‘An Undevout Astronomer is Mad’

Pillars of Creation in Eagle Nebula (Messier 16)

Devotion! daughter of astronomy!
An undevout astronomer is mad.
~ Edward Young (Night Thoughts, Night 9,  l.769)

WE previously posted comments by Scottish theologian and astronomer Thomas Dick (1774−1857) on the Religious Benefits of Astronomy from the Introduction he wrote to Elijah Burritt’s Geography of the Heavens.  A few decades earlier, Dick treated the same subject in the Introduction to his own book The Solar System (1799).  The two introductions are sufficiently different that it seems worthwhile to post the latter here.  Here Dick concludes that it is an “imperative duty” of every Christian (and every rational creature) to study the heavens and to contemplate their Creator, “that we may derive more enlarged conceptions of His glorious attributes, and be enabled to render to Him that tribute of adoration and praise which is due to His name.”

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OF all the sciences which are the subject of human study and investigation, Astronomy must be admitted to be the most interesting and sublime. It teaches us the motions, the magnitudes and distances of the heavenly bodies — their diversified phenomena, the laws by which they are directed in their varied movements, and the grand designs they are intended to fulfil in the vast system of the universe.The objects with which this science is conversant are so grand and marvellous — surpassing every thing that could have been imagined in the infancy of science — that they tend to enlarge the field of human contemplation, to expand to an indefinite extent the conceptions of the human intellect, and to arouse the attention and excite the admiration even of the most incurious and uncultivated minds. The vast magnitude of the heavenly bodies, so far surpassing what could be conceived by their appearance to the unassisted eye; their incalculable numbers; the immense velocity of their motions, and the astonishing forces with which they are impelled in their career through the heavens; the attractive influence they exert upon each other, at the distance of hundreds of millions of miles; and the important ends they are destined to accomplish in the universal empire of Jehovah; present to the human imagination a scene, and a subject of contemplation, on which the soul of man might expatiate with increasing wonder and delight, during an indefinite series of ages.

Even to a common observer, the heavens present a sublime and elevating spectacle. He beholds an immense concave hemisphere of unknown dimensions, surrounding the earth in every region, and resting as it were upon the circle of the horizon. From every quarter of this vast expanse — when the shades of night have spread over the earth — he beholds numerous lights displayed, proceeding onward in solemn silence, varying their aspects at different seasons, moving with different degrees of velocity, shining with different degrees of splendour, and all calculated to inspire admiration and awe. Wherever he travels abroad, either on the surface of the land or of the ocean, this celestial vault still appears encompassing this lower world; and, after travelling thousands of miles, it appears still the same, and seems to make no nearer an approach than when the journey commenced. While contemplating this wonderful expanse with the eye of reason and imagination, the mind is naturally led into a boundless train of speculations and inquiries. Where do these mighty heavens begin, and where do they end? Can imagination fathom their depth, or human calculations, or figures, express their extent? Have the highest created beings ever winged their flight across the boundaries of the firmament? Can angels measure the dimensions of those heavens, or explore them throughout all their departments? Is there a boundary to creation beyond which the energies of Omnipotence are unknown, or does it extend throughout the infinity of space? Is the immense fabric of the universe yet completed, or is Almighty Power still operating throughout the boundless dimensions of space, and new creations still starting into existence?

Such views and inquiries have a tendency to lead the mind to sublime and interesting trains of thought and reflection, and to afford scope for the noblest energies and investigations of the human intellect. A serious contemplation of the heavens opens to the mental eye a glimpse of orbs of inconceivable magnitude and grandeur, and arranged in multitudes which no man can number, which have diffused their radiance on our world during hundreds of generations. It opens a vista which carries our views into the regions of infinity, and exhibits a sensible display of the immensity of space, and of the boundless operations of Omnipotence: it demonstrates the existence of an eternal and incomprehensible Divinity, who presides in all the grandeur of his attributes over an unlimited empire. Amidst the silence and the solitude of the midnight scene, it inspires the soul with a solemn awe, and with reverential emotions; it excites astonishment, admiration, and wonder, and has a tendency to enkindle the fire of devotion, and to raise the affections to that ineffable Being who presides in high authority over all the movements of the universe. It teaches us the littleness of man, the folly of pride and ambition, and of all that earthly pomp and splendour with which mortals are so enamoured and that our thoughts and affections ought to soar above all the sinful pursuits, and transitory enjoyments, of this sublunary scene.

Such being the views and the tendencies of this science, it ought to be considered as bearing an intimate relation to religion, and worthy the study of every enlightened Christian. It has been said, and justly, by a celebrated poet, that “An undevout astronomer is mad.”  The evidence of a self-existent and eternal Being, whose wisdom is inscrutable, and whose power is uncontrollable, is so palpably manifested in the arrangement and the motions of the celestial orbs, that it cannot but make an indelible impression on every rational and reflecting mind. Though the heavenly bodies have “no speech nor language,” though they move round the earth in silent grandeur, and “their voice is not heard” in articulate sounds, yet “their line is gone throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” — proclaiming to every attentive spectator, that “The hand that made them is Divine.” So that there is scarcely a tribe, or nation, on the face of the earth so inattentive and barbarous as not to have deduced this conclusion from a survey of the movements of the celestial orbs. “Men,” says Plato, ” began to acknowledge a Deity, when they saw the stars maintain so great a harmony, and the days and nights throughout all the year, both in summer and winter, to observe their stated risings and settings.” Another heathen philosopher, Cicero, thus expresses his sentiments on this point: “What can be so plain and clear as, when we behold the heavens, and view the celestial bodies, that we should conclude there is some Deity of a most excellent mind by whom these things are governed a present and Almighty God. Which, he that doubts of, I do not understand why he should not as well doubt whether there be a sun that shines, and enlightens the world.”

The sacred Scriptures, in numerous instances, direct our attention to this subject. “The heavens,” says the psalmist, “declare the glory of God;” that is they manifest his wisdom and power, and beneficence to the inhabitants of the world; — “the firmament showeth forth,” or publicly declareth, “his handiwork.” “Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.” In reference to that department of creation which astronomy explores, it may be said with peculiar propriety, in the language of Scripture “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” Throughout the volume of inspiration, our attention is frequently directed to the contemplation of the heavens: “Lift up thine eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things. The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. He bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by names: by the greatness of his might, for that N. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.””Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.”

