Man's Call to Make Himself a Son of God.
The path of man's quest for self-perfection is determined by
his call to make himself a son of God. "When the Lord instructed us to say in
our prayers that God is our Father, He commanded us to make ourselves similar to
our heavenly Father by leading lives worthy of Him." In this sense it is
possible to say that "Christianity is an imitation of the nature of God." The
beginning of man's struggle is his love for God and love pours itself forth in
prayer. "Whoever burns with love will never find satiety in prayer but will
always be consumed with the desire for bliss." Christ's command to man to make
himself similar to God by "imitation" is not beyond the limitations of our
nature because man was created as the likeness and image of God. However, true
similarity to God can be attained only by the man who is reborn, in whom the
image of God has been restored and purified, and this is possible only through
Christ, in Whom this renewal was accomplished. The process of imitation is
endless because it is "making oneself into the likeness of One Who is
eternal."
The ascent to God can take different forms. It is accomplished
through victory over the flesh and the senses, liberation from "sensual and
irrational movement" and the restoration of the sovereignty of the intellect,
the "helmsman of the soul." "We can raise ourselves to God only by constantly
turning our gaze to the heights and by having a continual desire for higher
things." This victory is realized in impassivity, which, Gregory writes, "is the
beginning and foundation for a virtuous life." Gregory's formulation that
"moderation is a property of virtue" and his conception of impassivity as a
middle path are taken from Aristotle.
Virtue should not be excessive or extreme. The path of virtue
is like a narrow mountain passageway leading between two equally dangerous
chasms. The soul must overcome the inclinations of the senses but its struggle
against them should not be immoderate because "too much attention to the body"
can distract the soul from what is truly superior, and entrap it within a
"circle of petty cares." Furthermore, men who are carried away by this struggle
"are not in the condition to elevate their minds and contemplate higher things,
since they are buried in their concern to master their flesh." The true goal of
continence and fasting is not to overcome the body but to turn it to the service
of the soul. Neither timidity nor audacity are virtues but only courage, which
is the median between them. Man should strive for neither craftiness nor
simplicity but wisdom, for neither sensuality nor aversion to the flesh, but for
chastity. Even piety is an intermediate stage between superstition and atheism.
The string should be tuned only to the degree proper for it, otherwise the sound
it produces will not be pure.
Gregory had a great respect for virginity and praised it as the
highest form of purity but he was also not averse to marriage. He stressed that
man's goal should not be physical virginity alone but a "devout way of life,"
without which even virginity is no more than an "earring in the nose of a pig."
"There can be no basis for denying the demands of nature or for condemning as
disgraceful that which should be respected," he writes. He did not approve of
the extreme asceticism of the Encratists. "They have been instructed by demons.
They burn out strange symbols over their hearts and abhor the creation of God,
as though it were impure."
The goal of ascetic discipline is not the mortification of the
body but the mortification of the passions and sin, the subordination of the
body to the law of reason, and the reconciliation of the body and soul. "Man
must pacify the conflicting forces of nature within himself." A virtuous life is
a gathering together and a simplification of the soul. By simplification Gregory
does not mean that the soul's qualities should be effaced but that they should
form a harmonious whole. In triumphing over the distractions and destructiveness
of the passions man "saves himself from internal division, returns to a state of
good, becomes simplified, and is a genuine unity, so that what is visible in him
is the same as that which is hidden and that which he cherishes within himself
is the same as that which he displays."
This integrity expresses itself as love, forgiveness, and
charity. To whom does the Lord promise bliss at the Last Judgment, and for what?
"Not because we have put on the robe of incorruptibility nor because we have
washed away our sins but because we have accomplished works of love. He will
read a list of those to whom we have given food, and water, and clothing." "As
we forgive those who are in debt to us": this is the greatest virtue. It is
superior to the limits of human nature because forgiveness is proper only to
God, and whoever forgives "has made himself a second god." Charity expresses our
recognition of the community of all men and our acknowledgement that debts and
sins are common to the whole human race. By charity we overcome pride and
isolation.
All men are created in the image of God, all men bear the image
of our Savior, and all men enjoy God's love. Love for our neighbor is
inseparable from love for God, and one is not possible without the other. Love
is an internal connection and a growing together with the beloved object. This
connection is realized in the Church. In the Song of Songs the Church is
symbolized "with the image of a cord," "so that all become a single cord and a
single chain." Perfect love drives out fear and fear is transformed into love.
"The one who is saved turns out to be a part of the great union of all in their
affinity with the single Good." This affinity with the single Good, this unity
with the Holy Spirit, is the foundation of universal human love. Only in
spiritual life is humanity reunited, and the integrity of personal life is
strengthened through the unity of life within a brotherly community.
Source and thanks to:
No comments:
Post a Comment