Synthesized answer
The text describes two paths toward God. The first path involves observing commandments and conforming to the divine will, which is necessary for salvation and excludes mortal sin [2]. This path is characterized by a "loving cleaving to God" [2], where deserts are a matter of the will to serve, please, and experience God [3].
The second path, undertaken by members of religious orders, involves additional commitments to "evangelical perfection" [2]. These are described as "voluntary and counselled perfection" [1, 2] that exclude things hindering the "working and fervour of love" [1]. This path involves a renunciation of all things, both body and mind, as entailed by a vow of profession [1]. It is this voluntary commitment to these additional practices that allows one to arrive "more quickly to the supreme goal which is God" [1, 2], by disengaging and recollecting oneself within, stripped of all images and sensory distractions [1]. The passages emphasize that love is the driving force that draws the soul from earthly things to divine union [4].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
te a voluntary and counselled perfection by means of which one may arrive more quickly to the supreme goal which is God. The observation of these additional commitments excludes as well the things that hinder the working and fervour of love, and without which one can come to God, and these include the renunciation of all things, of both body and mind, exactly as one’s vow of profession entails. Since indeed the Lord God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth, in other words, by knowledge and love, that is, understanding and desire, stripped of all images.…
← Translator's Introduction On Cleaving to God by Albert the Great Chapter 1 Chapter 2 → 106115 On Cleaving to God — Chapter 1 Albert the Great On the highest and supreme perfection of man, in so far as it is possible in this life I have had the idea of writing something for myself on and about the state of complete and full abstraction from everything and of cleaving freely, confidently, nakedly and firmly to God alone, so as to describe it fully (in so far as it is possible in this abode of exile and pilgrimage), especially since the goal of Christian perfection is the love by which we…
what is necessary for leading a good life. For if you want what is good, but cannot do it, God will make good the deed. For it is in accordance with this eternal law that God has established with irrevocable firmness that deserts should be a matter of the will, whether in bliss or torment, reward or punishment. Love itself is a great will to serve God, a sweet desire to please God, and a fervent wish to experience God. What is more, to be tempted is not a sin, but the opportunity for exercising virtue, so that temptation can be greatly to a man’s benefit, since it is held that the whole of a…
ut of himself (since love is strong as death), and establishes him in the beloved, causing him to cleave closely to him. For the soul is more where it loves than where it lives, since it is in what it loves in accordance with its very nature, understanding and will, while it is in where it lives only with regard to form, which is even true for animals as well. There is nothing therefore which draws us away from the exterior senses to within ourselves, and from there to Jesus Christ and things divine, more than the love of Christ and the desire for the sweetness of Christ, for the experience,…
piritual man, for whom the least separation from that summum bonum is to be considered a living death and dreadful loss. Then, when the requisite peace has been established in his mind, when it is free from attachment to any carnal passion, and clings firmly in intention to that one supreme good, the Apostle’s sayings are fulfilled, Pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and, Pray in every place lifting up pure hands without anger or dispute. (1 Timothy 2:8) For when the power of the mind is absorbed in this purity, so to speak, and is transformed from an earthly nature into the…
More questions about this book
- Albert the Great describes "cleaving freely, confidently, nakedly and firmly to God alone." How would you explain each of these adverbs, and what specific challenges or disciplines might be required to embody them in practice according to this text?
- What does it mean to worship God "stripped of all images," as described in the text? If you were explaining this concept to a modern audience, what concrete examples or metaphors could you use to illustrate how one might achieve this state of "knowledge and love, that is, understanding and desire," free from mental constructs?
- The reference to Matthew 6:6, entering the "inner chamber" and "closing the door of your senses," is presented as a method for approaching God. How does this act of internal withdrawal facilitate the "abstraction from everything" and "recollection within himself" that Albert the Great emphasizes?
- The text suggests that "abstraction from everything" leads to "cleaving to God" with "yearning of love." How does detaching from worldly things, including renunciation of "both body and mind," paradoxically deepen one's capacity for love and sincerity towards the divine, rather than leading to an emptying of emotion?