Hence it appears, that it is not to be considered merely as a matter of taste, or as a rational amusement, but as an imperative duty, to contemplate the works of the Most High, and especially the manifestations of his power and Godhead which the heavens display — that we may derive more enlarged conceptions of his glorious attributes, and be enabled to render to him that tribute of adoration and praise which is due to his name. For it is represented as one of the characteristics of the ungodly that, while “the harp, and the viol, and the tabret, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts, they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands;” and consequently “he will destroy them, and not build them up.” It is therefore the incumbent duty of the young; of every professing Christian; and of every rational inquirer, not only to study the facts, doctrines, and duties exhibited in the system of Divine revelation, but also to contemplate the manifestations of the Creator as exhibited in the system of creation. They are both revelations of the same almighty and beneficent Being — emanations from the same adorable Divinity; and the views and instructions they respectively unfold, when studied with reverence and intelligence, are in perfect harmony with each other. The study of both combined, is calculated to make the man of God perfect, and “throughly furnished unto all good works.”

In the following small volume, it shall be our endeavour to direct the general reader in the study of some of those objects which the heavens unfold; and we shall chiefly select those parts of astronomical science which are most level to the comprehension of those who have had little opportunity of engaging in scientific pursuits. In the present volume, it is proposed to confine ourselves chiefly to a description of the Solar System, and the phenomena it exhibits, together with a few instructions as to the best mode of contemplating the apparent motions and the diversified aspects of the firmament. The discoveries which relate to the sidereal heavens — the general arrangement of the fixed stars, their distances and magnitudes-the facts which have been discovered respecting new stars-variable stars-double and triple stars — the milky way-the different orders of the nebula and a variety of other topics connected with such objects, will form materials for another volume similar to the present.

In the mean time we may just remark, that all the wonders we behold, both in the heavens above, and in the earth below, demand our serious attention and devout contemplation. They are all the workmanship of that great and adorable Being in whom “we live and move;” who at first “spake, and it was done;” who gave the command, and the whole of this stately fabric of heaven and earth started into being. It is the same God who created the planets and the host of stars, and that conducts them in all their rapid motions; who is also “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and “the Author of eternal salvation” to all who obey him. All these works display his infinite power, his unerring wisdom, and the riches of his beneficence; and demand from every beholder that tribute of praise, reverence, and adoration which is due to Him “who created all things, and for whose pleasure they are and were created.“

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Bibliography

Dick, Thomas. Advantages of the Study of Astronomy. In: Elijah Hinsdale Burritt, The Geography of the Heavens. 5th ed. New York, 1850 (1st ed, 1833). Dick’s Introduction first appeared in the 3rd edition (1836).

Dick, Thomas. Celestial Scenery, or, The Wonders of the Planetary System Displayed; Illustrating the Perfections of Deity and a Plurality of Worlds. Collected Works of Thomas Dick, Vol. VII. Philadelphia, 1845.

Dick, Thomas. The Solar System. Collected Works of Thomas Dick, Vol. X. Philadelphia, 1853 (1st ed. 1799).

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Isaas of Stella on Intellectus and Intelligentia: Two Levels of the Higher Soul

Robert Fludd, Jacob’s Ladder

AUGUSTINE famously distinguished between two powers or levels of human reason, which he called lower reason (ratio inferior) and higher reason (ratio superior).  These refer, respectively, to discursive reasoning (ratiocination) and intellection (immediate grasp), and correspond to what in the Platonic/Neoplatonic tradition are called dianoia and nous.

Augustine’s views, of course, were very influential in the Middle Ages.  In the 12th century, however, the  Cistercian monk, Isaac of Stella (1100−1178) proposed three ascending levels of rational power: ratio, intellectus, and intelligentia.  That is, basically Augustine’s ratio superior is subdivided into intellectus and intelligentia.  How intellectus and intelligentia differ and is a fascinating question, because it suggest that we have two distinct levels of higher intelligence.

Isaac’s descriptions — given in his Epistle on the Soul (De anima) and Sermon 4 — are frustratingly short and obscure.  In the former he writes:

By reason [ratione] it perceives the dimensions of bodies and the like. This is the first incorporeal object which nevertheless needs a body to subsist and through it is in place and time. By [intellectu] the soul goes beyond everything that is a body or of a body or is in any way corporeal to perceive the created spirit, which has no location but cannot possibly exist without duration since it has a changeable nature. Finally the [intelligentia], in one way or another, and insofar as it is permitted a created nature above whom is the Creator alone, immediately beholds him or who alone is the highest and purely incorporeal being — he who needs neither a body to exist, nor location to be somewhere, nor duration to be at some time or other. (tr. McGinn)

In Sermon 4 he writes:

7. … By [intellectu] the soul perceives that which is above the corporeal or above created spirit united to a body. It does not need a body to subsist and is therefore independent of space, but it cannot exist outside of time because it is by nature mutable.

8. [Intelligentia], in so far as is permitted to a created nature which has nothing above it but the Creator, has immediate sight of the Being who is supremely and purely incorporeal, the One who has no need of a body in which to exist, nor of a place in which to be present, nor of time in which to continue existence. (tr. McCaffrey)

It should be noted that in both places Isaac discusses these in the context of a five-level ascent from the lowest level of cognition (sensu; physical sensation), to imagination (imaginatio), ratio, intellectus and intellegentia).  Behind this scheme is a definite anagogic purpose, i.e., a raising of the soul to union with God.

Note here both intellectus and intelligentia are described as more specific than Platonic intellection or nous, which is the power by which we grasp Forms and relations, including, for example, those of mathematics, geometry, logic and morals (Uebersax, 2013).

What Isaac’s sources were is unclear.  Some suggest Proclus, others Pseudo-Dionysius and John Scotus Eriugena, and still others (perhaps most convincingly), Boethius.  Regardless, he influenced such later writers as Alan of Lille, John of La Rochelle, Alexander of Hales, Thomas Gallus and St. Bonaventure.  How they used the two terms is by no means consistent. However many evidently found it helpful — whether for theoretical reasons or to describe and schematize their own contemplative experiences — to make a division between two levels of higher intelligence.

In one place, for example, Alan of Lille describes intellectus as the mind’s “gaze is turned toward the pure forms,” and intelligentia as the highest power of the soul “which contemplates only divine things.” (Sermo in Die Epiphaniae; d’Alverny, pp. 242−243)

McGinn (1977) supplies many details concerning Isaac’s sources for this distinction and its history.  Isaac’s De anima was included of the composite anonymous work (falsely attributed to St. Augustine) called De spiritu et anima, widely read in the 13th century.

Ultimately, the practical question seems the most important one.  Do we indeed have two, ascending powers of intelligence above discursive reason?  That is, are there two levels of immediate intellection — the higher, perhaps, more specifically spiritual?

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Bibliography

d’Alverny, Marie-Thérése. Alain de Lille: Textes inédits. Études de Philosophie Médiévale LII. Paris, 1965.

Deme, Daniel  (ed.). Selected Works of Isaac of Stella. Ashgate, 2007.

Isaac of Stella. Epistle de anima. J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 194 1875B−1890A. Paris, 1855.

Isaac of Stella. Sermones. J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 194 1689A−1876A. Paris, 1855.

McCaffrey, Hugh (tr.). Isaac of Stella: Sermons for the Christian Year. Cistercian Publications, 1979.

