The Great Psalm

Furtmeyr Bible

THE PURPOSE of this post is to draw attention to the Great Psalm — one of the Bible’s hidden gems — and to encourage its personal study.

At 176 verses, Psalm 119 (118) is the longest psalm, with more verses than any other chapter of the Bible. Arranged in 22 sets of eight verses each, all verses within a set begin with the same consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet — aleph for the first eight verses, beth for the second eight, and so on. This has led some to mistakenly dismiss the psalm as a ancient Hebrew child’s ABC, but in fact the content is far too subtle and sublime for a child.

The principal subject is the greatness of God’s Law — ‘Law’ here understood in a comprehensive sense perhaps better expressed by words like Torah or Way. The psalm is a fervent prayer that ones life — but especially ones mind and heart — be conformed to God’s will.

Eight terms are used to denote specific elements of the Way, each referring to something coming from God: words, law, commandments, judgments, statutes, precepts, way and testimonies. All verses but two contain at least one of one of these eight words. These are not simple synonyms, but elements of a complex moral psychology: considered collectively they present a sophisticated and nuanced picture of how Torah operates as a guiding and organizing force in our spiritual life.

Psalm 119 has been likened to a commentary on Psalm 1:2a (But his delight is in the law of the LORD). There are also strong connections with Psalm 2, Psalm 19 and Psalm 23. The psalmist is one who in earnest seeks first the Reign of God (Matthew 6:33) — that is, the constant, active reigning of God within the soul by means of spiritual gifts, inspiration, discernment, and right thoughts and judgments.

There are three principle characters in the psalm: ourselves, God, and persecutors (that is, inner persecutors: wrong attachments, vain thoughts and the like).

Important themes include: (1) the psalmist’s genuine hunger and thirst for inner righteousness (Matthew 5:6); (2) an acute and painful awareness of the falseness of thoughts of the unregenerate mind; and (3) very importantly, a totality of commitment.

The psalmist’s fervent desire for a mind and heart organized on the principles of God’s guidance and grace as opposed to self-will corresponds to the transformation from carnal- to spiritual-mindedness (Romans 12:2).

Many helpful commentaries exist, including sermons of St. Ambrose. The Palestinian catenae (Harl, 1972) is an important source of commentary by Eastern Church Fathers. Spurgeon’s excellent work excerpts the best of earlier English commentators.

More need not be said here, as deeper understanding will come from prayerful study.

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References

Boulding, Maria (tr.); Ramsey, Boniface (ed.). Expositions of Psalm 118. In: Augustine: Expositions of the Psalms 99−120. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2003; 342.

Bridges, Charles. Exposition of Psalm CXIX: as Illustrative of the Character and Exercises of Christian Experience. New York: R. Carter & Brothers, 1861.

Cowper, William (bishop). A Holy Alphabet for Sion’s Scholars. A Commentary upon 119 Psalme. London: John Budge, 1613.

Freedman, David Noel. Psalm 119: The Exaltation of Torah. Eisenbrauns, 1999.

Gori, Franco. Augustine: In Psalmo CXIII. In: Enarrationes in Psalmos 101−150. Pars 2: Enarrationes in Psalmos 110−118. CSEL 95.2. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2001.

Harl, Marguerite; Dorival, Gilles (eds.). La chaîne palestinienne sur le Psaume 118. 2 vols. Sources Chrétiennes 189−190; Paris: Cerf, 1972.  (Palestinian catena: Origen, Eusebius, Didymus, Apollinaris, Athanasius, Theodoret). Introduction, critical text, and translation.

Henry, Matthew. Commentary on Psalms 119. In: An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, in Six Volumes. Vol. 3. Edinburgh, 1790; 576−608.

Manton, Thomas. One hundred and Ninety Sermons on One Hundred and Nineteenth Psalm. London: 1681.

Migne, Jacques Paul (ed.). Ambrose: In Psalmum David CXVIII Expositio. 22 sermons. Patrologia Latina 15.1197−1526, Paris, 1845.

Migne, Jacques Paul (ed.).  Augustine: In Psalmum CXVIII Enarratio. 32 sermons. Patrologia Latina 37.1501−1596, Paris, 1841

Mukasa, Edoth M. “Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.” The Grace of the Law: A Study of Augustine’s Enarratio in Psalmum 118. Diss. University of Notre Dame, 2014.

Neale, John Mason; Littledale, Richard Frederick. A Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 4. London: Joseph Masters, 1874; 1−161 (Psalm CXIX).

Petschenig, Michael (ed.). Ambrose of Milan: Expositio Psalmi CXVIII  (22 sermons).  CSEL 62. Vienna: Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1913 (repr. 1999).

Riain, Íde Nı́ (tr.). Homilies of Saint Ambrose on Psalm 118 (119). Dublin: Halcyon Press, 1998.

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. The Treasury of David. Vol 6. New York, Funk & Wagnalls, 1882; 1−398 (Psalm CXIX).

Wesselschmidt, Quentin F. (ed.). Psalms 51−150. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, OT Volume 8. Intervarsity Press, 2007; 312−338 (Psalm 119).

Psalm 119

Beati inmaculati in via

Psalm 119 (KJV)

ALEPH
Torah is the source of happiness to those who walk by it,
[1] Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
[2] Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
[3] They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
[4] Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
[5] O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
[6] Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
[7] I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
[8] I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

II BETH
of holiness to those who give heed to it,
[9] Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
[10] With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
[11] Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
[12] Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
[13] With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
[14] I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
[15] I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
[16] I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

III GIMEL
of truth to those whose eyes the Lord opens by his Spirit,
[17] Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
[18] Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
[19] I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
[20] My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
[21] Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
[22] Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
[23] Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
[24] Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

IV DALETH
of law to those whose heart he renews
[25] My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
[26] I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
[27] Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
[28] My soul melteth for
[29] Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
[30] I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
[31] I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
[32] I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

V HE
begets perseverance by its promises,
[33] Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
[34] Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
[35] Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
[36] Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
[37] Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
[38] Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
[39] Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
[40] Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

VI VAV
reveals the mercy and salvation of the Lord,
[41] Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
[42] So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
[43] And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
[44] So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
[45] And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
[46] I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
[47] And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
[48] My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

