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| Chapter IX. How from practical knowledge we must proceed to spiritual.
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Chapter IX.
How from practical knowledge we must proceed to
spiritual.
Wherefore if you are
anxious to attain to the light of spiritual knowledge, not wrongly for
an idle boast but for the sake of being made better men, you are first
inflamed with the longing for that blessedness, of which we read:
“blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see
God,”1884
that you may
also attain to that of which the angel said to Daniel: “But they
that are learned shall shine as the splendor of the firmament: and they
that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever
and ever;” and in
another prophet: “Enlighten yourselves with the light of
knowledge while there is time.”1885
And so keeping up that diligence in
reading, which I see that you have, endeavour with all eagerness to
gain in the first place a thorough grasp of practical, i.e., ethical
knowledge. For without this that theoretical purity of which we have
spoken cannot be obtained, which those only, who are perfected not by
the words of others who teach them, but by the excellence of their own
actions, can after much expenditure of effort and toil attain as a
reward for it. For as they gain their knowledge not from meditation on
the law but from the fruit of their labour, they sing with the
Psalmist: “From Thy commandments I have understanding;” and
having overcome all their passions, they say with confidence: “I
will sing, and I will understand in the undefiled way.”1886
For he who is striving in an
undefiled way in the course of a pure heart, as he sings the Psalm,
understands the words which are chanted. And therefore if you would
prepare in your heart a holy tabernacle of spiritual knowledge, purge
yourselves from the stain of all sins, and rid yourselves of the cares
of this world. For it is an impossibility for the soul which is taken
up even to a small extent with worldly troubles, to gain the gift of
knowledge or to become an author of spiritual interpretation, and
diligent in reading holy things. Be careful therefore in the first
place, and especially you, John, as your more youthful age requires you
the rather to be careful about what I am going to say—that you
may enjoin absolute silence on your lips, in order that your zeal for
reading and the efforts of your purpose may not be destroyed by vain
pride. For this is the first practical step towards learning, to
receive the regulations and opinions of all the Elders with an earnest
heart, and with lips that are dumb; and diligently to lay them up in
your heart, and endeavour rather to perform than to teach them. For
from teaching, the dangerous arrogance of vainglory, but from
performing, the fruit of spiritual knowledge will flourish. And so you
should never venture to say anything in the conference of the Elders
unless some ignorance that might be injurious, or a matter which it is
important to know leads you to ask a question; as some who are puffed
up with vainglory, pretend that they ask, in order really to show off
the knowledge which they perfectly possess. For it is an impossibility
for one, who takes to the pursuit of reading with the purpose of
gaining the praise of men, to be rewarded with the gift of true
knowledge. For one who is bound by the chain of this passion, is sure
to be also in bondage to other faults, and especially to that of pride:
and so if he is baffled by his encounter with practical and ethical
knowledge, he will certainly not attain that spiritual knowledge which
springs from it. Be then in all things “swift to hear, but slow
to speak,”1887
lest there
come upon you that which is noted by Solomon: “If thou seest a
man who is quick to speak, know that there is more hope of a fool than
of him;”1888
and do not
presume to teach any one in words what you have not already performed
in deed. For our Lord taught us by His own example that we ought to
keep to this order, as of Him it is said: “what Jesus began to do
and to teach.”1889
Take care
then that you do not rush into teaching before doing, and so be
reckoned among the number of those of whom the Lord speaks in the
gospel to the disciples: “What they say unto you, that observe
and do, but not after their words: for they say and do not. But they
bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on
men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one
of their fingers.”1890
For if he who
shall “break one of these commands, and shall teach men so, shall
be called least in the kingdom of heaven,”1891
it follows that one who has dared to
despise many and greater commands and to teach men so, shall certainly
be considered not least in the kingdom of heaven, but greatest in the
punishment of hell. And therefore you must be careful not to be led on
to teach by the example of those who have attained some skill in
discussion and readiness in speech and because they can discourse on
what they please elegantly and fully, are imagined to possess spiritual
knowledge, by those who do not know how to distinguish its real force
and character. For it is one thing to have a ready tongue and elegant
language, and quite another to penetrate into the very heart and marrow
of heavenly utterances and to gaze with pure eye of the soul on
profound and hidden mysteries; for this can be gained by no learning of
man’s, nor condition of this world, only by purity of soul, by
means of the illumination of the Holy Ghost.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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