McGinn, Bernard. The Golden Chain: A Study in the Theological Anthropology of Isaac of Stella. Cistercian Publications, 1972. Chapter IV. The Higher Dimension of the Soul in Isaac of Stella; pp. 197−227.

McGinn, Bernard. Three Treatises on Man. A Cistercian Anthropology. Cistercian Publications, 1977. Includes English translations of Epistola de anima and De spiritu et anima.

Uebersax, John.  Higher Reason.  2013.

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Seneca on our Guardian Angel?

SENECA the Younger was, in philosophical orientation, a Roman Stoic.  But it seems fair to say his was an eclectic Stoicism. (For example, one of the philosophers he quotes most often was Epicurus, the founder of Epicureanism.) This letter to his friend Lucilius discusses a divine spirit within us, functioning as some combination of Higher Self, spiritual conscience, Guardian Angel and agent of God.  Regardless of its exact nature, Seneca implies that if we treat it well, it will treat us well.

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Seneca to Lucilius, Letter XLI. On the God within Us

[1] You are doing an excellent thing, one which will be wholesome for you, if, as you write me, you are persisting in your effort to attain sound understanding; it is foolish to pray for this when you can acquire it from yourself. We do not need to uplift our hands towards heaven, or to beg the keeper of a temple to let us approach his idol’s ear, as if in this way our prayers were more likely to be heard. God is near you, he is with you, he is within you.

[2] This is what I mean, Lucilius: a holy spirit indwells within us, one who marks our good and bad deeds, and is our guardian. As we treat this spirit, so are we treated by it. Indeed, no man can be good without the help of God. Can one rise superior to fortune unless God helps him to rise? He it is that gives noble and upright counsel. In each good man

A god doth dwell, but what god know we not. [Vergil, Aeneid, viii. 352]

[3] If ever you have come upon a grove that is full of ancient trees which have grown to an unusual height, shutting out a view of the sky by a veil of pleached and intertwining branches, then the loftiness of the forest, the seclusion of the spot, and your marvel at the thick unbroken shade in the midst of the open spaces, will prove to you the presence of deity. Or if a cave, made by the deep crumbling of the rocks, holds up a mountain on its arch, a place not built with hands but hollowed out into such spaciousness by natural causes, your soul will be deeply moved by a certain intimation of the existence of God. We worship the sources of mighty rivers; we erect altars at places where great streams burst suddenly from hidden sources; we adore springs of hot water as divine, and consecrate certain pools because of their dark waters or their immeasurable depth.

[4] If you see a man who is unterrified in the midst of dangers, untouched by desires, happy in adversity, peaceful amid the storm, who looks down upon men from a higher plane, and views the gods on a footing of equality, will not a feeling of reverence for him steal over you? Will you not say: “This quality is too great and too lofty to be regarded as resembling this petty body in which it dwells? A divine power has descended upon that man.”

[5] When a soul rises superior to other souls, when it is under control, when it passes through every experience as if it were of small account, when it smiles at our fears and at our prayers, it is stirred by a force from heaven. A thing like this cannot stand upright unless it be propped by the divine. Therefore, a greater part of it abides in that place from whence it came down to earth. Just as the rays of the sun do indeed touch the earth, but still abide at the source from which they are sent; even so the great and hallowed soul, which has come down in order that we may have a nearer knowledge of divinity, does indeed associate with us, but still cleaves to its origin; on that source it depends, thither it turns its gaze and strives to go, and it concerns itself with our doings only as a being superior to ourselves.

[6] What, then, is such a soul? One which is resplendent with no external good, but only with its own. For what is more foolish than to praise in a man the qualities which come from without? And what is more insane than to marvel at characteristics which may at the next instant be passed on to someone else? A golden bit does not make a better horse. The lion with gilded mane, in process of being trained and forced by weariness to endure the decoration, is sent into the arena in quite a different way from the wild lion whose spirit is unbroken; the latter, indeed, bold in his attack, as nature wished him to be, impressive because of his wild appearance, – and it is his glory that none can look upon him without fear, – is favoured in preference to the other lion, that languid and gilded brute.

[7] No man ought to glory except in that which is his own. We praise a vine if it makes the shoots teem with increase, if by its weight it bends to the ground the very poles which hold its fruit; would any man prefer to this vine one from which golden grapes and golden leaves hang down? In a vine the virtue peculiarly its own is fertility; in man also we should praise that which is his own. Suppose that he has a retinue of comely slaves and a beautiful house, that his farm is large and large his income; none of these things is in the man himself; they are all on the outside.

[8] Praise the quality in him which cannot be given or snatched away, that which is the peculiar property of the man. Do you ask what this is? It is soul, and reason brought to perfection in the soul. For man is a reasoning animal. Therefore, man’s highest good is attained, if he has fulfilled the good for which nature designed him at birth.

[9] And what is it which this reason demands of him? The easiest thing in the world, – to live in accordance with his own nature. But this is turned into a hard task by the general madness of mankind; we push one another into vice. And how can a man be recalled to salvation, when he has none to restrain him, and all mankind to urge him on? Farewell.

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Bibliography

Gummere, Richard Mott. Seneca: Moral letters to Lucilius (Epistulae morales ad Lucilium). 3 vols. Loeb Classical Library. 1917−1925. vol. 1.  Letter 41.

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Richard of St. Victor’s Psychological Interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

Ernest Wallcousins, Nebuchadnezzar in the Hanging Gardens (1915)

AS previously noted, Richard of St. Victor (1110−1173) is a master of psychological-allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament.  His important exegetical works include Benjamin Minor, Benjamin Major and On the Extermination of Bad and the Promotion of Good.

Another superb example is his On the Education of the Interior Man (De eruditione hominis interiori). This considers an important practical matter in contemplative life: after one attains a state of divine contemplation, inevitably, whether through inattention or fatigue, one will eventually (sometimes rapidly) lapse into an inferior mental state. Returning to a higher state can be difficult. Hence the contemplative has a threefold problem: (1) how to avoid lapsing from divine states of mind; and, if one does fall (2) how to return quickly and (3) how to avoid falling to an even lower state.

Note that Plato considers the same problem of falling from contemplative states in his Chariot Allegory, and there are parallels between his discussion and Richard’s.

Richard addresses the topic by an exegesis of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the composite statue in Daniel 2. Like Philo of Alexandria, Richard’s Old Testament interpretations are insightful, relevant and compelling.  Also like Philo, Richard applies a form of personification which sees each Old Testament figure as symbolizing some feature, component or disposition of the individual psyche.

Briefly, his interpretation is as follows. Nebuchadnezzar represents the ego operating in its proper and higher capacity: as the king of ones soul. His dream is an example of divine revelation — that is, the ego experiences through contemplation or attainment of spiritual mindedness some special knowledge. His forgetting the dream and not understanding the meaning symbolizes the once-enlightened ego in its lapsed state.