VII ZAIN
awakens the comfort of hope in God,
[49] Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
[50] This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
[51] The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
[52] I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.
[53] Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
[54] Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
[55] I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.
[56] This I had, because I kept thy precepts.
loving way self-reinforcing, keeping – living – sensing — keeping

VIII CHETH
presents the Lord as the portion of the trusting soul,
[57] Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.
[58] I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.
[59] I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
[60] I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
[61] The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.
[62] At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
[63] I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
[64] The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

IX TETH
makes affliction instructive and chastening,
[65] Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.
[66] Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.
[67] Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
[68] Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
[69] The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
[70] Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
[71] It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
[72] The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

X JOD
begets a fellowship in the fear of God,
[73] Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
[74] They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.
[75] I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
[76] Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.
[77] Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.
[78] Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
[79] Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.
[80] Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

XI CAPH
and a longing for the full peace of salvation,
[81] My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
[82] Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?
[83] For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
[84] How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
[85] The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.
[86] All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
[87] They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
[88] Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

XII LAMED
is faithful and immutable,
[89] For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
[90] Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
[91] They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
[92] Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
[93] I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
[94] I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.
[95] The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
[96] I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

XIII MEM
commands the approval of the heart,
[97] O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
[98] Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
[99] I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
[100] I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
[101] I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
[102] I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
[103] How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
[104] Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

XIV NUN
is a light to the path,
[105] Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
[106] I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
[107] I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.
[108] Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
[109] My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
[110] The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
[111] Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
[112] I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

XV SAMECH
from which to swerve is hateful,
[113] I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
[114] Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
[115] Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.
[116] Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
[117] Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
[118] Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.
[119] Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.
[120] My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

XVI AIN
warrants the plea of innocence,
[121] I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.
[122] Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.
[123] Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
[124] Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
[125] I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
[126] It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
[127] Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
[128] Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

XVII PE
is a testimony to God’s character and will,
[129] Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.
[130] The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
[131] I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
[132] Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
[133] Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
[134] Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.
[135] Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.
[136] Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

XVIII TZADDI
is a law of rectitude,
[137] Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
[138] Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
[139] My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
[140] Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
[141] I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
[142] Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
[143] Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
[144] The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

XIX KOPH
warrants the cry for salvation,
[145] I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.
[146] I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.
[147] I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.
[148] Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
[149] Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.
[150] They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.
[151] Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
[152] Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.

XX RESH
and prayer for deliverance from affliction,
[153] Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.
[154] Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.
[155] Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.
[156] Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.
[157] Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
[158] I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.
[159] Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.
[160] Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

XXI SCHIN
and from persecution without a cause,
[161] Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
[162] I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
[163] I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.
[164] Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
[165] Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
[166] LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.
[167] My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.
[168] I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.

XXII TAU
and assures of an answer in due time.
[169] Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.
[170] Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word.
[171] My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes.
[172] My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.
[173] Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.
[174] I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.
[175] Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.
[176] I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

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Hebrew, Latin, Greek versions, tools, commentaries

Italicized headings are from: James G. Murphy, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 1875 (as shown in Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 1882).

Art: Munich Psalter

Preface to Traherne

Art: Thomas Denny, Thomas Traherne windows (Hereford Cathedral, 2007) 

SINCE the rediscovery of Thomas Traherne’s work around the turn of 20th century, there has been wide consensus that he is a significant writer. There has been less agreement, however, on why he is significant — i.e., what his main contributions, especially for present times, consist of.

Somewhat unfortunately, many early commentators focused attention on his poetry, classifying him narrowly as an English metaphysical poet.  However, while his poetry is excellent, it is arguably,not quite as technically sophisticated as that of George Herbert or Henry Vaughan. Traherne’s best work is not his verse, but his Centuries of Meditations, which we might classify as prose-poetry.

Other writers sought to interpret Traherne as a critic of the newly emerging rationalism, especially of Hobbes.  More recently (e.g., Inge, 2009) attention has been drawn to his significance for Christian doctrinal theology.

Somewhat less attention, however, has been paid to simply understanding Traherne’s writings at face value:  as devotional works intended to stimulate and deepen the religious experience of readers. What if we simply allow that Traherne is authentically inspired?   In that case, perhaps we ought to be more interested in how he describes his work and mission than in historical or technical criticism.

Traherne’s two most sublime and famous works — the poems of the Dobell folio (Dobell, 1906) and Centuries of Meditations (Dobell, 1908) have been transmitted in manuscript form only and lack author prefaces.  However Traherne did prepare another work, Christian Ethicks, for publication (it reached print a year after his death) and this is prefaced with a ‘Note to the Reader.’  Here Traherne carefully and concisely explains his purpose.  Christian Ethicks is a systematic work, but it treats the same subjects as his poems and Centuries of Meditations.  Therefore his ‘To the Reader’ gives us insight into his intentions for these other works as well.

To the Reader, copied from the 1675 edition of Christian Ethicks is supplied below. Original spelling is retained.  Page numbers have been added in braces ({}) and paragraphs numbered in brackets ([]).  Some key points are as follows:

In the first paragraph he announces his aim to elevate the soul and inflame the heart.  He is interested in ethics not as a dry academic exercise or as theories developed by force of rational argument.  Rather he seeks to excite the intelligence and arouse the will, enabling people to seek and directly experience the religious and moral truths contained.  Here he follows the tradition of Plato — to achieve moral transformation by an ascent of the mind and heart and by recollection (anamnesis) of already known truths — and not the rationalism of Aristotle or scholasticism.

In [2−3] he contrasts his method with discussions that approach ethics either (1) dogmatically, as ‘things we must do because God so ordains’, or (2) based on practical expedience.  Indeed, a hallmark feature of Traherne’s philosophy is that ethics is what produces our greatest good, which he calls Felicity.  Felicity includes happiness, but is something more.  It also carries the sense of joy, illumination and holiness.  For Traherne, Felicity is the telos of human beings, our ethical summum bonum.  It unites in a single principle our greatest happiness, our duty, expedience, God’s will, love of God and charity to others.

Traherne has sometimes been criticized as being an impractical optimist, with no significant theory of evil.  He addresses this point in paragraph [4], taking the position that virtues are so good, beautiful and attractive in themselves that, if we can see them truly, they will by their own force overcome any attraction to baseness or sin. Hence explicit discussion of vice is a digression and a distraction from topics that matter more.

