeed, without sin,
prevent affliction, or avoid it, or flee from it.
Now he who shall or will love God, loveth all things
in One as All, One and All, and One in All as All in One; and he who loveth
somewhat, this or that, otherwise than in the One, and for the sake of the One,
loveth not God; for he loveth somewhat which is not God. Therefore he loveth it
more than God. Now he who loveth somewhat more than God or along with God,
loveth not God, for He must be and will be alone loved, and verily nothing
ought to be loved but God alone. And when the true divine Light and Love dwell
in a man, he loveth nothing else but God alone, for he loveth God as Goodness
and for the sake of Goodness, and all Goodness as One, and one as All; for, in
truth, All is One and One is All in God.
A Question: Whether, if we ought to love all
Things, we ought to love Sin also?
Some
may put a question here and say: “If we are to love all things, must we then
love sin too?” I answer: No. When I say “all things,” I mean all Good; and all
that is, is good, in so far as it hath Being. The Devil is good in so far as he
hath Being. In this sense nothing is evil, or not good. But sin is to will,
desire, or love otherwise than as God doth. And Willing is not Being, therefore
it is not good. Nothing is good except in so far as it is in God and with God.
Now all things have their Being in God, and more truly in God than in
themselves, and therefore all things are good in so far as they have a Being,
and if there were aught that had not its Being in God, it would not be good.
Now behold, the willing or desiring which is contrary to God is not in God; for
God cannot will or desire anything contrary to Himself, or otherwise than
Himself. Therefore it is evil or not good, and is merely nought.
God loveth also works, but not all works. Which
then? Such as are done from the teaching and guidance of the True Light and the
True Love; and what is done from these and in these, is done in spirit and in
truth, and what is thereof, is God's, and pleaseth Him well. But what is done
of the false Light and false Love, is all of the Wicked One; and especially
what happeneth, is done or left undone, wrought or suffered from any other
will, or desire, or love, than God's will, or desire, or love. This is, and
cometh to pass, without God and contrary to God, and is utterly contrary to
good works, and is altogether sin.
How we must believe certain Things of God's
Truth beforehand, ere we can come to a true Knowledge and Experience thereof.
Christ
said, “He that believeth not,” or will not or cannot believe, “shall be
damned.” It is so of a truth; for a man, while he is in this present time, hath
not knowledge; and he cannot attain unto it, unless he first believe. And he
who would know before he believeth, cometh never to true knowledge. We speak
not here of the articles of the Christian faith, for every one believeth them,
and they are common to every Christian man, whether he be sinful or saved, good
or wicked; and they must be believed in the first place, for without that, one
cannot come to know them. But we are speaking of a certain Truth which it is
possible to know by experience, but which ye must believe in, before that ye
know it by experience, else ye will never come to know it truly. This is the
faith of which Christ speaketh in that saying of His.
Of Self-will, and how
Lucifer and Adam fell away from God through Self-will.
It
hath been said, that there is of nothing so much in hell as of self-will. The
which is true, for there is nothing else there than self-will, and if there
were no self-will, there would be no Devil and no hell. When it is said that
Lucifer fell from Heaven, and turned away from God and the like, it meaneth
nothing else than that he would have his own will, and would not be at one with
the Eternal Will. So was it likewise with Adam in Paradise. And when we say
Self-will, we mean, to will otherwise than as the One and Eternal Will of God
willeth.
How this present Time is a Paradise and outer
Court of Heaven, and how therein there is only one Tree forbidden, that is,
Self-will.
What
is Paradise? All things that are; for all are goodly and pleasant, and
therefore may fitly be called a Paradise. It is said also, that Paradise is an
outer court of Heaven. Even so this world is verily an outer court of the
Eternal, or of Eternity, and specially whatever in Time, or any temporal things
or creatures, manifesteth or remindeth us of God or Eternity; for the creatures
are a guide and a path unto God and Eternity. Thus this world is an outer court
of Eternity, and therefore it may well be called a Paradise, for it is such in
truth. And in this Paradise, all things are lawful, save one tree and the
fruits thereof. That is to say: of all things that are, nothing is forbidden
and nothing is contrary to God but one thing only: that is, Self-will, or to
will otherwise than as the Eternal Will would have it. Remember this. For God
saith to Adam, that is, to every man, “Whatever thou art, or doest, or leavest
undone, or whatever cometh to pass, is all lawful and not forbidden if it be
not done from or according to thy will, but for the sake of and according to My
will. But all that is done from thine own Will is contrary to the Eternal
Will.”
