The truth which he values is that, as Mr Upton[15] has well
expressed it, "there is a certain self-revelation of the eternal and
infinite One to the finite soul, and therefore an indestructible
basis for religious ideas and beliefs as distinguished from what is
called scientific knowledge. . . . This immanent universal principle
does not pertain to, and is not the property of any individual mind,
but belongs to that uncreated and eternal nature of God which lies
deeper than all those differences which separate individual minds
from each other, and is indeed that incarnation of the Eternal, who
though He is present in every finite thing, is still not broken up
into individualities, but remains one and the same eternal
substance, one and the same unifying principle, immanently and
indivisibly present in every one of the countless plurality of
finite individuals." It might further be urged that neither God nor
man can be understood in independence of each other. A recent writer
on ethics,[16] not too well disposed towards Christianity, is, I
think, right in saying: "To the popular mind, which assumes God and
man to be two different realities, each given in independence of the
other, . . . the identification of man's love of God with God's love
of Himself has always been a paradox and a stumbling-block. But it
is not too much to say that until it has been seen to be no paradox,
but a simple and fundamental truth, the masterpieces of the world's
religious literature must remain a sealed book to us."
Eckhart certainly believed himself to have escaped the pitfall of
Pantheism; but he often expressed himself in such an unguarded way
that the charge may be brought against him with some show of reason.
Love, Eckhart teaches, is the principle of all virtues; it is God
Himself. Next to it in dignity comes humility. The beauty of the
soul, he says in the true Platonic vein, is to be well ordered, with
the higher faculties above the lower, each in its proper place. The
will should be supreme over the understanding, the understanding
over the senses. Whatever we will earnestly, that we have, and no
one can hinder us from attaining that detachment from the creatures
in which our blessedness consists.
Evil, from the highest standpoint, is only a means for realising the
eternal aim of God in creation; all will ultimately be overruled for
good. Nevertheless, we can frustrate the good will of God towards
us, and it is this, and not the thought of any insult against
Himself, that makes God grieve for our sins. It would not be worth
while to give any more quotations on this subject, for Eckhart is
not more successful than other philosophers in propounding a
consistent and intelligible theory of the place of evil in the
universe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account