Traherne is clearly promoting what we would today call virtue ethics. In the subsequent paragraphs he alludes to a number of specific virtues, including the traditional cardinal and theological virtues.  Again in a characteristically Platonic way, he recognizes a fundamental unity amongst virtues.  At the center of them all is Goodness, the source of which is God.

The final paragraph emphasizes two things.  First, the essence of his entire system is to exhort us to God’s praise and glory.  God’s glory, for Traherne, is the essential fact of the universe.  This fact is not only virtually a logical necessity, but something Traherne claims to have experienced himself many times.  Further, we cannot doubt that it is his personal, passionate aim to convey this message to us so that we may achieve the Felicity of which he speaks.  Traherne presents his writings as a charitable outreaching to his readers, seeking to further God’s glory by making us want to further God’s glory, achieving, in the process, our own Felicity.  This kind of self-reinforcing circularity is recurring theme in his writings.

Finally and tellingly, he is careful to emphasize that we must not only understand these high truths intellectually, but “sense” them.

TO THE READER.

[1] THE design of this Treatise is, not to stroak and tickle the Fancy, but to elevate the Soul, and refine its Apprehensions, to inform the Judgment, and polish it for Conversation, to purifie and enflame the Heart, to enrich the Mind, and guide Men {ii} (that stand in need of help) in the way of Vertue; to excite their Desire, to encourage them to Travel, to comfort them in the Journey, and so at last to lead them to true Felicity, both here and hereafter.

[2] need not treat of Vertues in the ordinary way, as they are Duties enjoyned by the Law of GOD; that the Author of The whole Duty of Man *hath excellently done: nor as they are Prudential Expedients and Means for a mans Peace and Honour on Earth; that is in some measure done by the French Charon {iii} of Wisdom**. My purpose is to satisfie the Curious and Unbelieving Soul, concerning the reality, force, and efficacy of Vertue; and having some advantages from the knowledge I gained in the nature of Felicity (by many years earnest and diligent study) my business is to make as visible, as it is possible for me, the lustre of its Beauty, Dignity, and Glory: By shewing what a necessary Means Vertue is, how sweet, how full of Reason, how desirable in it self, how just and amiable, how delightful, and how powerfully conducive also {iv} to Glory: how naturally Vertue carries us to the Temple of Bliss, and how immeasurably transcendent it is in all kinds of Excellency.

[3] And (if I may speak freely) my Office is, to carry and enhance Vertue to its utmost height, to open the Beauty of all the Prospect, and to make the Glory of GOD appear, in the Blessedness of Man, by setting forth its infinite Excellency: Taking out of the Treasuries of Humanity those Arguments that will discover the great perfection of the End of Man, which he may atchieve {v} by the capacity of his Nature: As also by opening the Nature of Vertue it self, thereby to display the marvellous Beauty of Religion, and light the Soul to the sight of its Perfection.

[4] I do not speak much of Vice, which is far the more easie Theme, because I am intirely taken up with the abundance of Worth and Beauty in Vertue, and have so much to say of the positive and intrinsick Goodness of its Nature. But besides, since a strait Line is the measure both of it self, and of a crooked one, I conclude, That the very Glory of {vi} Vertue well understood, will make all Vice appear like dirt before Jewel, when they are compared together. Nay, Vice as soon as it is named in the presence of these Vertues, will look like Poyson and a Contagion, or if you will, as black as Malice and Ingratitude: so that there will need no other Exposition of its Nature, to dehort Men from the love of it, than the Illustration of its Contrary.

[5] Vertues are listed in the rank of Invisible things; of which kind, some are so blind as to deny there are any existent {vii} in Nature: But yet it may, and will be made easily apparent, that all the Peace and Beauty in the World proceedeth from them, all Honour and Security is founded in them, all Glory and Esteem is acquired by them. For the Prosperity of all Kingdoms is laid in the Goodness of GOD and of Men. Were there nothing in the World but the Works of Amity, which proceed from the highest Vertue, they alone would testifie of its Excellency. For there can be no Safety where there is any Treachery: But were all {viii} Truth and Courtesie exercis’d with Fidelity and Love, there could be no Injustice or Complaint in the World; no Strife, nor Violence: but all Bounty, Joy and Complacency. Were there no Blindness, every Soul would be full of Light, and the face of Felicity be seen, and the Earth be turned into Heaven.

[6] The things we treat of are great and mighty; they touch the Essence of every Soul, and are of infinite Concernment, because the Felicity is eternal that is acquired by them: I do not mean Immortal only but worthy to be Eternal: and it is {ix} impossible to be happy without them. We treat of Mans great and soveraign End, of the Nature of Blessedness, of the Means to attain it: Of Knowledge and Love, of Wisdom and Goodness, of Righteousness and Holiness, of Justice and Mercy, of Prudence and Courage, of Temperance and Patience, of Meekness and Humility, of Contentment, of Magnanimity and Modesty, of Liberality and Magnificence, of the waies by which Love is begotten in the Soul, of Gratitude, of Faith, Hope, and Charity, of Repentance, Devotion, {x} Fidelity, and Godliness. In all which we shew what sublime and mysterious Creatures they are, which depend upon the Operations of Mans Soul; their great extent, their use and value, their Original and their End, their Objects and their Times: What Vertues belong to the Estate of Innocency, what to the Estate of Misery and Grace, and what to the Estate of Glory. Which are the food of the Soul, and the works of Nature; which were occasioned by Sin, as Medicines and Expedients only: which are {xi} Essential to Felicity, and which Accidental; which Temporal, and which Eternal: with the true Reason of their Imposition; why they all are commanded, and how wise and gracious GOD is in enjoyning them. By which means all Atheism is put to flight, and all Infidelity: The Soul is reconciled to the Lawgiver of the World, and taught to delight in his Commandements: All Enmity and Discontentment must vanish as Clouds and Darkness before the Sun, when the Beauty of Vertue appeareth in its {xii} brightness and glory. It is impossible that the splendour of its Nature should be seen, but all Religion and Felicity will be manifest.

