CRISTOLOGIA

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===== MAJOR SCOTT =====

Major Scott — Aspectos do Misticismo Cristão

Excertos de Aspects of Christian mysticism

==== CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA ====

Clement of Alexandria, it has been said by Dr. Bigg, was the father of all the Christian mystics, but no mystic himself; that the enchanted garden which he opened for others he did not himself enter; in a word, that Clement shrank from his own conclusions. But this is only true if we agree with Dr. Bigg in regarding mysticism as coextensive with ecstasy, a view which is surely both arbitrary and unnecessary. " O truly sacred mysteries!" cries Clement, "O stainless light! My way is lighted with torches, and I survey the heavens and God ! I am become holy while I am being initiated. The Lord is my hiero-phant." The man who could write thus must certainly have advanced some way along the mystic path.

Clement's writings cover so wide a field of thought, and embrace so great an area of Christian doctrine and experience, that it is easy to overlook his distinctively mystical teaching.

His aim was to construct a knowledge of God by which the Christian believer should be initiated into the holy mysteries of his faith—a knowledge of God including the divine secrets, the secret Word, and the mysteries of the Word.

The following sentences will show how Clement regarded the process of initiation into fuller knowledge of the Christian mysteries. " As the word ' child' implies one who is learning, so the word ' man' implies one who is teaching, and in Scripture the word ' man' is employed to express that which is perfect. Our Lord is called a 'man' on account of His being perfect in righteousness; and we shall be perfected when we become the Church and receive Christ as the Head." " Perfection as regards the performance of law is to be but a child in Christ." " When St. Paul became a man he put away childish things—the things of the law, and understood the things of Christ, who in Scripture is called 'the Man.' " " The sick need a Saviour and the lost a guide ; the blind, one who shall give light, and the thirsty, the living fountain, that drinking, he shall thirst no more ; the dead need life and the sheep a shepherd; children need a teacher, and all mankind need Jesus."

This knowledge, it is to be noted, is rooted and grounded in the revelation delivered once for all to the saints.

As a man becomes a new creation in Christ, so from Christ proceeds that fuller manifestation of divine realities which it is life and peace to know. Thus Clement speaks of the initiated as those who have learned the divine mysteries from the only begotten Son, and as becoming pure in heart by means of that knowledge which is through the Son of God. By this means alone are they " initiated face to face into the blessed contemplation." It is Christ, says Clement, the Word of Truth, the Word of in-corruption, who regenerates man, leading him back to the truth. Christ is the centre of salvation, and He freely offers light and life to the darkened and dead soul.

There are lesser mysteries and the great mysteries, just as there is a knowledge which is darkly partial and a knowledge which is perfect ; the former lead on to the latter, as the many lead to the one. Babes are to be fed with milk ; the perfect man with solid food. Instruction in the primary rudiments of the gospel is indeed the first nourishment of the soul; but full and perfect insight into the truth, a contemplation which discerns all mysteries, a comprehension of the blood and flesh of the Word and of the divine power and essence, is needful for the fully-grown man. This latter knowledge is not a barren word, but a sort of divine science which makes all things manifest in their origin, prepares man to know himself, and teaches him to reach out toward God. This knowledge is the perfection of man as man; and the mystic is perfected through the science of divine things, for he is in unison with the Divine Word and intimately united to God. Clement quotes the saying of St. Paul respecting his knowledge in the mystery of Christ, and refers to the special instruction of the perfect which St. Paul alludes to in his epistle to the Colossians. Some mysteries, says Clement, were concealed until the times of the apostles, and were delivered by them as they received them from the Lord. These mysteries which were hidden in the Old Testament are now revealed to the saints. Clement adds, however, that this knowledge is not imparted to all believers. The vital energies of the spiritual deep and the powers of the world to come are known only by the initiated.

