C 00 UNIVERSITY D'OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES THE NUMINOUS AND THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONS WITHIN HOLINESS by Rev. Kenneth Micklethwaite Thesis presented to the Department of Religious Studies of the University of Ottawa as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ^Biei/0 x ^ ^C&\ Ottawa, Canada, 1968 ."(•—./•..TW*-" UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UMI Number: DC53590 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform DC53590 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 UNIVERSITY D'OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was prepared under the supervision of Professor Wilfred Dube, Ph.D., of the Department of Reli­ gious Studies of the University of Ottawa. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY DOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES CURRICULUM STUDIORUM The Rev- Kenneth Micklethwaite was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England 7th November 1918. He was ordained by the Methodist Church in England in 1949, and is at present an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Bristol University, England in 1949. and his Master of Arts degree from the same University in 1958. The title of his thesis was Totality in the Old Testament - A Study of the root U b kJ in the Hebrew Text and in the Septua- gint. In 1961 he received the Bachelor of Divinity degree from St. Andrew's College, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY DOTTAWA - ECOLE DES GRADUES TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter page INTRODUCTION V I.- THE NUMINOUS AND THE ETHICAL 1 1. The Numinous 1 2. The Ethical 6 3. The Relation of the Numinous and the Ethical 7 II.- HOLINESS IN THE BIBLE 10 1. In the Old Testament 10 2. In the New Testament 24 III.- HISTORICAL SURVEY OF SPIRITUALITY 42 1. Continental Catholic Tradition 42 2. English Catholic and Protestant Tradition 56 i. The First Golden Age of English Spirituality 62 ii. The Second Golden Age of English Spirituality 71 IV.- PRE-REFORMATION AND COUNTER REFORMATION THOUGHT ON HOLINESS 79 1. Theology of Christian Perfection 79 2. What is Christian Perfection 90 3. Christian Perfection and Mysticism 96 4. The Classical "Ways" to Christian Perfection 105 V.- REFORMATION AND POST REFORMATION THOUGHT ON HOLINESS 116 1. Protestant Understanding of Grace 116 2. Justification and Sanctification 119 3. Protestant Schools of Thought 129 i. Holiness by Imputation 130 ii. Holiness Imparted 133 iii. Holiness through Improvement 143 VI.- ST. FRANCIS DE SALES ON HOLINESS 14 7 1. Introduction to the Devout Life 150 2. On the Love of God 172 VII.- WILLIAM LAW ON HOLINESS 19 5 VIII.- JEREMY TAYLOR ON HOLINESS 228 1. The Rule and Exercise of Holy Living 233 2. The Rule and Exercise of Holy Dying 252 CONCLUSION 2 61 BIBLIOGRAPHY 2 79 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE DOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION The main contention of this thesis is that neither the numinous (to use the term of Rudolf Otto) without the ethical, nor the purely ethical without the numinous, bears any relation to Christian holiness or perfection. In popular thought holiness is generally asso­ ciated with "goodness", and there is no doubt that the word is charged with ethical import, and may be a large part, perhaps the chief part, of the meaning is moral. This, as will be shown in Chapter II on "Holiness in Scripture" is necessarily the case, inasmuch as the better the character of deity and the divine becomes known, the more intimately it absorbs within itself all the highest moral and rational attributes. Everything depends on the character of that mysterious reality before which man is called to bow in adoration. If that secret reality were to prove to be purely cruel and destructive it would still be "holy" in the merely numinous sense of the term, but the ethical for man might prove to lie precisely in opposition to that power and to all its demands. For example, if were to be shown that God is really Moloch, the cruel and vengeful idol, man's highest duty would be to defy and to disobey him. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY DOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION vi There have also been situations in history when "religion" and "ethics" have been completely divorced from one another. It is possible for an earnest Hindu to seek contact with the "holy", to attain to a very deep sense of the numinous, to feel that he has been in touch with the "mysterium tremendum", and yet not to be convinced that such an experience need in any way be related to a demand for ethical righteousness, or that the experience if at­ tained need necessarily have any direct effect on his moral conduct in the future. Why is there this sharp distinction between our ideas and those of one great section of the Eastern world? The answer is found in the biblical understanding of "holiness." Nevertheless, after granting that the Christian concept of "holiness" is largely ethical, it is not primarily an ethical idea. Holiness in Scripture is always religious. The awareness of the unknowable, the mysterious, the totally transcendent, is always an essen­ tial part of any truly religious experience and therefore of holy living. (Chapter II) Having established the meaning of holiness in Scripture, the thesis traces the development of the doc­ trine of holiness under the term "Christian Perfection" within the Holy Catholic Church. Chapter III provides the historical background of writers on the subject, first UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY OOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION vii in the Continental Catholic tradition, and then in the English Catholic and Protestant tradition, up to the beginning of the eighteenth century- The purpose here is to place the writings of St. Francis de Sales, William Law, and Jeremy Taylor in their historical setting and to review the various schools of spirituality. In Chapter IV, under the title of "Pre-Reformation and Counter Reformation Thought on Holiness", the theology of Christian Perfection as taught by the Catholic Church is studied. The Council of Trent set out in concrete terms the Catholic understanding of grace, confirming that grace "inheres" in the soul, as well as being the unde­ served favour of God, which was the Reformer's definition. Grace is a gift of God, a gift of interior sanctity, that really sanctifies man in his inmost being and changes him inwardly. The basis of Christian Perfection is seen as sanctifying and actual grace. The question "What is Christian Perfection?" is then asked. It consists primarily in charity toward God and secondarily in charity toward our neighbour. Many seekers after Christian Perfection become mystics, therefore the relation of holiness to mysticism is considered, followed by an examination of the three classical ways or three ages of the spiritual life, which lead to the summit of Christian Perfection, union with God. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY DOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION viii Chapter V sets out to discover the teaching of the Reformers and the development of Protestant thought on holiness. This chapter entitled "Reformation and Post- Reformation Thought on Holiness" shows how Catholic and Protestant conceptions of grace, and of justification and sanctification differ. There is no classic approach such as the "three ways", but rather Protestant thought is divided into several schools. There are three distinct groupings and the emphases they make can be studied under the headings: holiness by imputation; holiness imparted suddenly; and holiness seen as improvement. It should also be noted that elements in the High Anglican Church follow the Catholic classical approach. Chapters VI, VII, and VIII, give examples of Catholic and Protestant writings on Christian Perfection. They are the works of a French Catholic and two English Protestants of the seventeenth century- They are: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life On the Love of God William Law, Christian Perfection Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life 1 The Anglican or Episcopal tradition is included under the term "Protestant". Many of these describe them­ selves as Protestant, but the Anglo-Catholic wing disavows the Protestant label. Because of the great diversity of belief within Anglicanism, many of its communicants think it can serve as the "bridge church", or the via media between other groups. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY D'OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION ix Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying. These three writers have been chosen for several reasons. First, St. Francis de Sales was widely read in England by devout Catholics and Protestants alike. Law and Taylor's books were also exceedingly popular and high­ ly influential. Secondly, all three writers had a pro­ found influence on John and Charles Wesley and the subse­ quent Evangelical Revival, which historians claim saved England from a bloody revolution such as occurred in France. Thirdly, all three writers, share this in common, they made their appeal to men and women in the ordinary workaday world and did not write for the religious in the cloister.