The king, frustrated and unhappy at having fallen and lost divine vision, calls his wise men to describe and interpret his forgotten dream. For Richard, the wise men are higher intellectual abilities and activities — including reading Scripture, study, meditation and orderly speculation, which assist us in rising to contemplation.

As the wise men are unable to help, Nebuchadnezzar becomes furious and vows to kill them. Analogously, when the ‘studious’ actions which aid our mental elevation cannot return us to a contemplative state, we — already distraught that we have lost contemplation’s sweetness and delights — become further agitated.  In this condition we are prone to reject studies as not only burdensome (which, in a sense, they always are), but fruitless, and to instead dissipate ourselves in worldly affairs, vanities, or concupiscence.

The true remedy, Richard teaches, lay in the entrance of Daniel, who symbolizes devotion. Our first (and only truly effective) response to falling must be devotion and prayer. We should not only pray for the grace to return to contemplation (and, Richard emphasizes, contemplation is a grace), but pray for the grace of such prayer.

Daniels companions, Ananias, Mishael, and Azariah, symbolize three supporting cognitive activities which help us reach a devout state of mind: circumspection, discretion, and deliberation. Richard associates these with attentive consideration of the past, present and future, respectively. Circumspection examines past sins, admitting faults and learning from mistakes. Discretion mindfully considers present choices, exercising discrimination to determine what is bad and what is good. Deliberation applies sound judgment to choose actions that will minimize cause for future regret and unhappiness.

Richard treats these functions many times throughout his works, and their meanings are not always consistent.  All three are forms, we might say, of practical wisdom or prudence.  So, speaking more generally, Richard’s point is that while devotion per se is a grace, we should not simply wait passively for it.  Rather we are called to labor with self-examination and active steps to organize our mental and physical life. Richard is emphatic on about this: we must at all costs avoid the temptation to cease our studies and disciplines in times of desolation, when the grace of contemplation is withheld.  However he is even more emphatic that our attitude must remain one of devotion and humility. All studies and disciplines must be performed with utmost recognition of the constant need for God’s guidance and assistance.

As to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream itself, that too symbolize the progressive lapse of the soul. The statue is of a man, composed of (in descending order) gold, silver, brass, iron and clay — i.e., from precious to base metals, and finally (describing complete fall into sensuality), mud. All of these are common mythological tropes.  Gold, for example, is a usual symbol for higher consciousness, and mud sensuality. The dream is very close in details and meaning to Hesiod’s Ages of Man myth, which similarly mentions phases of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron and complete degradation.

Without loss of meaning we may easily substitute for “contemplative states” mindfulness and mental integrity, and for “fallen condition” various forms of negative thinking and intrusive thoughts.  Hence Richard’s discussion also interests us at the level of the psychology of healthy-mindedness and optimal functioning (or, conversely, handling the psychopathology of everyday thought.)

Richard outlines the above in just the first 12 chapters of the three-book work.  Doubtless there is much more of interest.  The Latin text from Migne’s Patrologia Latina (1855) is available online (see Bibliography below). Unfortunately there is no critical edition or published English translation of the work. However I’ve placed online an automated English translation.

Victorine ascetico-mystical cognitive psychology deserves far more attention than it receives. Hugh, Richard and the others of the St. Victor school occupy an important position between patristic writers and the soon-to-arrive era of scholasticism. Drawing on writers like Cassian, Augustine, and Gregory, they begin to develop a complex set of psychological terms, and attempt to identify functional relationship among various intellectual and moral virtues.  Yet, unlike later scholastics, systematization and organization is not done for its own sake.  They are not writing for university students.  Rather, their concern always remains practical and pastoral.

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Bibliography

Palmén, Ritva. Richard of St. Victor’s Theory of Imagination. Brill, 2014.

Richard of St. Victor, De eruditione hominis interioris (On the Education of the Inner Man), J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 196 1229D−1366A.  Paris, 1855.  [Latin text]

Uebersax, John.  Myths of the Fall.  Christian Platonism website. 2021.

Zinn, Grover A. (tr.). Richard of St. Victor: The Twelve Patriarchs (Benjamin Minor), The Mystical Ark (Benjamin Major) and Book Three of The Trinity. Paulist Press, 1979.

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Psychological Interpretation of the Book of Zechariah

Gustve Dore, Zecharia 6:5

IT MAKES sense to consider interpreting the visions in the Book of Zechariah at a psychological-allegorical level.  By ‘psychological’ I don’t mean in terms of modern materialist/reductionist psychology, but more along the lines of Platonic and ascetical psychology.  As previously discussed, Philo of Alexandria employed this level of interpretation with great success, and his work strongly influenced Patristic and medieval allegorical commentary of Scripture.  So there’s nothing radical or unorthodox about my proposal.

Still, despite believing this is a sound level of analysis, I’m hesitant to proceed for two reasons. The first is that I don’t perceive much ambient interest in this topic: it rather amazes me that more people today aren’t interested in Philonic interpretation as a way to better understand and apply the truths of Scripture.  Second, maybe allegories don’t need to be interpreted — but, rather, the whole purpose of visionary and apocalyptic literature is to communicate directly with the unconscious or subconscious mind using symbols.

Therefore let me take the middle path: to outline only some leading ideas — enough to suggest the lines along which a fuller interpretation might proceed.

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Introduction

The Book of Zechariah contains 14 chapters.  It was written by at least two different people.  Chapters 9−14 are distinct from the others, and Chapters 7−8 are potentially distinct from Chapters 1−6.  Chapters 1−8 were potentially written in the 6th century during the period of exile, and the rest in the 5th century in the post-exilic period.  Alternatively, at least Chapters 9−14 may date from the Hellenistic period.

Our guiding hermeneutic premises are:

• All persons referred to symbolize elements of the individual soul.  That is, a special case of the literary device of personification is employed.

• All Scripture refers to the salvation of the soul.  At one level, salvation involves a re-integration and re-harmonization of the soul, restoring it from its fragmented condition brought about by sin and fall from God.

• Israelites symbolize the holy and virtuous dispositions of the soul.

• The enemies of Israel symbolize our sinful, vicious and refractory dispositions. (It is to these Psalms 2:1 refers when it asks, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?)

• Salvation involves, among other things (1) a renewed commitment of our inner Israelites to love and seek God and (2) punishment, ‘scattering’ and even destruction of our base elements.  This is somewhat complicated, of course, because, in a real sense, both the inner Israelites and the inner enemies *are* us.