[7] Perhaps you will meet some New Notions: but yet when they are examined, he hopes it will appear to the Reader, that it was the actual knowledge of true Felicity that taught him to speak of Vertue; and moreover, that there is not the least tittle pertaining to the Catholick Faith contradicted or altered in his Papers. For he firmly retains all that was established in the {xiii} Ancient Councels, nay and sees Cause to do so, even in the highest and most transcendent Mysteries: only he enriches all, by farther opening the grandeur and glory of Religion, with the interiour depths and Beauties of Faith. Yet indeed it is not he, but GOD that hath enriched the Nature of it: he only brings the Wealth of Vertue to light, which the infinite Wisdom, and Goodness, and Power of GOD have seated there. Which though Learned Men know perhaps far better than he, yet he humbly craves pardon for casting in {xiv} his Mite to the vulgar Exchequer. He hath nothing more to say, but that the Glory of GOD, and the sublime Perfection of Humane Nature are united in Vertue. By Vertue the Creation is made useful, and the Universe delightful. All the Works of GOD are crowned with their End, by the Glory of Vertue. For whatsoever is good and profitable for Men is made Sacred; because it is delightful and well-pleasing to GOD: Who being LOVE by Nature, delighteth in his Creatures welfare.{xv}

[8] There are two sorts of concurrent Actions necessary to Bliss. Actions in GOD, and Actions in Men; nay and Actions too in all the Creatures. The Sun must warm, but it must not burn; the Earth must bring forth, but not swallow up; the Air must cool without starving, and the Sea moisten without drowning: Meats must feed but not poyson: Rain must fall, but not oppress: Thus in the inferiour Creatures you see Actions are of several kinds. But these may be reduced to the Actions of GOD, from whom they {xvi} spring; for he prepares all these Creatures for us. And it is necessary to the felicity of his Sons, that he should make all things healing and amiable, not odious and destructive: that he should Love, and not Hate: And the Actions of Men must concur aright with these of GOD, and his Creatures. They must not despise Blessings because they are given, but esteem them; not trample them under feet, because they have the benefit of them, but magnifie and extol them: They too must Love, and not Hate: They must not kill and murther, {xvii} but serve and pleasure one another: they must not scorn great and inestimable Gifts, because they are common, for so the Angels would lose all the happiness of Heaven. If GOD should do the most great and glorious things that infinite Wisdom could devise; if Men will resolve to be blind, and perverse, and sensless, all will be in vain: the most High and Sacred things will increase their Misery. This may give you some little glimpse of the excellency of Vertue.{xviii}

[9] You may easily discern that my Design is to reconcile Men to GOD, and make them fit to delight in him: and that my last End is to celebrate his Praises, in communion with the Angels. Wherein I beg the Concurrence of the Reader, for we can never praise him enough; nor be fit enough to praise him: No other man (at least) can make us so, without our own willingness, and endeavour to do it. Above all, pray to be sensible of the Excellency of the Creation for upon the due sense of its Excellency the life of {xix} Felicity wholly dependeth. Pray to be sensible of the Excellency of Divine Laws, and of all the Goodness which your Soul comprehendeth. Covet a lively sense of all you know, of the Excellency of GOD, and of Eternal Love; of your own Excellency, and of the worth and value of all Objects whatsoever. For to feel is as necessary, as to see their Glory.

* Anonymous, The Whole Duty of Man. London: Henry Hammond, 1658.  A popular 17th century Anglican devotional work.

** Pierre Charron, De la sagesse (translated into English as Of Wisdome, 1612).  Charron, a disciple of Montaigne, defended virtue on the basis of practical expedience.

Bibliography

Balakier, James, J. Thomas Traherne and the Felicities of the Mind. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2010.

Dobell, Bertram (ed.). The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne. London, 1903; 2nd ed. 1906.

Dobell, Bertram (ed.). Thomas Traherne: Centuries of Meditations. London, 1908.

Hunter, Stuart Charles. Prophet of Felicity: A Study of the Intellectual Background of Thomas Traherne. Diss. McMaster University, 1965.

Inge, Denise. Wanting Like a God: Desire and Freedom in Thomas Traherne. London: SCM Press, 2009.

Margoliouth, H. M. (ed.). Centuries, Poems, and Thanksgivings. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958.

Marks, Carol L. Thomas Traherne and Hermes Trismegistus. Renaissance News, vol. 19, no. 2, 1966, 118–131.

Martz, Louis. The Paradise Within: Studies in Vaughan, Traherne, and Milton. New Haven and London, 1964.

Traherne, Thomas. Christian ethicks, or, Divine morality opening the way to blessedness, by the rules of vertue and reason. London, Jonathan Edwin, 1675. [Orig. edition]

1st draft: 1 Sep 2020

Philo, On Jacob’s Dream

Jacob’s Dream (detail), St. Paul’s Cathedral, Pittsburgh

WHETHER they exist as metaphysical entities or not, angels are certainly psychologically real — that is, as certain inspirations, communications, subtle insights and promptings and high contemplative experiences that we consider ‘angelic.’ Angels, therefore, are, in terms of Jungian psychology, archetypally real; this is also evident from the proliferation of the angel motif in art, folklore, myth, etc.

The classic treatment of angels in the Bible is the story of Jacob’s Ladder in Genesis, which Philo addressed in his work, On Dreams.. Philo — the great allegorical exegete of the Pentateuch — didn’t write a great many words about this, but what he did write great words!

Note a certain asymmetry with regard to ascending and descending angels in Philo’s discussion. The ascending ones involve the drawing up of our minds to thoughts and ‘spectacles,’ whereas the descending angels heal and quicken the soul. Philo associates angels with the logoi of God, which we may understand as God’s ‘words’, i.e., discrete units of God’s will which direct the world (or, in this case, our mind.)

[146]
XXIII. Such then is that which in the universe is figuratively called stairway. If we consider that which is so called in human beings we shall find it to be soul. Its foot is sense-perception, which is as it were the earthly element in it, and its head, the mind which is wholly unalloyed, the heavenly element, as it may be called.

[147]
Up and down throughout its whole extent are moving incessantly the “words” [λόγοι] of God, drawing it up with them when they ascend and disconnecting it with what is mortal, and exhibiting to it the spectacle of the only objects worthy of our gaze; and when they descend not casting it down, for neither does God nor does a divine Word cause harm, but condescending out of love for man and compassion for our race, to be helpers and comrades, that with the healing of their breath they may quicken into new life the soul which is still borne along in the body as in a river.