It is not that every work which is thus wrought is
in itself contrary to the Eternal Will, but in so far as it is wrought from a
different will, or otherwise than from the Eternal and Divine Will.
Wherefore God hath created
Self-will, seeing that it is so contrary to Him.
Now
some may ask: “Since this tree, to wit, Self-will, is so contrary to God and
the Eternal Will, wherefore hath God created it, and set it in Paradise?”
Answer:
whatever man or creature desireth to dive into and understand the secret
counsel and will of God, so that he would fain know wherefore God doeth this,
or doeth not that, and the like, desireth the same as Adam and the Devil. For
this desire is seldom from aught else than that the man taketh delight in
knowing, and glorieth therein, and this is sheer pride. And so long as this
desire lasteth, the truth will never be known, and the man is even as Adam or
the Devil. A truly humble and enlightened man doth not desire of God that He
should reveal His secrets unto him, and ask wherefore God doeth this or that,
or hindereth or alloweth such a thing, and so forth; but he desireth only to
know how he may please God, and become as nought in himself, having no will,
and that the Eternal Will may live in him, and have full possession of him,
undisturbed by any other will, and how its due may be rendered to the Eternal
Will, by him and through him.
However, there is yet another answer to this
question, for we may say: the most noble and delightful gift that is bestowed
on any creature is that of perceiving, or Reason, and Will. And these two are
so bound together, that where the one is, there the other is also. And if it
were not for these two gifts, there would be no reasonable creatures, but only
brutes and brutishness; and that were a great loss, for God would never have
His due, and behold Himself and His attributes manifested in deeds and works;
the which ought to be, and is, necessary to perfection. Now, behold, Perception
and Reason are created and bestowed along with Will, to the intent that they
may instruct the will and also themselves, that neither perception nor will is
of itself, nor is nor ought to be unto itself, nor ought to seek or obey
itself. Neither shall they turn themselves to their own advantage, nor make use
of themselves to their own ends and purposes; for His they are from Whom they
do proceed, and unto Him shall they submit, and flow back into Him, and become
nought in themselves, that is, in their selfishness.
But here ye must consider more particularly,
somewhat touching the Will. There is an Eternal Will, which is in God a first
Principle and substance, apart from all works and effects,[49]
and the same will is in Man, or the creature, willing certain things, and
bringing them to pass. For it belongeth unto the Will, and is its property,
that it shall will something. What else is it for? For it were in vain, unless
it had some work to do, and this it cannot have without the creature. Therefore
there must be creatures, and God will have them, to the end that the Will may
be put in exercise by their means, and work, which in God is and must be
without work. Therefore the will in the creature, which we call a created will,
is as truly God's as the Eternal Will, and is not of the creature.
And now, since God cannot bring His will into
exercise, working and causing changes, without the creature, therefore it
pleaseth Him to do so in and with the creature. Therefore the will is not given
to be exerted by the creature, but only by God, who hath a right to work out
His own will by means of the will which is in man, and yet is God's. And in
whatever man or creature it should be purely and wholly thus, the will would be
exerted not by the man but by God, and thus it would not be self-will, and the
man would not will otherwise than as God willeth; for God Himself would move
the will and not man. And thus the will would be one with the Eternal Will, and
flow out into it, though the man would still keep his sense of liking and
disliking, pleasure and pain, and the like. For wherever the will is exerted,
there must be a sense of liking and disliking; for if things go according to
his will, the man liketh it, and if they do not, he disliketh it, and this
liking and disliking are not of the man's producing, but of God's. For whatever
is the source of the will, is the source of these also.[50]
Now the will cometh not of man but of God, therefore liking and disliking come
from Him also. But nothing is complained of, save only what is contrary to God.