• Amongst the virtuous elements or dispositions of our soul are certain leading ones — which help organize or guide the others.  For Philo, Moses symbolizes one such leading element.  In Zechariah, a new figure is presented:  Joshua, a High Priest, who helps effect salvation.  Traditionally this Joshua is interpreted as a symbol for Jesus Christ.  At a psychological level, we might understand him as symboizing an inner ‘image’ of Jesus Christ, a new addition to the personality, who helps lead the psyche to salvation.  Again, to speak of an inner image of Jesus Christ we are saying nothing that isn’t found in traditional Church writings.

Chapter 1

Characters: Zechariah, the word of the LORD, the LORD of hosts (possibly the same as the ‘word’); an angel amidst the myrtle trees riding a red horse.

Verse by verse commentary:

In the first vision, the angel is accompanied by red, white and speckled horses. “What are these?” Zechariah asks.  The angel replies, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. (1.8).  The horses say to the angel, “We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.” (1.11).

So the horses function in a way reminiscent of Conscience:  they roam the psyche, assessing its moral condition.  A similar trope is found in Hesiod’s Works and Days, in the Ages of Man Myth, concerning the first golden race:

But after the earth had covered this generation — they are called pure spirits (daimones hagnoi; δαίμονες ἁγνοὶ = holy spirits) dwelling on the earth, and are kindly, delivering from harm, and guardians of mortal men; for they roam everywhere over the earth, clothed in mist and keep watch on judgements and cruel deeds, givers of wealth. (WD 109–126).

This idea of roving monitors or ‘eyes of God’ is repeated later in the Book of Zechariah.

The favorable report of the horses suggests that Israel has now expiated its former sins, and is in a condition to merit restoration.

Psychological interpretation:  at some point during the process of moral and spiritual reformation, Conscience gives a favorable report.  There is no longer need for punishment and chastisement.  However, what remains is to subdue or eliminate the last vestiges of power amongst impious dispositions.

In the next vision Zechariah sees four horns (1:18).  These symbolize the Gentile nations that have scattered Israel.  Along with these Zechariah sees four carpenters (1:20).  These come to destroy and cast out the four horns.  At a psychological level, the Gentiles, as we have already said, would symbolize base, sinful and refractory dispositions of the soul.  The four carpenters would then symbolize new dispositions which effect the elimination of remaining resistance and oppression.

Chapter 2

Characters:  Zechariah, the first angel, a second angel.

Zechariah has a vision of a man with a measuring line.  The man is marking the dimensions of the new, restored Jerusalem. The angels, announce the message of the LORD of hosts: Jerusalem is to be restored and rebuilt, and many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee. (2:11)

Psychological interpretation:  A new, redeemed, prosperous kingdom of the soul is imminent.  God will dwell within such a soul, and will protect it.

Chapter 3

New characters: Joshua, Satan.

The angel reveals Joshua the high priest to Zechariah.  Joshua’s filthy garments are replaced with clean ones, and a fair mitre is placed on his head.  Joshua is appointed to judge and ‘hold court’ in the restored Jerusalem.  A stone with seven eyes is placed before Joshua.

Psychological interpretation:  As we suggested in the Introduction, it is natural to see Joshua as a new ruling personality element.  If Joshua is a symbol for Jesus, the redeemed personality, then, is poised to become remade, reconfigured and reconstructed on the pattern of Jesus Christ.  Compare this with St. Paul, who, when he says, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. [Gal 2:20b]

Chapter 4

Next Zechariah has a vision of a golden candlstick with seven lamps.  The lamps are fed by oil flowing from two olive trees, one on the right and one on the left.  The angels says the lamps are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth (4:10), and the trees, are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth. [4:14]

Psychological interpretation:  The seven eyes which roam the earth remind us of the horses in Chapter 1.  Perhaps they too are symbolically connected with Conscience.  The details being so brief, any attempt to explain the meaning of the olive trees would be too speculative to pursue with any assurance of correctness.

Chapter 5

There are two visions.  The first is of a flying roll or scroll.  This is a “curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth” (5:1), that serves to “cut off” sinners.  In the second vision is of an ephah (a bushel basket).  Inside the ephah is a woman called wickedness.  The ephah is sealed with lead.  Two winged women carry the ephah to the land of Shinar.

Psychological interpretation:  The flying scroll may relate again to the theme of Conscience.  Sinful elements of the soul are somehow divided or sequestered from the virtuous elements.  The meaning of the ephah is enigmatic.  Wickedness is being shut up in such a way that it poses no immediate threat to inner Jerusalem.

Chapter 6

Again, two visions.  The first is of four chariots that emerge from two mountains of brass.  The chariots are drawn by red, black, white, and grizzled and bay horses. “What are these?” Zechariah asks.  The angel answers, “These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” (6:5)

In the second vision Zechariah sees Joshua again. The word of the LORD commands that Joshua be given crowns of silver and gold, and says, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. (6:12)

Psychological interpretations:  The first vision reminds us of the horses in Chapter 1 and the seven eyes in Chapter 4, and again may have something to do with Conscience. In all of these cases, it’s interesting that these figures are all plural. Conscience (if that’s what they symbolize) is not represented by a single figure, but by multiple ones.  Could it be that such is how human conscience operates?  Are there multiple, autonomous ‘conscience complexes’ that operate in the mind?  (Cf. Marvin Minsky, 1986, who takes a cybernetic/systems theory to propose an ‘agent’ theory of the human mind.)

Chapter 7

Two years later the word of LORD comes to Zechariah.  He is instructed to tell the people that they have, hitherto, suffered scattering and desolation of the land because they did not heed the message of the prophets, and their penitential fasts were insincere.

Psychological interpretation:  scattering, disorganization and barrenness is the condition of the fallen psyche.

Chapter 8

The word of the LORD returns, now giving good news. If God was harsh with Israel before, it was only because He loved her so much.

Now the promise of restoration is made. So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. (8:15) But the people must be reminded: These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD. (8:16−17). Other nations will come to join Israel.

Psychological interpretation: The message is clearly one of hope.  Despite the suffering experienced in the fallen condition, God will heal and restore the genuinely repentant soul. The joining of other nations suggest a possible threefold division among personality elements:  (1) holy and virtuous ones (inner Israelites), (2) enemies of Israel (vicious dispositions which must be eliminated or somehow separated; and (3) a class of personality elements that are not inner Israelites, but which may be allied with them.  Perhaps (2) correspond to outright sinful dispositions, and (3) to interests in natural or sensible things that are not innately bad, but which must be properly ordered.

To be continued …

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Much said in this post doubtless will seem incomplete and open to many questions.  However, the task is not an easy one.  All that has been attempted is to supply a first pass at the question.  It’s almost certainly not completely correct, even in what it does say. We might put the question thus, “If Philo were to interpret the Book of Zechariah, what would he say?”  He didn’t, of course, so we are left to conjecture.