[148]
In the understandings of those who have been purified to the utmost the Ruler of the universe walks noiselessly, alone, invisibly, for verily there is an oracle once vouchsafed to the Sage, in which it is said: “I will walk in you, and will be your God” (Lev. 26:12): but in the understandings of those who are still undergoing cleansing and have not yet fully washed their life defiled and stained by the body’s weight there walk angels, divine words, making them bright and clean with the doctrines* of all that is good and beautiful.  Source: Philo, On Dreams (De somniis) 1.146ff, tr. Colson & Whitaker, p. 375.

* this word is uncertain in manuscripts.

Bibliography

Colson, F.H.; Whitaker, G. H.  On Dreams.  In: Philo in Ten Volumes, Vol. 5. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, 1938.

St. Bonaventure: Contemplation of Creation’s Sevenfold Splendor

FROM these visible things, therefore, one rises to consider the power, wisdom and goodness of God as existing, living, intelligent, purely spiritual, incorruptible and unchangeable.  This reflection can be extended according to the sevenfold properties of creatures — which is a sevenfold testimony to the divine power, wisdom and goodness — if we consider the origin, magnitude, multitude, beauty, fulness, activity and order of all things.

1. The origin of things, according to their creation, distinction and embellishment, as the work of the six days, proclaims the divine power that produces all things from nothing, the divine wisdom that clearly distinguishes all things, and the divine goodness that lavishly adorns all things.

2. The magnitude of things, in the mass of their length, width and depth; in their great power extending in length, width and depth as appears in the diffusion of light; in the efficiency of their operations which are internal, continuous and diffused as appears in the operation of fire — all this clearly manifests the immensity of the power, wisdom and goodness of the triune God, who by his power, presence and essence exists uncircumscribed in all things.

3. The multitude of things in their generic, specific and individual diversity in substance, form or figure, and efficiency — beyond all human calculation clearly suggests and shows the immensity of the three previously mentioned attributes in God.

4. The beauty of things, in the variety of light, shape and color in simple, mixed and even organic bodies such as heavenly bodies, and minerals (like stones and metals), and plants and animals clearly proclaims the three previously mentioned attributes.

5. The fulness of things by which matter is full of forms because of seminal principles, form is full of power because of its active potency, power is full of effects because of its efficiency, clearly declares the same attributes.

6. The activity, multiple inasmuch as it is natural, artificial and moral, by its manifold variety shows the immensity of that power, art and goodness which is “the cause of being, the basis of understanding and the order of living”

7. The order in duration, position and influence, that is, before and after, higher and lower, nobler and less noble, in the book of creation clearly indicates the primacy, sublimity and dignity of the First Principle and thus the infinity of his power. The order of the divine law, precepts and judgments in the book of Scripture shows the immensity of his wisdom. And the order of the divine sacraments, benefits and recompense in the body of the Church shows the immensity of his goodness. In this way order itself leads us most clearly into the first and highest, the most powerful, the wisest and the best.

Whoever, therefore, is not enlightened by such splendor of created things is blind;
whoever is not awakened by such outcries is deaf;
whoever does not praise God because of all these effects is dumb;
whoever does not discover the First Principle from such clear signs is a fool.

Therefore, open your eyes,
alert the ears of your spirit,
open your lips
and apply your heart

so that in all creatures you may see, hear, praise, love and worship, glorify and honor your God lest the whole world rise against you. For because of this the whole world will fight against the foolish.  On the contrary, it will be a matter of glory for the wise, who can say with the Prophet: You have gladdened me, Lord, by your deeds and in the works of your hands I will rejoice. How great are your works, Lord! You have made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with your creatures.

Source: Cousins, Ewert H. (tr.). Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey into God. Paulist Press, 1978; pp. 64−68.

Latin: S. Bonaventurae, Itinerarium mentis in Deum 1.1. In: S. Bonaventurae opera omnia, Vol. V, Fathers of the Collegii S. Bonaventura (eds.), Florence: Quaracchi, pp. 295-316.

 

 

Philo on Heavenly Inspirations

Manna, Maciejowski Bible (13th C.)

PHILO here, in one of his most famous passages, gives us insight into the personal experiential basis of his exegesis of the patriarchs.  First he presents Abraham as the type of man who directs his mind away from thoughts associated with worldly and carnal concerns (Egypt) to the “father’s land” of Wisdom from which heavenly inspirations flow.  This orientation gives birth to a new disposition of mind, Isaac — whom, Philo elsewhere explains, symbolizes spiritual Joy. He then describes the nature of his own experiences, noting with regret intervening periods of aridity. (FIRST DRAFT)

(28) … Nay, thou must change thine abode and betake thee to thy father’s land, the land of the Word that is holy and in some sense father of those who submit to training: and that land is Wisdom, abode most choice of virtue-loving souls.

(29) In this country there awaiteth thee the nature which is its own pupil, its own teacher, that needs not to be fed on milk as children are fed, that has been stayed by a Divine oracle from going down into Egypt (Gen. 26:2) and from meeting with the ensnaring pleasures of the flesh. That nature is entitled Isaac.

(30) When thou hast entered upon his inheritance, thou canst not but lay aside thy toil; for the perpetual abundance of good things ever ready to the hand gives freedom from toil. And the fountain from which the good things are poured forth is the companionship of the bountiful God. He shews this to be so when to set His seal upon the flow of His kindnesses, He says “I will be with thee.”

VII. (31) What  fair thing, then, could fail when there was present God the Perfecter, with gifts of grace, His virgin daughters, whom the Father that begat them rears up uncorrupted and undefiled? Then are all forms of studying, toiling, practising at rest; and without come forth all things in one outburst charged with benefit for all.

(32) And the harvest of spontaneous good things is called “Release,” [άφεσις; aphesis] inasmuch as the Mind [νους; nous] is released from the working out of its own projects, and is, we may say, emancipated from self-chosen tasks, by reason of the abundance of the rain and ceaseless shower of blessings.

(33) And these are of a most marvellous nature and passing fair. For the offspring of the soul’s own travail are for the most part poor abortions, things untimely born; but those which God waters with the snows of heaven come to the birth perfect, complete and peerless.