According to Clement there are two forms of truth : one relating to words, and the other to things. This latter, he suggests, is possessed by the initiated alone. Clement makes a distinction between that which is written and its deeper meaning—the concealed reality which is the subject of a higher knowledge. Instruction in the higher form of truth is called illumination, because it makes manifest that which is hidden. It is to be remembered, writes Clement, that neither the prophets nor the Saviour Himself announced the divine mysteries so as to be easily comprehended by every one, but spoke in parables. The deepest interpretation is always the truest. This is not intended to be the negation, but the affirmation of the place of reason as an interpretation of divine realities ; for Clement regards the mystical as springing out of the rational. It cannot be denied that the historical facts of the Christian revelation are accorded their due place in Clement's teaching, but the idea they enshrine is always placed in the forefront; the outward sign is acknowledged, but it is the inner truth that is regarded. The mystic possesses the true logic which alone leads to the true wisdom. That true wisdom is the divine power which, knowing things as they are and exempt from all passion, reaches out toward perfection. It cannot be attained apart from the Saviour, who, by the divine word, removes the veil of ignorance spread over the eye of the soul by the things of sense, and gives that which is best—the power of discerning between God and man. The true and spiritual meaning of the Scriptures is possessed by the mystic alone, and to him the sayings of the Lord, though obscure to others, are clear and manifest. He has obtained knowledge concerning all; for, says Clement, " our oracles return answers concerning things present, as they are; concerning things future, as they will be; concerning things past, as they have been." This knowledge is quite different from that derived through the senses, which is common to all men; it is not born with men, but is acquired by attention, nourishment, and increase. By incessant practice it becomes a habit or disposition ; and perfected by mystical initiation, and fixed by love, it cannot fail.

Clement writes : " Man is dear to God, because he is God's workmanship. God commanded the creation of other beings, but He fashioned with His own hands man—breathing into him that which was peculiar to Himself. Therefore that which was fashioned by God after His own image was created by Him—whether chosen on its own account, or on account of something else. If chosen on its own account, God who is goodness loves that which is good ; and that which is called the inspiration or breathing of God is the interior charm rendering man beloved of God. If chosen on account of something else, God's only motive for creating him was that, apart from his existr ence, God could not be a good Creator, and man could not attain the knowledge of God." Elsewhere Clement says : 11 Knowledge lies in illumination, and the end of knowledge is rest ; and this is the ultimate object of desire."

Naturally, Clement came to think of the Christian life as consisting of a twofold character —a lower and a higher life. The former lay in obedience to the Christian rule, and in this lower life hope and fear alternated. While by no means the ideal, this life was typical of the vast majority of Christians. The higher and ideal Christian life was one of full understanding of, and communion with God—a life in which the soul joyfully surrendered to the divine. This surrender, which brought ecstatic joy, was the one utterly desirable end of human endeavour; and only those who had grown in the knowledge of the Son of God to the stature of the perfect man might attain it. Clement adds that this perfection consists in an abiding communion with God through the Great High Priest, and " in being as like unto the Lord as can be." The mystic is described by Clement as one who is superior to anger and desire, which are both equally irrational. He loves the creature only through the God and Maker of all things, and he has acquired a habit or disposition of self-control, unattended by effort, after the likeness of his Lord. He unites knowledge to faith and love, and is therefore one in his judgment. Being formed into a perfect man after the image of the Lord, he is truly spiritual, and worthy to be called brother by the Lord. At once, he is a friend and a son of God.

Dr. Inge has pointed out that the doctrine of "deification" found its way into the scheme of Christian mysticism through the teaching of Clement; but it would, perhaps, be more correct to say that Clement only seized upon and emphasized, somewhat too unguardedly and too unreservedly, certain aspects of Pauline mysticism. Clement constantly refers to the statement that God formed man in His image and after His likeness, and explains this to mean that man at his birth receives the image, but only acquires the likeness gradually, and as he draws nearer to Christian perfection. " Christ alone," says Clement, " who is exempt from passions and affections, is at once in the image and after the likeness." Clement, however, is not careful enough in preserving the distinction he notes, and he sometimes speaks of the mystic or perfect Christian as formed in the image and after the likeness of God. By knowing God, man may be assimilated to God, and by the indwelling of the Word, may even become God. The union of the Holy Spirit with the soul of man enables the mystic to perfect within him the likeness of the divine image; and " the image of God," says Clement, " is His Word." The mystic's whole life is prayer and converse with God, and although to speak of the soul as " training itself to be God " is doubtless open to objection, the idea which it embodies is essentially a true one, and, as an ideal, ought to be present before the mind and imagination of all Christians.

Clement teaches that the mystic having passed through the successive stages of initiation will arrive at the highest place of rest, in which he will contemplate God face to face with full knowledge and understanding " in the Holy Mountain of the Lord, in the Church above. There are the divine philosophers, the true Israelites, the pure in heart, in whom is no -guile—no longer remaining in the Hebdomas of rest, but by active well-doing, after the Divine Image, looking up to the inheritance in the Ogdoas." Advancing continually in the work of perfection, the Mystic " hastens through the Holy Hebdomas, to the Father's Habitation, the Mansion of the Lord, about to become, so to speak, an eternally permanent light for ever unchangeable."

