We shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done.
“A good and devout man arranges in his mind the things he has to do, not according to the whims of evil inclination but according to the dictates of right reason. Who is forced to struggle more than he who tries to master himself? This ought to be our purpose, then: to conquer self, to become stronger each day, to advance in virtue.
Every perfection in this life has some imperfection mixed with it and no learning of ours is without some darkness. Humble knowledge of self is a surer path to God than the ardent pursuit of learning. Not that learning is to be considered evil, or knowledge, which is good in itself and so ordained by God; but a clean conscience and virtuous life ought always to be preferred. Many often err and accomplish little or nothing because they try to become learned rather than to live well.
If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations. On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.
Tell me, where now are all the masters and teachers whom you knew so well in life and who were famous for their learning? Others have already taken their places and I know not whether they ever think of their predecessors. During life they seemed to be something; now they are seldom remembered. How quickly the glory of the world passes away! If only their lives had kept pace with their learning, then their study and reading would have been worth while.”
The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis (1400s A.D.)
BOOK ONE
THOUGHTS HELPFUL IN THE LIFE OF THE SOUL
The Third Chapter
THE DOCTRINE OF TRUTH
Kempis makes an illegitimate distinction between the personal and the public; between theology and action; between words and actions. Anselm of Canterbury argues that theology is ‘faith seeking understanding’, i.e. faith exploring itself, which seems far more accurate – discussing the world is part of discussing theology and discussing theology is part of choosing how to act. You don’t have to choose between discussion and virtue, or talk and action, in fact you can’t (and shouldn’t) do one without the other.
Comment by Anketell — July 16, 2008 @ 9:57 pm |
We shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done… or basically what we had chose to do..
Comment by thenonconformer — July 17, 2008 @ 4:25 pm |
Anketell
I would think that your point is very close to the one that Kempis is making. Certainly there are other places where Kempis seems to do what you call upon here, but this doesn’t seem to be one of the places.
He does not seem to be arguing for action instead of learning, or more properly, practice without faith, but the more meaningful integration of faith and practice, that has always been the goal of Christian theology. We could see it this way, has there ever been any person that saw learning as an end in itself but failed to put into practice in their lives the virtuous things taught in such learning? Of course. Learning is not always placed in its proper spiritual perspective. If it were, men would be Angels and we would have no laws.
It is when men know and understand what is right and fail to practice it that troubles come. We all understand that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Do we practice it? Not very well it seems. Your last sentence seems to sum up nicely. We shouldn’t do one without the other. We can speak one thing and live another. We can reduce theology to mere philosophical rudiments and miss the soul shaking consequences of its verity.
Here Kempis is simply reminding us not to do that and saying that men should use as much care in uprooting vices as they do in discussing problems, because if we do not, we are just putting words into the air. There is no real discussion of problems without the ultimate matter including the uprooting of vices. Everything is inter-related and when we treat things as if they are not, we miss the point.
Abstraction and Human Action are both distinguishable but inseparable aspects of a whole life lived, but we can certainly unduly focus on one to the disregard of the other. Now Kempis, for all of his insight into the working of the spiritual psychology of the Christian, tends to over focus on Practice to the exclusion of an intellectual understanding of technical theology. An understanding of technical theology is the prerequisite to the continued growth and understanding of the Christian soul, so in this he can be a bit self defeating. But still, I don’t think it means that he is wrong when he waves the flag of caution about the rigorous pursuit of mere learning to the neglect of our own soul. As you say, we “shouldn’t do one without the other.”
And in this I will try to have my faith be the source of my practice and my practice be the expression of my faith, since I believe in order to understand and my works should testify of my understanding.
Christopher Neiswonger
Comment by Neiswonger — July 17, 2008 @ 4:51 pm |
I think the practical experiences makes a man perfect than reading those books, which the man can forget easily.
Comment by Anonymous — July 22, 2008 @ 6:19 am |
I don’t disagree with you there, but which practical experiences? And can the accumulated wisdom that has been acquired by those that have practically experienced things that we haven’t be valuable? And if it can, can’t we read about it in a book if they choose to write it down?
Theory, I’ll qualify by saying ‘good theory’, because there is more ‘bad theory’ than good, is no replacement for practical experience, but I think it has it’s place in that everyone cannot have the same experience as everyone else, and good theory can be powerfully preparative toward good practice. They don’t need to be mutually exclusive.
Most of the things that we know, we’ve read.
All the best,
Christopher
Comment by Neiswonger — July 22, 2008 @ 8:39 pm |
It is interesting that I only just picked up ‘The Imitation of Christ’ today to begin reading some of Thomas a Kempis’ thoughts.
Kempis’ statement, ‘On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived,’ is so very true and challenging. I have always seen it stated as – At the end of my life, I will not wish that I had written more books [or insert whatever we love to do], but loved people more.
It is true that belief and action are intertwined together. They are inseparable. Just as worship must be both in spirit and in truth, so should our life in Christ be founded on both faith and right action. For example, it seems that Scripture teaches that love is not so much feelings, although feelings are present (see Mark 10:21), but rather action. It is God who loved, and thus, He gave (John 3:16). And Jesus connects loving Him with obeying His commands (John 14:15). Jesus even taught us to love our enemies, this being expressed by praying for them, an action (Matthew 5:44).
So, it is true – belief/faith is to be walked out in action. The action does not merit our relationship with Him, but it is the obvious expectation of one called to follow Christ. It’s like Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it, ‘No one can save I have been saved by grace unless they have forsaken all to follow Christ.’
Comment by Scott — July 23, 2008 @ 12:39 pm |