So also there is no joy but of God alone, and that which is His and belongeth
unto Him. And as it is with the will, so is it also with perception, reason,
gifts, love, and all the powers of man; they are all of God, and not of man.
And wherever the will should be altogether surrendered to God, the rest would
of a certainty be surrendered likewise, and God would have His right, and the
man's will would not be his own. Behold, therefore hath God created the will,
but not that it should be self-will.
Now cometh the Devil or Adam, that is to say, false
nature, and taketh this will unto itself and maketh the same its own, and useth
it for itself and its own ends. And this is the mischief and wrong, and the
bite that Adam made in the apple, which is forbidden, because it is contrary to
God. And therefore, so long as there is any self-will, there will never be true
love, true peace, true rest. This we see both in man and in the Devil. And
there will never be true blessedness either in time or eternity, where this self-will
is working, that is to say, where man taketh the will unto himself and maketh
it his own. And if it be not surrendered in this present time, but carried over
into eternity, it may be foreseen that it will never be surrendered, and then
of a truth there will never be content, nor rest, nor blessedness; as we may
see by the Devil. If there were no reason or will in the creatures, God were,
and must remain for ever, unknown, unloved, unpraised, and unhonoured, and all
the creatures would be worth nothing, and were of no avail to God. Behold thus
the question which was put to us is answered.[51]
And if there were any who, by my much writing (which yet is brief and
profitable in God), might be led to amend their ways, this were indeed
well-pleasing unto God.
That which is free, none may call his own, and he
who maketh it his own, committeth a wrong. Now, in the whole realm of freedom,
nothing is so free as the will, and he who maketh it his own, and suffereth it
not to remain in its excellent freedom, and free nobility, and in its free
exercise, doeth a grievous wrong. This is what is done by the Devil and Adam
and all their followers. But he who leaveth the will in its noble freedom doeth
right, and this doth Christ with all His followers. And whoso robbeth the will
of its noble freedom and maketh it his own, must of necessity as his reward, be
laden with cares and troubles, with discontent, disquiet, unrest, and all
manner of wretchedness, and this will remain and endure in time and in
eternity. But he who leaveth the will in its freedom, hath content, peace,
rest, and blessedness in time and in eternity. Wherever there is a man in whom
the will is not enslaved, but continueth noble and free, there is a true
freeman not in bondage to any, one of those to whom Christ said: “The truth
shall make you free”; and immediately after, he saith: “If the Son shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed.”[52]
Furthermore, mark ye that where the will enjoyeth
its freedom, it hath its proper work, that is, willing. And where it chooseth
whatever it will unhindered, it always chooseth in all things what is noblest
and best, and all that is not noble and good it hateth, and findeth to be a
grief and offence unto it. And the more free and unhindered the will is, the
more is it pained by evil, injustice, iniquity, and in short all manner of
wickedness and sin, and the more do they grieve and afflict it. This we see in
Christ, whose will was the purest and the least fettered or brought into
bondage of any man's that ever lived. So likewise was Christ's human nature the
most free and single of all creatures, and yet felt the deepest grief, pain,
and indignation at sin that any creature ever felt. But when men claim freedom for
their own, so as to feel no sorrow or indignation at sin and what is contrary
to God, but say that we must heed nothing and care for nothing, but be, in this
present time, as Christ was after His resurrection, and the like; -- this is no
true and divine freedom springing from the true divine Light, but a natural,
unrighteous, false, and deceitful freedom, springing from a natural, false, and
deluded light.
Were there no self-will, there would be also no
ownership. In heaven there is no ownership; hence there are found content, true
peace, and all blessedness. If any one there took upon him to call anything his
own, he would straightway be thrust out into hell, and would become an evil
spirit. But in hell everyone will have self-will, therefore there is all manner
of misery and wretchedness. So is it also here on earth. But if there were one
in hell who should get quit of his self-will and call nothing his own, he would
come out of hell into heaven. Now, in this present time, man is set between
heaven and hell, and may turn himself towards which he will. For the more he
hath of ownership, the more he hath of hell and misery; and the less of
self-will, the less of hell, and the nearer he is to the Kingdom of Heaven. And
could a man, while on earth, be wholly quit of self-will and ownership, and
stand up free and at large in God's true light, and continue therein, he would
be sure of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who hath something, or seeketh or longeth
to have something of his own, is himself a slave; and he who hath nothing of
his own, nor seeketh nor longeth thereafter, is free and at large, and in
bondage to none.