In setting forth the progressive realisation of the higher Christian life, Clement employs some of the ideas and language of the Greek mysteries with which he was familiar. In particular, he insists upon the place and power of purgative discipline. It is only the pure in heart to whom divine illumination is given; they, and they only, can enter the shrine. In order to attain this purity, the soul must be purged from the dross of this world, thus escaping the snare of sensual pleasure and self-satisfied ease. A separation without regret from the body and its passions, says Clement, is not only a sacrifice acceptable to God, but it is essential to the higher life of the spirit. Clement writes: " The soul of the mystic must be denuded of the material skin, freed from bodily trifling and all the passions which vain and false opinions engender, and having put away fleshly lusts must be consecrated to the light. He begins the purgative process by confession, and the contemplative process by analysis. ... If, then, we cast ourselves into the greatness of Christ, and go forward with purity into profundity, we shall approach to the notion of the Almighty, knowing, indeed, not what He is, but what He is not." Clement adds that we are unable, of ourselves, to attain to this knowledge: it is the gift of God through His Son.

Of cleansing through the Word and growth in the grace of illumination, Clement writes thus: " Our sins are forgiven by one sovereign medicine, which is baptism according to the Word ; in this we are cleansed from all our sins and immediately pass from our evil state. This is one grace of illumination, for no longer is our way of life after the manner m which we walked before we were cleansed, because knowledge grows with illumination—enlightening the understanding. Thus we who were untaught are now called disciples." Or again : "It is called ' washing,' for by it we are cleansed from our sins ; 'grace,' for by it the punishment due to our sins is forgiven ; ' illumination,' for by it we see that holy saving Light, and our sight is made keen to see the Divine nature ; ' perfection,' for nothing is wanting to the soul that knows God." Elsewhere Clement sums up the process thus : " Being baptised, we are illuminated, being illuminated, we are adopted ; being adopted, we are perfected ; being perfected, we are made immortal." Always, Clement maintains that " the Word is the source of all the true knowledge to which man attains " ; " the wisdom of God " ; " the genuine wisdom, the sanctification of knowledge " ; " the person of the revealed truth"; "the person or face of God, by which He is brought to light or revealed."

Purgation, Clement teaches, is the means by which purity is gained, and purity is a preliminary to positive holiness. Hence, Clement assigns no mean place to the discipline of fasting, which purifies the soul from matter, and renders both body and soul pure and light to receive the divine disclosures. Mystically, he tells us, fasting shows that as life in each individual is supported by food, and not to be nourished by food is a symbol of death, so it is incumbent upon us to fast from worldly things that we may be dead to them, while partaking of divine food we may live to God. Purity is then not simply the absence of evil, but the presence of good. " Purity is to think holy things." Without this, no true knowledge, no mystical illumination is possible. This, and this only, is the one thing needful, though prayer and patient study of Scripture (which Clement teaches as admitting of a fourfold interpretation), go hand in hand with it.

Further, according to Clement, the more a man loves, the more deeply does he penetrate into God. The loving soul will make his whole life a continued act of prayer, for he knows that he is living always in the presence of God. Without love, no course of purgation or discipline will bring the soul to perfection. Perfection is attained only when the soul hangs upon the Lord through faith, and knowledge, and, especially, love. Mystical knowledge is given only to those who love much.

' The final state of the mystic is perpetual contemplation of God, and in this his blessedness consists. The soul, says Clement, contemplates no longer in a mirror or through a glass, but looks eternally upon the vision in all its clearness—the vision with which the soul, smitten with boundless love, can never be filled. To hold intercourse with God eternally, is the final operation of the mystic. He rests in the holy mountain of the Lord together with the Church above.

Of those who have studied with patience and sympathetic insight the mystical teaching of Clement, few will be found to dispute the pronouncement of Dr. Bigg, that among Christian writers, none till very recent times has so clear and grand a conception of the development of the spiritual life. He was a master of that spiritual science which treats of the evolution or development of humanity by the Interior

Way towards God who is the Beginning and End of all.

Perhaps no study of Clement could furnish us with a more faithful knowledge of his mystical teaching than is to be found in the words of the following prayer :

" O Lord, grant that we, who follow Thy injunctions, may perfect the likeness of Thy image. . . . Grant that we all, living in Thy peace, translated into Thy City, safely sailing through the waves of sin, may be tranquilly borne along together with the Holy Spirit, the ineffable Wisdom; and day and night until the perfect day, may praise with thanksgiving, and give thanks with praise, to the only Father and Son . . . together with the Holy Spirit, all things in one; in Whom are all things; through Whom all things are one; through Whom is eternity; Whose members we all are. Amen."