Meister Eckhart on the historical Jesus: he doesn't matter?

[@goodtothinkwith]

A couple of quick notes: toward the end, I said that “we don’t see it” - I was referring to sermon 101, not just this particular passage. This sermon doesn’t appear in the Essential Eckhart. I need to do a full translation of this sermon… hmm… Also, the “heart” in Origen’s homily no.2 should be understood to refer to what we call the “heart” metaphorically but also the “mind” as the seat of rationality. At that point in history, people thought with their hearts, which is not how we use the word. I forgot to mention that in the talk.

[@Nakfourium]

Nice work! I'm so happy someone is making a series on Eckhart. I've been feeling alone in my Eckhartian enthusiasm 😃

[@goodtothinkwith]

It’s so nice to hear from others who love Eckhart! Thanks for the kind words!

[@bobkelly3162]

He conveys the importance of personal transformation. Merely reading stories, knowing scripture, handing out alms, wondering at Gods majesty and all created things...none of that matters in the end unless it results in your inclusion in divine life.

[@goodtothinkwith]

Exactly, yes!

[@carlf2842]

I am sure it's in many places in scripture. I have heard it explained best in the parable about the man at the wedding without the proper wedding suit

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

A few years ago, when I started reading Eckhart's sermons, it was this passage which really my heart sing. In the edition of Eckhart that I was reading (B. McGinn), it is right at the front of the sermons, and so was the first that I ever read. What it said to me was that Eckhart wasn't simply giving me a hopeful message about something that occurred 2,000 years ago - he was telling me that this event is something that MUST happen to me, right now, if it is to have any meaning at all. Not only that, he goes on to tell me how it will happen. The Word will be born inside of me, in Silence. As someone wo practises Silent meditation, I was totally hooked!

[@jeromepopiel388]

A favorite quote... "Do all you do, acting from the core of your soul without a single "Why?" I tell you, whenever what you do is done for the sake of the kingdom of God, or for God's sake, or for eternal blessing, and thus really for ulterior motives, you are wrong. You may pass for a good person, but this is not the best. For truly, if you imagine that you are going to get more out of God by means of religious offices and devotions, in sweet retreats and solitary prisons, than you might just as well think you could seize God and wrap a mantle around his head and stick him under the table! To seek God by rituals is to get the ritual and lose God in the process, for he hides behind it. On the other hand, to seek God without artifice is to take him as he is, and so doing, a person "lives by the Son," and is the life itself." - Meister Eckhart - sermon, "The Love of God"

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

@@jeromepopiel388 And there is so much more . . .

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

@@jeromepopiel388 Thank you for such a wonderful quote. Hope you have a great day.

[@kfwimmer]

Really excellent! I love your insights and understanding. More like this please.

[@goodtothinkwith]

Thank you so much! I'll definitely make more like this. This one was fun since it's the kind of scholarship that I've grown to really enjoy. I'm planning on making a full video on Sermon 101, but there was so much to talk about with just the intro that I decided to make this one first.

[@davidgordon7717]

I read this sermon some time ago,either in the Fox book or the Blakney translation of the sermons. I wrote an advent hymn inspired by that sermon,the last version of which reads,”And we christian pilgrims in our journey today,Give thanks for the gift of the child in the hay. And each day the time comes from ourselves to depart For the Christ-Child is waiting to be born in our heart. To be born in our heart to be born in our heart. The Christ-Child is waiting to be born in our heart. Thank you for all you are doing with this channel,it’s great help.

[@Nakfourium]

Dr. Clint we need your wisdom in explaining the Eckhart's passage quoted out of context by the Nazi apologist Walter Lehmann: "The noblest thing in man is blood, when it wills good. But the most evil thing in man is blood, when it wills evil." This would be interesting to show how Lehmann used it and what Eckhart really meant.

[@goodtothinkwith]

Wow that’s a great idea. I am not an expert in WWII history, but I should be able to at least speak to what Eckhart was doing. When I lecture on Nietzsche, we talk about his sister and how his work was abused by the nazis. I suspect there’s some commonality there behind how they used well known German intellectuals out of context… perhaps it’s just simple willful misinterpretation, or perhaps there’s something more interesting there. I’ll have to look into it. Thanks for the suggestion! If you (or anyone else here) can point me to nazi sources like Lehmann who cited Eckhart, I’d be grateful

[@Nakfourium]

@@goodtothinkwith Fantastic! the only source I have, which I found in Maurice Walshe's Complete Mystical Works Of Meister Eckhart, is this: "J. Clark, The Great German Mystics, 1949, pp. 34-35". Clark mentions Lehmann there.

[@AlannaStar-o4t]

What a brilliant channel! Would my library be able to order your book from Amazon? Greetings from Scotland.💛

[@goodtothinkwith]

Thank you so much! Yes, my book is available on Amazon. There’s a link in the description of the video. You can also just search “Paradox at Play” on Amazon.

[@mprevs]

Wow!! Can only imagine the side-glances in the congregation at the time!😳

[@goodtothinkwith]

Exactly! It would be so interesting to have a document that describes how people reacted when they heard Eckhart. We know William of Ockham didn’t like him, but we don’t have a first-person account

[@trlough]

Loving your videos on Eckhart. Just curious, do you consider yourself a Catholic?

[@goodtothinkwith]

I don't fit well into any of the categories that describe lay religion. I've always gotten along famously with priests, ministers, rabbis, monks, lamas, zen masters... but I've never had much in common with the laity for any given religion

[@ConfusedApe]

This is surprisingly close to what Bultmann seems to have actually wanted. His dictum was "Christ kata sarx (according to the flesh = the historical christ) can burn." in terms of systematic theology and spirituality.

[@MidwestBen101]

Do you have a ebook? I can not afford books that are 34 dollars.

[@goodtothinkwith]

There is an electronic version of it. I know our university library has access to it. I don’t have anything cheaper though, I’m afraid.

[@tiagorodrigues3730]

Thanks for the exegesis! Who is Meister Eckhart again?

[@goodtothinkwith]

“He’s just this guy, you know?” … isn’t that what Zaphod Beeblebrox’s “personal brain care specialist” always said? 🤣… oh, and you’re welcome!! 😁

[@goodtothinkwith]

I was assuming, of course, that you’re kidding 😳

[@tiagorodrigues3730]

@@goodtothinkwith It's just a light ribbing in that you don't introduce him in your video. Of course, if I didn't know Johannes Eckart, O.P., I could have just looked him up in Wiki or wherever, so it's not a big deal.

[@anselman3156]

All that seems simply to be saying that Christ is of no benefit to a person if He does not come to be in the heart of that person. It is not saying that the historical Jesus doesn't matter, but only that he doesn't matter to ,the person who does not receive Him. Christ offers spiritual regeneration, and that only matters to the person who receives it. It is an exhortation to do so, to receive the historical Jesus as Saviour..