(34) I feel no shame in recording my own  experience, a thing I know from its having happened to me a thousand times. On some occasions, after making up my mind to follow the usual course of writing on philosophical tenets, and knowing definitely the substance of what I was to set down, I have found my understanding (διάνοιαν; dianoia) incapable of giving birth to a single idea, and have given it up without accomplishing anything, reviling my understanding for its self-conceit, and filled with amazement at the might of Him that is to Whom is due the opening and closing of the soul-wombs.

(35) On other  occasions, I have approached my work empty and suddenly become full, the ideas falling in a shower from above and being sown invisibly, so that under the influence of the Divine possession I have been filled with corybantic frenzy and been unconscious of anything, place, persons present, myself, words spoken, lines written. For I obtained language, ideas, an enjoyment of light, keenest vision, pellucid distinctness of objects, such as might be received through the eyes as the result of clearest shewing.

Source: Philo, On the Migration of Abraham 6.28−7.35 (tr. Colson & Whitaker, pp. 149−153)

The Allegorical Meaning of ‘Doubting’ Thomas

Today the Catholic Church commemorates the Apostle, ‘Doubting’ Thomas. Thomas doubted that Jesus had resurrected until he saw him and touched him in the flesh. Eventually he saw and touched Jesus, and then believed. But in response Jesus said, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Thomas can be interpreted allegorically as symbolizing a certain tendency of our ego to be overly rationalistic and to insist that material facts and logical proofs are the only genuine basis for belief. This doubting disposition denies the experiential reality of other valid forms of knowledge, like intuition, insight, Conscience, inspiration and faith (pistis). Significantly, Thomas means ‘twin’ in Aramaic. Our ego is like one of a pair of twins, the other being a more intuitive, authentic, or higher self.  The ego must learn to loosen its overly tight control.  We must admit to ourselves that sometimes we have valid knowledge from extra-rational faculties.

See if you can catch your own inner ‘doubting Thomas’ in action.  For example, perhaps there is some article of Christian faith which you believe is true, but which your rational mind doubts or about which complains that logical proof is lacking.  Your rational mind says, “You claim to believe this thing by ‘faith’. But what is this ‘faith’?  How can it be seen, touched?  How can it be proven to exist at all, much less be demonstrated to be reliable?”  But despite this, the part of your mind responsible for conviction, for deciding “do I or do I not genuinely believe this to be true?”  has the conviction.  And by conviction we mean the same kind of ‘belief-in-the-trueness-of’ that a closely reasoned argument supplies.  Consider the logical syllogism (1) if A then  B, (2) A is true, (3) therefore B is true.  If we know propositions (1) and (2) are both true, then we believe with absolute certainty that the conclusion (3) is true.  That feeling of certainty is what is meant by conviction.  I am merely suggesting that, if one examines ones thoughts closely, one may detect cases where one has the strong conviction of some article of faith, and that this conviction or convincedness is essentially the same as what is felt for a conclusion that is proven by explicit logic, as in the above example. But the conviction produced by faith is such that it is not accompanied by awareness of a rational argument that proves, in a logical sense, the belief.

Obviously not all forms of ‘unreasoned’ belief are of this character.   It is possible to believe something on mere superstition, because it is flattering, or because of wishful thinking.  Religious beliefs based on these things are not genuine faith, even though an ignorant person — namely one who does not know what true faith is — may claim otherwise.   Atheist writers find ample ammunition from such examples with which to discredit religion. True faith, however, is not like these other things.  It is characterized by genuine conviction; these other cases produce, at best, a shallow delusion or pretense of conviction.

The Gnosis of Philo – Part 2

Philo of Alexandria:

I. (1) There was once a time when, devoting my leisure to philosophy and to the contemplation of the world and the things in it, I reaped the fruit of excellent, and desirable, and blessed intellectual feelings, being always living among the divine oracles and doctrines, on which I fed incessantly and insatiably, to my great delight, never entertaining any low or grovelling thoughts, nor ever wallowing in the pursuit of glory or wealth, or the delights of the body, but I appeared to be raised on high and borne aloft by a certain inspiration of the soul, and to dwell in the regions of the sun and moon, and to associate with the whole heaven, and the whole universal world.

(2) At that time, therefore, looking down from above, from the air, and straining the eye of my mind as from a watch-tower, I surveyed the unspeakable contemplation of all the things on the earth, and looked upon myself as happy as having forcibly escaped from all the evil fates that can attack human life. (3) Nevertheless, the most grievous of all evils was lying in wait for me, namely, envy, that hates every thing that is good, and which, suddenly attacking me, did not cease from dragging me after it by force till it had taken me and thrown me into the vast sea of the cares of public politics, in which I was and still am tossed about without being able to keep myself swimming at the top. (4) But though I groan at my fate, I still hold out and resist, retaining in my soul that desire of instruction which has been implanted in it from my earliest youth, and this desire taking pity and compassion on me continually raises me up and alleviates my sorrow. And it is through this fondness for learning that I at times lift up my head, and with the eyes of my soul, which are indeed dim (for the mist of affairs, wholly inconsistent with their proper objects, has overshadowed their acute clear-sightedness), still, as well as I may, I survey all the things around me, being eager to imbibe something of a life which shall be pure and unalloyed by evils.

Rembrandt, Philosopher Reading (detail)

(5) And if at any time unexpectedly there shall arise a brief period of tranquillity, and a short calm and respite from the troubles which arise from state affairs, I then rise aloft and float above the troubled waves, soaring as it were in the air, and being, I may almost say, blown forward by the breezes of knowledge, which often persuades me to flee away, and to pass all my days with her, escaping as it were from my pitiless masters, not men only, but also affairs which pour upon me from all quarters and at all times like a torrent. (6) But even in these circumstances I ought to give thanks to God, that though I am so overwhelmed by this flood, I am not wholly sunk and swallowed up in the depths. But I open the eyes of my soul, which from an utter despair of any good hope had been believed to have been before now wholly darkened, and I am irradiated with the light of wisdom, since I am not given up for the whole of my life to darkness.

Behold, therefore, I venture not only to study the sacred commands of Moses, but also with an ardent love of knowledge to investigate each separate one of them, and to endeavour to reveal and to explain to those who wish to understand them, things concerning them which are not known to the multitude.

