Greco-Christian stream·The Imitation of Christ·Book III — On Inward Consolation·Chapter XL. That Man Hath No Good In Himself, And Nothing Whereof To Glory
XL. Man hath no good in himself; nothing whereof to glory
The doctrine of nihilismus mysticus: man hath no good in himself; whatever is good comes from God; therefore nothing in oneself is matter for glorying. The Augustinian-Bernardine foundation of the Imitation's anthropology.
Source context
- Theme
- total creaturely poverty: the soul's recognition that all apparent goods belong to God, leaving nothing for self-glorification
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Augustinian theologyAugustine's doctrine that the will is radically dependent on divine grace and that any good the soul performs originates entirely in God, not in the creature, structurally parallels the chapter's insistence that self-glory is empty.
- Sufi annihilation doctrine (fana)The Sufi station of fana — the effacement of the ego-self before the divine — presents a cross-tradition congruence with the chapter's teaching that the human self possesses no intrinsic good and must be emptied of all self-attribution.
- Vedantic neti-neti anthropologyAdvaita Vedanta's negation of individual ownership of capacities or merits, tracing all efficacy to Brahman, offers a cross-tradition congruence with the chapter's denial of self-possessed goodness.
Chapter XL. That Man Hath No Good In Himself, And Nothing Whereof To Glory
THAT MAN HATH NO GOOD IN HIMSELF, AND NOTHING WHEREOF TO GLORY
Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that Thou visitest him?(1) What hath man deserved, that Thou shouldest bestow thy favour upon him? Lord, what cause can I have of complaint, if Thou forsake me? Or what can I justly allege, if Thou refuse to hear my petition? Of a truth, this I may truly think and say, Lord, I am nothing, I have nothing that is good of myself, but I fall short in all things, and ever tend unto nothing. And unless I am helped by Thee and inwardly supported, I become altogether lukewarm and reckless.
2But Thou, O Lord, art always the same, and endurest for ever, always good, righteous, and holy; doing all things well, righteously, and holily, and disposing all in Thy wisdom. But I who am more ready to go forward than backward, never continue in one stay, because changes sevenfold pass over me. Yet it quickly becometh better when it so pleaseth Thee, and Thou puttest forth Thy hand to help me; because Thou alone canst aid without help of man, and canst so strengthen me that my countenance shall be no more changed, but my heart shall be turned to Thee, and rest in Thee alone.
3Wherefore, if I but knew well how to reject all human consolations, whether for the sake of gaining devotion, or because of the necessity by which I was compelled to seek Thee, seeing there is no man who can comfort me; then could I worthily trust in Thy grace, and rejoice in the gift of new consolation.
4Thanks be to Thee, from whom all cometh, whensoever it goeth well with me! But I am vanity and nothing in Thy sight, a man inconstant and weak. What then have I whereof to glory, or why do I long to be held in honour? Is it not for nought? This also is utterly vain. Verily vain glory is an evil plague, the greatest of vanities, because it draweth us away from the true glory, and robbeth us of heavenly grace. For whilst a man pleaseth himself he displeaseth Thee; whilst he gapeth after the praises of man, he is deprived of true virtues.
5But true glory and holy rejoicing lieth in glorying in Thee and not in self; in rejoicing in Thy Name, not in our own virtue; in not taking delight in any creature, save only for Thy sake. Let thy Name, not mine be praised; let Thy work, not mine be magnified; let Thy holy Name be blessed, but to me let nought be given of the praises of men. Thou art my glory, Thou art the joy of my heart. In Thee will I make my boast and be glad all the day long, but for myself let me not glory save only in my infirmities.(2)
6Let the Jews seek the honour which cometh from one another; but I will ask for that which cometh from God only.(3) Truly all human glory, all temporal honour, all worldly exultation, compared to Thy eternal glory, is but vanity and folly. O God my Truth and my Mercy, Blessed Trinity, to Thee alone be all praise, honour, power, and glory for ever and for ever. Amen.
(1) Psalm viii. 4. (2) 2 Corinthians xii. 5. (3) John v. 44.