All that hath here been said, Christ taught in words
and fulfilled in works for three-and-thirty years, and He teacheth it to us
very briefly when He saith: “Follow Me.” But he who will follow Him must
forsake all things, for He renounced all things so utterly as no man else hath
ever done. Moreover, he who will come after Him, must take up the cross, and
the cross is nothing else than Christ's life, for that is a bitter cross to
nature. Therefore He saith: “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth
after Me, is not worthy of Me, and cannot be My disciple.”[53]
But nature, in her false freedom, weeneth she hath forsaken all things, yet she
will have none of the cross, and saith she hath had enough of it already, and
needeth it no longer, and thus she is deceived. For had she ever tasted the
cross she would never part with it again. He that believeth on Christ must believe
all that is here written.
How we must take those two Sayings of Christ:
“No Man cometh unto the Father, but by Me,” and “No Man cometh unto Me, except
the Father which hath sent Me draw him.”
Christ
saith: “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”[54]
Now mark how we must come unto the Father through Christ. The man shall set a
watch over himself and all that belongeth to him within and without, and shall
so direct, govern, and guard his heart, as far as in him lieth, that neither
will nor desire, love nor longing, opinion nor thought, shall spring up in his
heart, or have any abiding-place in him, save such as are meet for God and
would beseem him well, if God Himself were made Man. And whenever he becometh
aware of any thought or intent rising up within him that doth not belong to God
and were not meet for Him, he must resist it and root it out as thoroughly and
as Speedily as he may.
By this rule he must order his outward behaviour,
whether he work or refrain, speak or keep silence, wake or sleep, go or stand
still. In short: in all his ways and walks, whether as touching his own
business, or his dealings with other men, he must keep his heart with all
diligence, lest he do aught, or turn aside to aught, or suffer aught to spring
up or dwell within him or about him, or lest anything be done in him or through
him, otherwise than were meet for God, and would be possible and seemly if God
Himself were verily made Man.
Behold! he, in whom it should be thus, whatever he
had within, or did without, would be all of God, and the man would be in his
life a follower of Christ more truly than we can understand or set forth. And
he who led such a life would go in and out through Christ; for he would be a
follower of Christ: therefore also he would come with Christ and through Christ
unto the Father. And he would be also a servant of Christ, for he who cometh
after Him is His servant, as He Himself also saith: “If any man serve Me, let
him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be.”[55]
And he who is thus a servant and follower of Christ, cometh to that place where
Christ Himself is; that is, unto the Father. As Christ Himself saith: “Father,
I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.”[56]
Behold, he who walketh in this path, “entereth in by the door into the
sheepfold,” that is, into eternal life; “and to him the porter openeth”;[57]
but he who entereth in by some other way, or vainly thinketh that he would or
can come to the Father or to eternal blessedness otherwise than through Christ,
is deceived; for he is not in the right Way, nor entereth in by the right Door.
Therefore to him the porter openeth not, for he is a thief and a murderer, as
Christ saith.
Now, behold and mark, whether one can be in the
right Way, and enter in by the right Door, if one be living in lawless freedom
or license, or disregard of ordinances, virtue or vice, order or disorder, and
the like. Such liberty we do not find in Christ, neither is it in any of His
true followers.
Considereth that other saying of Christ, “No
Man can come unto Me, except the Father, which hath sent Me, draw him.”
