On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology — trans. C. E. Rolt
The translator’s English as printed (C. E. Rolt). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
4. Nay, even the foundation and the boundaries of the heavens (as we forgot to say while
For worldly wisdom = self-seeking, but the Wisdom of Christ = self-abandonment. In fact Heavenly Wisdom = Love. Cf. 1 Cor. 1. 25 ; lil, 428,10. 1 That which Is Not = Evil (vide infra in this chapter). Cf. Intr., p. 20. The Good is Non-Existent as being beyond existence; evil is non-existent as being contrary to it. Thus evil is by its very nature trying as it were to be Good.
This also looks like a barren paradox and yet it may contain a spiritual truth. Evil is, in the words of Goethe, “the spirit that denies”: It is destructive, e.g. injustice, cruelty, immorality, etc., undermine or overwhelm civilization and so destroy it. But the Good supersedes civilization and so in a sense destroys it. Cf. the eschatological teaching of Christ. Civilization, art, morality, etc., are good so far as they go, but imperfect. Being halfway, as it were, between Good and evil, and being of necessity neither wholly the one nor wholly the other, they must disappear wherever the one or the other completely triumphs. Christ’s teaching on Marriage illustrates this. Marriage is sacred, and divorce is wrong, because it seeks to abolish Marriage. And yet Marriage is finally abolished in heaven. St. Paul’s antithesis of Law and Spirit is another example. The Law is good and yet is not the Good. Sin is contrary to the Law, but the Spirit is contrary to the Law in another sense and so supersedes it. So too with art. A modern vandal is indifferent to beauty because he is below it, a Medieval Saint became sometimes indifferent to beauty by rising to a super-sensuous plane above it. Greek idolatry is a higher thing than Calvinism, but the Christianity of the New Testament is a higher thing than Greek idolatry. The Saints sometimes employ negatives in one sense and those who are not saints employ the same negatives in another; whence disaster. Much of Nietzsche’s language (e. g. the phrase “Beyond Good and Evil”) might have been used by a Mediæval Christian Mystic; but Nietzsche did not generally mean what the Christian Mystic would have meant by it. So too with pain. All pain is in itself bad, being a negation of our personality. And yet a self-abnegation springing from Love which bravely bears pain is the highest kind of Good. “The devil . . . put it into the heart of Judas to betray” Christ, and yet the Passion was in accordance with “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.”
4. Indeed, even the foundation and the boundaries of the heavens (as we forgot to say while
For worldly wisdom = self-seeking, but the Wisdom of Christ = self-abandonment. In fact Heavenly Wisdom = Love. Cf. 1 Cor. 1. 25; lil, 428, 10. 1 That which Is Not = Evil (see below in this chapter). Cf. Intr., p. 20. The Good is Non-Existent because It is beyond existence; evil is non-existent because it is contrary to existence. Thus evil, by its very nature, is as it were trying to be Good.
This too looks like a barren paradox, and yet it may contain a spiritual truth. Evil is, in Goethe’s words, “the spirit that denies.” It is destructive: injustice, cruelty, immorality and the like undermine or overwhelm civilization and so destroy it. But the Good supersedes civilization and so, in a sense, destroys it too. Cf. the eschatological teaching of Christ. Civilization, art, morality and so on are good as far as they go, but imperfect. Standing halfway, as it were, between Good and evil, and necessarily neither wholly the one nor wholly the other, they must disappear wherever the one or the other completely triumphs.
Christ’s teaching on Marriage illustrates this. Marriage is sacred, and divorce is wrong because it seeks to abolish Marriage; and yet Marriage is finally abolished in heaven. St. Paul’s antithesis of Law and Spirit is another example. The Law is good, and yet it is not the Good. Sin is contrary to the Law, but the Spirit is contrary to the Law in another sense and so supersedes it. So too with art. A modern vandal is indifferent to beauty because he is below it; a Medieval Saint sometimes became indifferent to beauty by rising to a super-sensuous plane above it. Greek idolatry is a higher thing than Calvinism, but the Christianity of the New Testament is a higher thing than Greek idolatry.
The Saints sometimes use negatives in one sense, and those who are not saints use the same negatives in another — and disaster follows. Much of Nietzsche’s language (e.g. the phrase “Beyond Good and Evil”) might have been used by a Mediæval Christian Mystic; but Nietzsche did not generally mean by it what the Christian Mystic would have meant.
So too with pain. All pain is in itself bad, being a negation of our personality. And yet a self-abnegation springing from Love, which bravely bears pain, is the highest kind of Good. “The devil . . . put it into the heart of Judas to betray” Christ, and yet the Passion was in accordance with “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.”