However at least we have arguably accoplished one small thing: to establish that it is *possible* to meaningfully interpret the Book of Zechariah at a psychological-allegorical level.  That possibility supplies an alternative to (1) strict literal interpretation, and (2) a ‘typological’ interpretation (i.e., that merely sees Joshua as a prophecy of Jesus Christ coming in history).  If Zechariah is only a historical prophecy, it would have little practical relevance for us today, as the event it would be prophesying has already occurred.  The more pious and devout — or at least more spiritual — approach is to search each Book of the Bible for what it says about ones own salvation.

Lest we give the wrong impression, it is to be emphasized that this form of interpretation should not be approached as an exercise in rationalistic, academic scholarship.  It can be done in connection with the traditional lectio divina steps of reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation.  In that context it properly belongs to the meditation stage.  Among other things, it helps one focus attention on the details of a passage of Scripture.  The approach should not be so much “it must mean this” as “could it mean this?”  Absolutely essential to interpreting scripture in any case is prayer.  Contemplation goes beyond intellectual analysis by tapping supraconscious wells of inspiration.  Allow God to supply understanding at levels that cannot be expressed in words.

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Bibliography

Minsky, Marvin. The Society of Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986.

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Richard of St. Victor — Philo Redivivus

RICHARD OF ST. VICTOR‘s (1110−1173) psychological-allegorical interpretations are exceptional — arguably as good as those of Philo of Alexandria. The two best known examples are his works Benjamin Minor and Benjamin Major.  The first interprets the 12 sons of Jacob allegorically, each son symbolizing a particular virtue — leading up to the youngest sons, Benjamin and Joseph, who symbolize contemplation and discretion, respectively.  Benjamin Major builds on this in a long discussion of contemplation.  Here the framework is a detailed interpretation of the details of the Ark of the Covenant.  In both these works Richard uses allegorical interpretation to great effect.  One never feels he is forcing interpretations or imposing foreign meanings.  Rather — as with Philo — one has the sense that he has, in an inspired way, tapped genuine, deeper spiritual meanings of Scripture.

Benjamin Minor and Benjamin Major are not the only works where Richard displays his remarkable skill in allegoresis.  Another example is the little known work, De exterminatione male et promotione boni (On the Extermination of Bad and the Promotion of Good).*  In a broad sense, the theme it treats is the advancement of the soul through the three ascetical-mystical stages of purification, illumination and unification.  For this, he refers to the two water crossings of the Israelites:  first the crossing of the Red Sea as they enter the wilderness, and second, their crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering.

* Draft English translation is here.  Latin version is here.

Like Philo, Richard sees Egypt as bondage to the flesh.  Hence the first crossing symbolizes the soul that attains contempt of the world.  In turning from the world, the soul turns inward.  Over time, as it comes to know itself, it realizes its own innate proneness to folly, pride and sin — the root cause of which is love of self.  Symbolically, crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land occurs when the soul reverses the course of its affective energies (just as, in Joshua 3, the Jordan reverses course, enabling the Israelites to cross) from cupidity to charity.

The actual crossing, for Richard, symbolizes contemplation. The twelve stones that Joshua gathers after the crossing and uses to build a memorial, symbolize twelve supporting virtues.  The spies that Joshua first sends into the Promised Land represent ‘pre-meditation’ upon the things that contemplation actually experiences.  Here Richard shows his practical insight into the contemplative life.  To reach high degrees of contemplation — e.g., the intoxication of divine ecstasy — we must yearn for them.  And to stimulate the affections to this yearning, first we must begin by meditating on and considering divine things.

In Joshua 3, first the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant across the Jordan.  Then the Jews follow at a distance of 2000 cubits.  As Richard discussed in Benjamin Major, the Ark of the Covenant is a symbol for contemplation.  The Jews that follow symbolize our other dispositions — including those that connect us with the material world.  These reach the Promised Land in a transformed condition, once the soul’s affections have been properly reoriented to charity through virtue, meditation and contemplation.  So Richard sees in all this not a dour, world-denying asceticism, but an integral psychology, in which our entire self — body, mind, soul and spirit — is transformed and renewed.

Also like Philo, Richard has remarkable attention to detail; no word in Scripture is seen as superfluous.  And also like Philo, his allegorical interpretations avoid excess by staying focused on a single psychological theme.  This is unlike St. Augustine and Origen, who often shift levels of interpretation — say, from psychological, to typological (i.e., interpretation based on the premise that figures and events in the Old Testament prefigure those of the New Testament), to ecclesial (seeing the Old Testament as symbolizing the Church and its sacraments).

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Bibliography

Richard of St. Victor, De exterminatione mali et promotione boni (On the Extermination of Bad the Promotion of Good), J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 196 1073C−1116C.  Paris, 1855.  [Latin text]

Zinn, Grover A. (tr.). Richard of St. Victor: The Twelve Patriarchs (Benjamin Minor), The Mystical Ark (Benjamin Major) and Book Three of The Trinity. Paulist Press, 1979.

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De septem septenis — Meditatio

WE continue our series of posts on Book 6 of De septem septenis (On the Seven Sevens), which discusses seven forms of contemplation: meditatio, soliloquium, circumspectio, ascensio, revelatio, emissio and inspiratio.  Below is a translation of the section on meditatio.

In this short section the anonymous author has two main aims.  The first is to establish a connection between reading, meditation and contemplation: meditation follows reading (usually Scripture), and is followed by contemplation.  Second, it presents three classes of things meditated on, as suggested by reading:  morals (the beauties of morality and perils of immorality), God’s ‘commandments,’ and divine works.  Whether these are to be understood in a literal or psychological sense is not clear.  A literal view might be that God’s commandments are his laws by which creation is organized and governed in a good, just and harmonious whole, and divine works are God’s works.  A more psychological interpetation would be that God’s commandments are inspirations, guidances and promptings which lead the soul, and divine works are things we do under such guidance.

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SECT. VI. Sexta septena de septem generibus contemplationis.

SECT. 6. The sixth of the seven kinds of contemplation.

1] Sexta septena de septem generibus contemplationis sequitur, in quibus anima requiescens iucundius immoratur. Septem sunt contemplationis genera, meditatio, soliloquium, circumspectio, ascensio, revelatio, emissio, inspiratio. Meditatio est in consilio frequens cogitatio, quae causam et originem, modum et utilitatem uniuscuiusque rei prudenter investigat.

1] The sixth seventh of the seven kinds of contemplation follows, in which the resting soul dwells more pleasantly. There are seven kinds of contemplation: meditation, soliloquy, circumspection, ascent, revelation, emission, and inspiration.

2] Meditatio principium sumit a lectionis scrutatione; nullis stringitur regulis vel praeceptis lectionis; delectatur enim quodam aperto spatio decurrere, ubi liberam affigat rationem veritatis contemplandae, et nunc has nunc illas rerum causas perstringere, nunc autem profunda quaeque penetrare, nihil anceps, nihil obscurum relinquere. Principium ergo doctrinae in lectione, consummatio in lectionis scrutatione, contemplatio in scrutationis meditatione.