Christ
hath also said: “No man cometh unto Me, except the Father, which hath sent Me,
draw him.”[58] Now mark:
by the Father, I understand the Perfect, Simple Good, which is All and above
All, and without which and besides which there is no true Substance, nor true
Good, and without which no good work ever was or will be done. And in that it
is All, it must be in All and above All. And it cannot be any one of those
things which the creatures, as creatures, can comprehend or understand. For
whatever the creature, as creature (that is, in her creature kind), can
conceive of and understand, is something, this or that, and therefore is some
sort of creature. And now if the Simple Perfect Good were somewhat, this or
that, which the creature understandeth, it would not be the All, nor the Only
One, and therefore not Perfect. Therefore also it cannot be named, seeing that
it is none of all the things which the creature as creature can comprehend,
know, conceive, or name. Now behold, when this Perfect Good, which is
unnameable, floweth into a Person able to bring forth, and bringeth forth the
Only-begotten Son in that Person, and itself in Him, we call it the Father.
Now mark how the Father draweth men unto Christ.
When somewhat of this Perfect Good is discovered and revealed within the soul
of man, as it were in a glance or flash, the soul conceiveth a longing to
approach unto the Perfect Goodness, and unite herself with the Father. And the
stronger this yearning groweth, the more is revealed unto her; and the more is
revealed unto her, the more is she drawn toward the Father, and her desire
quickened. Thus is the soul drawn and quickened into a union with the Eternal
Goodness. And this is the drawing of the Father, and thus the soul is taught of
Him who draweth her unto Himself, that she cannot enter into a union with Him
except she come unto Him by the life of Christ. Behold, now she putteth on that
life of which I have spoken afore.
Now see the meaning of these two sayings of
Christ's. The one, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me”; that is, through
My life, as hath been set forth. The other saying, “No man cometh unto Me,
except the Father draw him”; that is, he doth not take My life upon him and
come after Me, except he be moved and drawn of My Father; that is, of the
Simple and Perfect Good, of which St. Paul saith; “when that which is Perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” That is to say; in
whatever soul this Perfect Good is known, felt and tasted, so far as may be in
this present time, to that soul all created things are as nought compared with
this Perfect One, as in truth they are; for beside or without the Perfect One,
is neither true Good nor true Substance. Whosoever then hath, or knoweth, or
loveth, the Perfect One, hath and knoweth all goodness. What more then doth he
want, or what is all that “is in part” to him, seeing that all the parts are
united in the Perfect, in One Substance?
What hath here been said, concerneth the outward
life, and is a good way or access unto the true inward life; but the inward
life beginneth after this. When a man hath tasted that which is perfect as far
as is possible in this present time, all created things and even himself become
as nought to him. And when he perceiveth of a truth that the Perfect One is All
and above All, he needs must follow after Him, and ascribe all that is good,
such as Substance, Life, Knowledge, Reason, Power, and the like, unto Him alone
and to no creature. And hence followeth that the man claimeth for his own
neither Substance, Life, Knowledge, nor Power, Doing nor Refraining, nor
anything that we can call good. And thus the man becometh so poor, that he is
nought in himself, and so are also all things unto him which are somewhat, that
is, all created things. And then there beginneth in him a true inward life,
wherein from henceforward, God Himself dwelleth in the man, so that nothing is
left in him but what is God's or of God, and nothing is left which taketh
anything unto itself. And thus God Himself, that is, the One Eternal
Perfectness, alone is, liveth, knoweth, worketh, loveth, willeth, doeth and
refraineth in the man. And thus, of a truth, it should be, and where it is not
so, the man hath yet far to travel, and things are not altogether right with
him.
Furthermore, it is a good way and access unto this
life, to feel always that what is best is dearest, and always to prefer the
best, and cleave to it, and unite oneself to it. First: in the creatures. But
what is best in the creatures? Be assured: that, in which the Eternal Perfect
Goodness and what is thereof, that is, all which belongeth thereunto, most
brightly shineth and worketh, and is best known and loved. But what is that
which is of God, and belongeth unto Him? I answer: whatever with justice and
truth we do, or might call good.
When therefore among the creatures the man cleaveth
to that which is the best that he can perceive, and keepeth steadfastly to
that, in singleness of heart, he cometh afterward to what is better and better,
until, at last, he findeth and tasteth that the Eternal Good is a Perfect Good,
without measure and number above all created good. Now if what is best is to be
dearest to us, and we are to follow after it, the One Eternal Good must be
loved above all and alone, and we must cleave to Him alone, and unite ourselves
with Him as closely as we may. And now if we are to ascribe all goodness to the
One Eternal Good, as of right and truth we ought, so must we also of right and
truth ascribe unto Him the beginning, middle, and end of our course, so that
nothing remain to man or the creature. So it should be of a truth, let men say
what they will.
