The Reformation Era
In our last meeting, we read a short story about Francis of Assisi preaching to a wolf that was at odds with a local village. Francis asked the wolf to repent of his ways (he had been eating some of the villagers!) and make peace with the village. The wolf listened to Francis; he promised to be gentle. The villagers, in turn, promised to feed the wolf for the rest of his days.
Both Thomas a' Kempis and Francis of Assisi emphasized the importance of ascetical practices in the spiritual life. Asceticism comes from a Greek word which means "training." An ascetical practice is a practice of self-denial. It is a matter of denying yourself something so that you can learn how to control your passions. The "passions" include your desires for earthly goods, such as food, drink, relationships, knowledge, possessions, sex, etc. From time to time these desires can become disordered. They become disordered when you want too much of something or when you become bound to something. So, in the monastic tradition, it is important to restrain your desires for some of these goods, with the hope that by learning to control your passions you will achieve true spiritual freedom.
The Medieval Church: Part II
As we discussed in our second meeting, Augustine believed that evil is a privation of good. Like darkness is the absence of light or cold is the absence of heat, evil is nothing in itself, but simply an absence of a good thing. Augustine summarizes his position in the Confessions: "If things are deprived of all good, they cease altogether to be; and this means that as long as they are, they are good. Therefore, whatever is, is good; and evil, the origin of which I was trying to find, is not a substance, because if it were a substance it would be good…So it became obvious to me that all that you have made is good, and that there are no substances whatsoever that were not made by you " (7.12).
The Ancient Church: Part II
Our first meeting on Athanasius was excellent. For those who could not attend, I thought I would do a post on the main themes of our conversation.
Why study the books of dead theologians?History also provides examples for our imitation. The greatness of the books that we will be reading does not lie in their theological content alone; it also lies in the exemplary character of the authors who wrote them. In these texts we will meet some of the most extraordinary figures of church history. If we are open, the witness of these "dead" theologians will call out to us, evoke our minds and hearts, and teach us something new about God and the world. We will find much to praise in their examples, and by imitating their examples we will ultimately become better people.
At other times, these "dead" theologians will perplex us, frustrate our minds and hearts, and disagree with our deeply held modern assumptions. If we are honest, we will find something to blame in their examples. That too will make us better people, for in acknowledging the mistakes of these figures we will be less likely to repeat them. When we look at the past through the lens of "praise and blame," history will become one of our greatest teachers.
As we read these Christian classics over the next few months, we will discover that these "dead" theologians are still living. They are all part of a living Christian tradition. A living tradition is simply an ongoing conversation about the things that matter. We are all participants in the great conversation of the Christian tradition. By reading these old books we will make room in the conversation for voices besides our own--namely, the remarkable voices of the Christian past.