2] Meditation takes its beginning from scrutinous reading; [lectionis scrutatione] it is bound by no rules or precepts of reading; for it delights in running about in a kind of open space, where it is left free to contemplate the truth — now to grasp these things and now those causes of things, and now to penetrate deep things, leaving nothing uncertain, nothing obscure. Therefore, the beginning of teaching is in reading: reading is consummated by study, study and meditation in contemplation.

3] Trimodum vero meditationis est genus, unum constat in speculatione morum, aliud in scrutatione mandatorum, tertium in investigatione divinorum operum, et ita fit contemplationis exordium. Cum enim animus a Scripturarum meditatione in orationem, ab oratione in lectionem digreditur, miseriam praesentium, poenam damnatorum et praemia iustorum vere contemplatur.

3] But three are meditation’s kinds. One consists in the observation of morals, another in the scrutiny of commandments, the third in the investigation of divine works.* Thus is the beginning of contemplation. For when the mind turns from meditation on the Scriptures to prayer, digressing from reading to prayer, he contemplates truly the misery of the present, the punishment of the damned, and the rewards of the just.

* De contemplatione et ejus speciebus, on which Book 6 of De septem is based, inserts this here: “But morals consist in vices and virtues; the divine command commanding one thing, forbidding another, permitting another; the work of God is that which creates power, and that which is moderated by wisdom, and that which cooperates with grace. How much all these things are worthy of admiration, each one knows so much the more the more attentively he is accustomed to meditate on the wonders of God.”

4] Deinde praemiorum amore tractus et poenarum timore tactus, descendit ad suorum memoriam delictorum. Qui dum culpam propriam cognoscit, alienae ignoscit, et ideo post memoriam delictorum descendit ad compassionem proximorum. In meditatione Scripturarum saepius laboramus, timentes ne praemium iustorum amittamus; in memoria delictorum gemimus, ne cum damnatis simus, in compassione proximorum, ut bonum opus diligamus.

4] Then, drawn by the love of rewards and touched by the fear of punishments, he proceeds [descendit] to the remembrance of his own offenses. He who, while he knows his own fault, forgives that of others, and therefore, after the remembrance of his offences, proceeds to the compassion of his neighbours. So we labor often in the meditation of the Scriptures, fearing lest we should lose the reward of the righteous; we groan in remembrance of our transgressions, lest we be with the condemned, in compassion for our neighbors, that we may love good work.

5] Sic igitur cum tota mentis tranquillitate meditando oramus vel legimus, in contemplatione quiescimus.

5] Thus, when we pray or read while meditating with complete a tranquil mind, we rest in contemplation.

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Bibliography

Baron, Roger (ed.). De contemplatione et ejus speciebus (La Contemplation et Ses Espèces). Desclée, 1955.

Giles, J. A. (ed.). De septem septenis. In: Joannis Saresberiensis postea episcopi camotensis opera omnia, vol. V: Opuscula.  Oxford, 1848; 209−238. Reprinted in Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 199, cols. 945−965. Paris, 1855. [Latin text] [Latin text]

Hauréau, Barthélemy (ed.). Hugues de Saint-Victor. Paris, 1859; De contemplatione et ejus speciebus, pp. 96−102, 177−210.

Németh, Csaba. Fabricating philosophical authority in the Twelfth Century: The Liber Egerimion and the De septem septenis. Authorities in the Middle Ages. De Gruyter, 2013; 69−87.

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Short Commentary on Psalm 56

British Library Arundel MS 157 f.53v

PSALMS is one of the Widom Books of the Old Testament.  It’s important to understand its psychological and sapiential meanings. Here, as we’ve already done with a few other Psalms, we interpret Psalm 56 (using the King James Version numbering).

[1] Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

Man here means the Old Man within onself, the fleshy man, the Old Adam, the carnal, worldly mind.

[2] Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

The carnal mind creates thoughts that swallow up our divine, spiritual consciousness.

[3] What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

Our main response must be to trust God.  If we *worry* about  carnal thoughts, we feed the carnal mind.  In a sense, the carnal mind is the same as egoistic thinking, which characteristically overvalues it’s own imnportance and ability.

We can’t defeat egoistic thinking by egoistic thinking.  Our recourse must be to God.  That isn’t to say there are no steps we can take ourselves.  But the heavy lifting here must be done by God.  We must pray for grace, assistance and guidance.

[4] In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Returning to the condition of praising God is our aim.  This is our highest joy.

[5] Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
[6] They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

There are many tactics by which the carnal mind seeks to maintain power.  At a biological level, it manifests itself as complexes.  These can both join together and hide themselves.

[7] Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
[8] Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

The wandering mind.  The effect of carnal mindedness is to temporarily alienate our consciousness from God.  This painful separation, for one who has tasted of communion with God, is cause for tears.

[9] When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
[10] In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.
[11] In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
[12] Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

Call on God’s help.  Praise God.  Give thanks.  Upon returning to a condition of thanksgiving, the carnal mind is subdued.

[13] For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

The swallowing up of spiritual mindedness by carnal mindedness is truly a kind of death.  It is disconnected from reality, from truth. Spiritual mindedness is life.

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De septem septenis — Circumspectio

AS  previously discussed, De septem septenis (On the Seven Sevens) is an enigmatic 12th Century treatise by an anonymous Christian mystic.  It discusses seven topics or domains, each with seven components or varieties.  The sets of seven are: the steps to learning; the liberal arts; bodily senses; faculties of mind; virtues; types of contemplation; and principles of Nature.

Our main interest is the sixth section on types of contemplation (meditation, soliloquy circumspection, ascension, revelation, emission and inspiration). This is an abridged version of an earlier work, De contemplatione et eius speciebus (On Contemplation and its Species), by some author possibly associated with the School of St. Victor.

Here we translate the third part of De septem 6, which concerns Circumspectio or circumspection. This follows the section on Soliloquium (soliloquy), next to be translated. These two are related. The purpose of Soliloquium is, by means of introspection, to come to realize ones own sinfulness, insufficiency, mortality, mutability and proneness to folly.  It produces a contempt of self — or more specifically, a contempt for relying oneself instead of God.

Circumspectio, in contrast, involves prudence and discretion by which one comes to recognize the emptiness of worldly things.  Both these forms of meditation, then, set the stage for the soul to seek its happiness in higher, Eternal goods through the later forms of contempation described.

This section is very short.  De contemplatione et eius speciebus also gives Circumspectio a very short trestment; one significant addition is an exegesis of 1 John 2:16, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

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12] Tertia species contemplationis. Circumspectio nomen est aequivocatum ad duo. Circumspectio namque, species prudentiae, dicitur provida gerendorum vel sermonum cautela.