Now on this wise we should attain unto a true inward
life. And what then further would happen to the soul, or would be revealed unto
her, and what her life would be henceforward, none can declare or guess. For it
is that which hath never been uttered by man's lips, nor hath it entered into
the heart of man to conceive.
In this our long discourse, are briefly comprehended
those things which ought of right and truth to be fulfilled: to wit, that man
should claim nothing for his own, nor crave, will, love, or intend anything but
God alone, and what is like unto Him, that is to say, the One, Eternal, Perfect
Goodness.
But if it be not thus with a man, and he take, will,
purpose, or crave, somewhat for himself, this or that, whatever it may be,
beside or other than the Eternal and Perfect Goodness which is God Himself,
this is all too much and a great injury, and hindereth the man from a perfect
life; wherefore he can never reach the Perfect Good, unless he first forsake
all things and himself first of all. For no man can serve two masters, who are
contrary the one to the other; he who will have the one, must let the other go.
Therefore if the Creator shall enter in, the creature must depart. Of this be
assured.
How a Man shall not seek his own, either in
Things spiritual or natural but the Honour of God only; and how he must enter
in by the right Door, to wit, by Christ, into Eternal Life.
If
a man may attain thereunto, to be unto God as his hand is to a man, let him be
therewith content, and not seek farther. This is my faithful counsel, and here
I take my stand. That is to say, let him strive and wrestle with all his might
to obey God and His commandments so thoroughly at all times and in all things,
that in him there be nothing, spiritual or natural, which opposeth God; and
that his whole soul and body with all their members may stand ready and willing
for that to which God hath created them; as ready and willing as his hand is to
a man, which is so wholly in his power, that in the twinkling of an eye, he
moveth and turneth it whither he will. And when we find it otherwise with us,
we must give our whole diligence to amend our state; and this from love and not
from fear, and in all things whatsoever, seek and intend the glory and praise
of God alone. We must not seek our own, either in things spiritual or in things
natural. It must needs be thus, if it is to stand well with us. And every
creature oweth this of right and truth unto God, and especially man, to whom,
by the ordinance of God, all creatures are made subject, and are servants, that
he may be subject to and serve God only.
Further, when a man hath come so far, and climbed so
high, that he thinketh and weeneth he standeth sure, let him beware lest the
Devil strew ashes and his own bad seed on his heart, and nature seek and take
her own comfort, rest, peace, and delight in the prosperity of his soul, and he
fall into a foolish, lawless freedom and licentiousness, which is altogether
alien to, and at war with, a true life in God. And this will happen to that man
who hath not entered, or refuseth to enter in by the right Way and the right
Door (which is Christ, as we have said), and imagineth that he would or could
come by any other way to the highest truth. He may perhaps dream that he hath
attained thereunto, but verily he is in error.
And our witness is Christ, who declareth: “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”[59]
A thief, for he robbeth God of His honour and glory, which belong to God alone;
he taketh them unto himself, and seeketh and purposeth himself. A murderer, for
he slayeth his own soul, and taketh away her life, which is God. For as the
body liveth by the soul, even so the soul liveth by God. Moreover, he murdereth
all those who follow him, by his doctrine and example. For Christ saith: “I
came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
Me.”[60]
And again: “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord?”[61]
as if he would say, it will avail you nothing to Eternal life. And again: “Not
every one that saith unto Me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven.”[62]
But He saith also: “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”[63]
And what are the commandments? “To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and to
love thy neighbour as thyself.”[64]
And in these two commandments all others are briefly comprehended.
There is nothing more precious to God, or more
profitable to man, than humble obedience. In His eyes, one good work, wrought
from true obedience, is of more value than a hundred thousand, wrought from
self-will, contrary to obedience. Therefore he who hath this obedience need not
dread Him, for such a man is in the right way, and following after Christ.