– Special Laws 3 1.1-5 Yonge

The Gnosis of Philo

From Philo of Alexandria:

(34) I am not ashamed to relate what has happened to me myself, which I know from having experienced it ten thousand times. Sometimes, when I have desired to come to my usual employment of writing on the doctrines of philosophy, though I have known accurately what it was proper to set down, I have found my mind barren and unproductive, and have been completely unsuccessful in my object, being indignant at my mind for the uncertainty and vanity of its then existent opinions, and filled with amazement at the power of the living God, by whom the womb of the soul is at times opened and at times closed up; (35) and sometimes when I have come to my work empty I have suddenly become full, ideas being, in an invisible manner, showered upon me, and implanted in me from on high; so that, through the influence of divine inspiration, I have become greatly excited, and have known neither the place in which I was nor those who were present, nor myself, nor what I was saying, nor what I was writing; for then I have been conscious of a richness of interpretation, an enjoyment of light, a most penetrating sight, a most manifest energy in all that was to be done, having such an effect on my mind as the clearest ocular demonstration would have on the eyes.

– Migration of Abraham (7.34-35 Yonge)

St. Gregory Palamas’s Sermon on the Transfiguration

On the Transfiguration

St Gregory Palamas, (Γρηγόριος Παλαμάς) Archbishop of Thessalonica (1296 – 1359)

For an explanation of the present Feast and understanding of its truth,it is necessary for us to turn to the very start of today’s reading from the Gospel: “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up onto a high mountain by themselves” (Mt 17:1).

First of all we must ask, from whence does the Evangelist Matthew begin to reckon with six days? From what sort of day be it? What does the preceding turn of speech indicate, where the Savior, in teaching His disciples, said to them: “For the Son of Man shall come with his angels in the glory of His Father,” and further: “Amen I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death, until they have seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom” (Mt 16:27-28)? That is to say, it is the Light of His own forthcoming Transfiguration which He terms the Glory of His Father and of His Kingdom.

The Evangelist Luke points this out and reveals this more clearly saying: “Now it came to pass about eight days after these words, that He took Peter and John and James, and went up the mountain to pray. And as He prayed, His countenance was altered, and His raiment became a radiant white” (Lk 9:28-29). But how can the two be reconciled, when one of them speaks definitively about the interval of time as being eight days between the sayings and the manifestation, whereas the other (says): “after six days?”

There were eight on the mountain, but only six were visible. Three, Peter, James and John, had come up with Jesus, and they saw Moses and Elias standing there and conversing with Him, so altogether there were six of them. However, the Father and the Holy Spirit were invisibly with the Lord: the Father, with His Voice testifying that this was His Beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit shining forth with Him in the radiant cloud. Thus, the six are actually eight, and there is no contradiction regarding the eight. Similarly, there is no contradiction with the Evangelists when one says “after six days,” and the other says “eight days after these words.”

But these twofold sayings as it were present us a certain format set in mystery, and together with it that of those actually present upon the Mount. It stands to reason, and everyone rationally studying in accordance with Scripture knows that the Evangelists are in agreement one with another. Luke spoke of eight days without contradicting Matthew, who declared “after six days.” There is not another day added on to represent the day on which these sayings were uttered, nor is the day on which the Lord was transfigured added on (which a rational person might reasonably imagine to be added to the days of Matthew).

The Evangelist Luke does not say “after eight days” (like the Evangelist Matthew says “after six days”), but rather “it came to pass eight days after these words.” But where the Evangelists seem to contradict one another, they actually point out to us something great and mysterious. In actual fact, why did the one say “after six days,” but the other, in ignoring the seventh day, have in mind the eighth day? It is because the great vision of the Light of the Transfiguration of the Lord is the mystery of the Eighth Day, i.e., of the future age, coming to be revealed after the passing away of the world created in six days.

About the power of the Divine Spirit, through Whom the Kingdom of God is to be revealed, the Lord predicted: “There are some standing here who shall not taste death, until they have seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom” (Mt 16:28). Everywhere and in every way the King will be present, and everywhere will be His Kingdom, since the advent of His Kingdom does not signify the passing over from one place to another, but rather the revelation of its power of the Divine Spirit. That is why it is said: “come in power.” And this power is not manifest to simply ordinary people, but to those standing with the Lord, that is to say, those who have affirmed their faith in Him like Peter, James and John, and especially those who are free of our natural abasement. Therefore, and precisely because of this, God manifests Himself upon the Mount, on the one hand coming down from His heights, and on the other, raising us up from the depths of abasement, since the Transcendent One takes on mortal nature. Certainly, such a manifest appearance by far transcends the utmost limits of the mind’s grasp, as effectualized by the power of the Divine Spirit.

Thus, the Light of the Transfiguration of the Lord is not something that comes to be and then vanishes, nor is it subject to the sensory faculties, although it was contemplated by corporeal eyes for a short while upon an inconsequential mountaintop. But the initiates of the Mystery, (the disciples) of the Lord at this time passed beyond mere flesh into spirit through a transformation of their senses, effectualized within them by the Spirit, and in such a way that they beheld what, and to what extent, the Divine Spirit had wrought blessedness in them to behold the Ineffable Light.

Those not grasping this point have conjectured that the chosen from among the Apostles beheld the Light of the Transfiguration of the Lord by a sensual and creaturely faculty, and through this they attempt to reduce to a creaturely level (i.e., as something “created”) not only this Light, the Kingdom and the Glory of God, but also the Power of the Divine Spirit, through Whom it is meet for Divine Mysteries to be revealed. In all likelihood, such persons have not heeded the words of the Apostle Paul: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him. But to us God has revealed them through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor 2:9-10).

So, with the onset of the Eighth Day, the Lord, taking Peter, James and John, went up on the Mount to pray. He always prayed alone, withdrawing from everyone, even from the Apostles themselves, as for example when with five loaves and two fish He fed the five thousand men, besides women and children (Mt 14:19-23). Or, taking with Him those who excelled others, as at the approach of His Saving Passion, when He said to the other disciples: “Sit here while I go over there and pray” (Mt 26:36). Then He took with Him Peter, James and John. But in our instance right here and now, having taken only these same three, the Lord led them up onto a high mountain by themselves and was transfigured before them, that is to say, before their very eyes.