Cum vero circumspectio a contemplatione specificatur, animi exploratio dicitur, quia animus intellectu, consilio et delectu inter mundana contemplatur.

12] The third species of contemplation. The word, circumspection means two things. As a species of prudence, it is said to be caution in conduct or speech.

But when circumspection is specified by contemplation, it means the examination of the mind, because the mind is contemplated by intelligence, counsel, and choosing among worldly things.

13] Animus namque intellectu per mundana discurrit; consilio de mundanis deliberat et inquirit, delectu inter ipsa discernit et eligit. Discursus vero animi mundana concipit mutabilia, caduca et transitoria. Inquisitio animi deliberans, mundana percipit esse tam bona quam mala, licet transitoria et tam bonorum quam malorum contraria.

13] For the soul runs through worldly things with the understanding; it deliberates and inquires about worldly things by counsel, it discerns and chooses among itself. But the worldly discourse of the soul conceives changeable, mutable, and transitory things. A deliberating soul inquires, and in the worldly perceives both good and bad, and in the transitory both the good and bad.

14] Electiva consilii discretio a malis dividit bona, inter bona, eligit potioria, inter adversa, si vitari nequeunt, minus nociva, unde Terentius [Ter. Ad. IV,7,21]: Ita vita est hominum quasi cum ludas tesseris; Si illud, quod maxime opus est iactu, non cadit, Illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas. His igitur tribus viribus animus utatur, ut circumspectius inter mundana speculetur, ne bonorum multitudine temporalium confundatur, ne eorum varietate seducatur, ne multimoda malorum adversitate depressus decipiatur; in qua patientia patienter tolerantibus coronam aeternam operatur.

14] The elective discretion of counsel divides the good from the bad. It chooses the preferable among the good — and among the adverse, if they cannot be avoided, the less harmful, whence Terence,  The life of man is just like playing with dice: if that which you most want to throw does not turn up, what turns up by chance you must correct by art. [Ter. Adelphi, Act 4].

Let the mind, therefore, use these three powers*, so that it may look more circumspectly among worldly things, lest it be confused by the multitude of temporal goods, lest it be seduced by their variety, lest it be deceived, depressed by the manifold adversity of evils; in which patience works out an eternal crown for those who endure patiently.

* In De contemplatione et eius especiebus these are stated more explicitly as prudenter, provide et discrete, (prudence, foresight and discretion)

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Bibliography

Baron, Roger (ed.). De contemplatione et ejus speciebus (La Contemplation et Ses Espèces). Desclée, 1955.

Giles, J. A. (ed.). De septem septenis. In: Joannis Saresberiensis postea episcopi camotensis opera omnia, vol. V: Opuscula.  Oxford, 1848; 209−238. Reprinted in Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 199, cols. 945−965. Paris, 1855. [Latin text] [Latin text]

Németh, Csaba. Fabricating philosophical authority in the Twelfth Century: The Liber Egerimion and the De septem septenis. Authorities in the Middle Ages. De Gruyter, 2013; 69−87.

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The Other Kind of Cupidity

CUPIDITY (in Latin, cupiditas) is a word rarely used, and when misunderstood. Cupidity, along with its near cognate, concupiscence, is nowadays often understood to mean either undue interest in sensual pleasure (especially sexual) or avarice. Hence cupiditas is often translated as lust or covetousness. But this isn’t how it was understood by St. Augustine — in whose ethics and theology cupiditas plays a central role.

Ultimately, according to Augustine, one loves either the world or loves God. Love of God (and others for God’s sake) is the essence of caritas or charity. Love of the world is cupidity. Each of these loves becomes a seed around which an entire set of personality characteristics and mental patterns develop. Hence we tend to have within our psyche two competing personalities: one based on caritas, and one on cupiditas.

This is much the same as — if not identical to — St. Paul’s repeated emphasis on the struggle between carnal mindedness and spiritual mindedness (e.g., Romans 8).  Again, carnal mindedness we tend to associate with attraction to pleasures of the body, but it’s actually something much broader.  It could as easily be called worldly-mindedness.

Cupidity encompasses the love of anything worldly.  It isn’t just sexual lust, gluttony, avarice and the like. There is another form which we tend to overlook, but which is much worse.  That is our craving for things like acceptance and approval of others, social status, prestige, etc.

This is clearly linked to biological instincts we have as social animals.  Social and herd animals depend on the acceptance of others for survival.  These are very deep-seated instincts, which we, inasmuch as we are social mammals, have.   But, unlike other animals, we are also spiritual beings.  It’s imperative that we subordinate our biological instincts to our higher, spiritual nature.

To overcome sexual lust, avarice, and undue interest in food and drink are comparatively easy things.  Much more difficult is to overcome this basic desire for approval by others, social status, and prestige.

I myself am constantly aware when I write of having not only a sincere desire to help people (caritas), but to gain social approval by writing something noteworthy.  I crave acceptance, respect, honor. I have a wordly desire to be recognized by others as contributing something significant, or of being ‘learned.’  That is this second form of cupidity at work.

This cupidity is even more insidious because it tends not to be thought of as a moral failing.  Indeed, in our competitive society, it may even masquerade as a kind of virtue.

But it is not a virtue. It opposes our love of God, and anything that distracts us from love of God we must strive with all our might to eliminate.

This is explained very well by St. Augustine:

(1) Charity [Charitatem] denotes that whereby one loves [the eternal]. …

However, the poison of charity is the hope of getting and holding onto temporal things. The nourishment of charity is the lessening of cupidity [cupiditatis], the perfection of charity, the absence of cupidity. …

(3) But when the enticements of bodily pleasures [carnalium voluptatum] have been overcome, it is to be feared lest the cupidity for pleasing men, by way of either some wonderful deeds or an arduous self-control or patience or some act of generosity or through a reputation for knowledge or eloquence, creep in and take their place. Here is also to be found the cupidity for honor [cupiditas honoris]. Against this should be cited all those things that have been written in praise of charity and on the foolishness of boasting [inanitate iactantiae]. … If you wish to please men, however, so as to help them to love God, you have desire not for pleasing others or honor, but for something else.
(Source: St. Augustine of Hippo, On Diverse Questions 36, On nurturing charity; my translation, based on those of Mosher and Ramsey.)

Modern translators fail to capture the full scope of cupiditas by using such words as ‘lust’ and ‘greed’.  ‘Cupidity’ seems a better choice. The expression “to have your liking in the world” captures its essence.

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Bibliography

Mosher, David L. (tr.). Saint Augustine: Eighty-three Different Questions. Fathers of the Church, Vol. 70. CUA Press, 1982 (repr. 2010); pp. 67−71.

Ramsey, Boniface (tr.). Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo): Miscellany of Eighty-three Questions. New City Press, 2008.

Latin text

De Diversis Quaestionibus 36 (Quaestio XXXVI. De nutrienda charitate). J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina 40 cols. 11−100.

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