That we may thus deny ourselves, and forsake and
renounce all things for God's sake, and give up our own wills, and die unto
ourselves, and live unto God alone and to His will, may He help us, who gave up
His will to His Heavenly Father, -- Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be blessing
for ever and ever. Amen.
THE END
[1] Au)to\s e)phnqrw/phsen i(/na h(mei=s qeopoihqw=uen.--Athan. Orat. de Incarn. Verbi, tom. I. page. 108.
[2] “Homines dixit Deos, ex gradia sua deificatos; non de substantia sua natos,”--Aug. in Psalm xlix. (Ed. Bened. tom. iv. page 414.)
[3] Neander's “Kirchengeschichte,” Band 6, S. 15, 20. This work and Schmitz's “Johannes Tauler von Strasburg,” are the authorities for most of the facts here mentioned.
[4] As quoted by Neander. Kirchengeschichte, B. 6, S. 769.
[5] Neander, Kircshengeschichte, B. 6, S. 728.
[6] 1 Cor. 13:10.
[7] Isaiah 42:8.
[8] John 15:5.
[9] 1 Cor. 4:7.
[10] 2 Cor. 3:5.
[11] The writer is probably alluding to Ps. 49:8.
[12] John 3:8.
[13] Isaiah 57:21.
[14] John 14:27.
[15] John 16:33.
[16] Here Luther’s Edition has the following passage instead of the remainder of this chapter: “Therefore we should at all times give diligent heed to the works of God and His commandments, movings, and admonitions, and not to the works or commandments or admonitions of men.”
[17] Eph. 4:22, 24.
[18] John 3:3.
[19] 1 Cor. 15:22.
[20] Matt. 12:30.
[21] 2 Peter 1:4.
[22] 1 Cor. 13:10.
[23] Matt. 16:24.
[24] Matt. 10:38.
[25] Luke 14:26.
[26] Rom. 8:14.
[27] Rom. 6:14.
[28] Matt. 10:20.
[29] See note 31.
[30] Matt. 10:22.
[31] The heading of this Chapter appears to have no relation to its contents, while it perfectly suits the latter half of Chapter xxii, which has nothing corresponding to it in the heading of that chapter. As however the heading of Chapter xxiv. is common both to the Wurtzburg MS. and Luther’s editions, the translator has no option but to retain it in its present position.
[32] Matt. xi. 29.
[33] Matt. 5:20.
[34] Galat. 4:4.
[35] Matt. 20:28.
[36] Matt. 26:32, and 28:7-10.
[37] Luke 24:39.
[38] Rom. 8:14, and 6:14.
[39] This is, as a Person—”God” being used here as a proper name.—Tr.
[40] Cognition is the word which comes nearest to the original Erkenntniss, but would not harmonise with the style of the translation.
[41] Or, be realised.
[42] Mark 8:35. Our authorised version uses the word “life” in this verse, but as that would not quite bring out the force of the original, I have ventured to use the same word for yuch here, by which it is translated in the two succeeding verses.
Except in this and another passage, where, in quoting John 3:8, pneuma is translated, as in Luther’s version, Spirit instead of Wind, our authorised version has been always ahered to.—Tr.
[43] Namely, God’s having a right to our obedience.
[44] This is evidently an allusion to the “Brethren of the Free Spirit,” mentioned in the Historical Introduction.
[45] Isaiah 14:13, 14.
[46] Matt. 11:30.
[47] Galatians 2:20.
[48] Literally aught and nought, itch und nicht; but aught means any thing, the idea of the original is emphatically some thing, a part, not the whole.—Tr.
[49] Or realisation, wirklichkeit.
[50] This sentence is found in Luther’s edition, but not in that based on the Wurtzburg Manuscript.
[51] Namely, why God hath created the will.
[52] John 8:32-36.
[53] Matt. 10:38, and Luke 14:27.
[54] John 14:6.
[55] John 12:26.
[56] John 17:24.
[57] John 10:1, 3.
[58] John 6:44.
[59] John 10:1.
[60] John 6:38.
[61] Luke 6:46.
[62] Matt. 7:21.
[63] Matt. 19:17.
[64] Luke 10:27.