“What does it mean to say: He was transfigured?” asks the Golden-Mouthed Theologian (Chrysostomos). He answers this by saying: “It revealed something of His Divinity to them, as much and insofar as they were able to apprehend it, and it showed the indwelling of God within Him.” The Evangelist Luke says: “And as He prayed, His countenance was altered” (Lk 9:29); and from the Evangelist Matthew we read: “And His face shone as the sun” (Mt 17:2). But the Evangelist said this, not in the context that this Light be thought of as subsistent for the senses (let us put aside the blindness of mind of those who can conceive of nothing higher than what is known through the senses). Rather, it is to show that Christ God, for those living and contemplating by the Spirit, is the same as the sun is for those living in the flesh and contemplating by the senses. Therefore, some other Light for the knowing the Divinity is not necessary for those who are enriched by Divine gifts.

That same Inscrutable Light shone and was mysteriously manifest to the Apostles and the foremost of the Prophets at that moment, when (the Lord) was praying. This shows that what brought forth this blessed sight was prayer, and that the radiance occured and was manifest by uniting the mind with God, and that it is granted to all who, with constant exercise in efforts of virtue and prayer, strive with their mind towards God. True beauty, essentially, can be contemplated only with a purified mind. To gaze upon its luminance assumes a sort of participation in it, as though some bright ray etches itself upon the face.

Even the face of Moses was illumined by his association with God. Do you not know that Moses was transfigured when he went up the mountain, and there beheld the Glory of God? But he (Moses) did not effect this, but rather he underwent a transfiguration. However, our Lord Jesus Christ possessed that Light Himself. In this regard, actually, He did not need prayer for His flesh to radiate with the Divine Light; it was but to show from whence that Light descends upon the saints of God, and how to contemplate it. For it is written that even the saints “will shine forth like the sun” (Mt 13:43), which is to say, entirely permeated by Divine Light as they gaze upon Christ, divinely and inexpressibly shining forth His Radiance, issuing from His Divine Nature. On Mount Tabor it was manifest also in His Flesh, by reason of the Hypostatic Union (i.e., the union of the two perfect natures, divine and human, within the divine Person [Hypostasis] of Christ, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity). The Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon defined this Hypostatic union of Christ’s two natures, divine and human, as “without mingling, without change, without division, without separation.”

We believe that at the Transfiguration He manifested not some other sort of light, but only that which was concealed beneath His fleshly exterior. This Light was the Light of the Divine Nature, and as such, it was Uncreated and Divine. So also, in the teachings of the Fathers, Jesus Christ was transfigured on the Mount, not taking upon Himself something new nor being changed into something new, nor something which formerly He did not possess. Rather, it was to show His disciples that which He already was, opening their eyes and bringing them from blindness to sight. For do you not see that eyes that can perceive natural things would be blind to this Light?

Thus, this Light is not a light of the senses, and those contemplating it do not simply see with sensual eyes, but rather they are changed by the power of the Divine Spirit. They were transformed, and only in this way did they see the transformation taking place amidst the very assumption of our perishability, with the deification through union with the Word of God in place of this.

So also she who miraculously conceived and gave birth recognized that the One born of her is God Incarnate. So it was also for Simeon, who only received this Infant into his arms, and the aged Anna, coming out [from the Jerusalem Temple] for the Meeting, since the Divine Power illumined, as through a glass windowpane, giving light for those having pure eyes of heart.

And why did the Lord, before the beginning of the Transfiguration, choose the foremost of the Apostles and lead them up onto the Mount with Him? Certainly, it was to show them something great and mysterious. What is particularly great or mysterious in showing a sensory light, which not only the foremost, but all the other Apostles already abundantly possessed? Why would they need a transforming of their eyes by the power of the Holy Spirit for a contemplation of this Light, if it were merely sensory and created? How could the Glory and the Kingdom of the Father and the Holy Spirit project forth in some sort of sensory light? Indeed, in what sort of Glory and Kingdom would Christ the Lord come at the end of the ages, when there would not be necessary anything in the air, nor in expanse, nor anything similar, but when, in the words of the Apostle, “God will be all in all” (1 Cor 15: 28)? That is to say, will He alter everything for all? If so, then it follows that light is included.

Hence it is clear that the Light of Tabor was a Divine Light. And the Evangelist John, inspired by Divine Revelation, says clearly that the future eternal and enduring city “has no need of the sun or moon to shine upon it. For the Glory of God lights it up, and the Lamb will be its lamp” (Rev 21:23). Is it not clear, that he points out here that this [Lamb] is Jesus, Who is divinely transfigured now upon Tabor, and the flesh of Whom shines, is the lamp manifesting the Glory of divinity for those ascending the mountain with Him?

John the Theologian also says about the inhabitants of this city: “they will not need light from lamps, nor the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shed light upon them, and night shall be no more” (Rev 22:5). But how, we might ask, is there this other light, in which “there is no change, nor shadow of alteration” (Jas 1:17)? What light is there that is constant and unsetting, unless it be the Light of God? Moreover, could Moses and Elias (and particularly the former, who clearly was present only in spirit, and not in flesh [Elias having ascended bodily to Heaven on the fiery chariot]) be shining with any sort of sensory light, and be seen and known? Especially since it was written of them: “they appeared in glory, and spoke of his death, which he was about to fulfill at Jerusalem” (Lk 9:30-31). And how otherwise could the Apostles recognize those whom they had never seen before, unless through the mysterious power of the Divine Light, opening their mental eyes?

But let us not tire our attention with the furthermost interpretations of the words of the Gospel. We shall believe thus, as those same ones have taught us, who themselves were enlightened by the Lord Himself, insofar as they alone know this well: the Mysteries of God, in the words of a prophet, are known to God alone and His perpetual proximity. Let us, considering the Mystery of the Transfiguration of the Lord in accord with their teaching, strive to be illumined by this Light ourselves and encourage in ourselves love and striving towards the Unfading Glory and Beauty, purifying our spiritual eyes of worldly thoughts and refraining from perishable and quickly passing delights and beauty which darken the garb of the soul and lead to the fire of Gehenna and everlasting darkness. Let us be freed from these by the illumination and knowledge of the incorporeal and ever-existing Light of our Savior transfigured on Tabor, in His Glory, and of His Father from all eternity, and His Life-Creating Spirit, Whom are One Radiance, One Godhead, and Glory, and Kingdom, and Power now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.