The Kinds of Knowledge

 by Bernard of Clairvaux                                                                                                                          Vol. XIII, No. 8, Sept/Oct 2000
 

[This is an excerpt from a series of sermons on The Song of Solomon that Bernard delivered, probably between 1125 and 1140. Interested readers should see The Love of God by Bernard of Clairvaux, Multnomah Press, Portland, OR, 1983. This passage is from pp. 198-99.]

There are some who long to know, simply for the sake of knowing, and that is a shameful curiosity. Others long, to know to show off before others, and that is shameful vanity. To such as these the words of the satirist apply: "Your knowledge is worthless unless your friends know about it" (Persius, Satires, 1:27). There are others who long for knowledge to make a fat profit from it, or to make honors from it; and this is shameful profiteering. But there are those who long to know in order to be of service to others; and this is charity. Finally, there are those who long to know in order to benefit themselves morally; and this is prudence. Only the last two categories avoid the abuse of knowledge, because they desire to know for the purpose of doing good. Food that is badly cooked is indigestible and upsets the stomach. So too, a glut of knowledge that is stuffed into the memory (that stomach of the mind), unless it has been cooked on the fire of love, and thoroughly digested by the disciplines of the soul, it will also be damaging, instead of being nutritious.

Before anything else, then, a man should know himself. It is this knowledge that results in humility instead of in self-importance, and therefore is a true basis upon which to build one's character. And there is no better way to find humility than to learn to know oneself. There must be no self deceit, but one must face up to himself resolutely, without flinching. There he will find himself in the clear light of truth, and realize that he has forfeited the likeness of God. How then can he escape from being truly humbled by this self-knowledge, when he sees the burden of sin that he carries, with all the oppression of earthly cares and their complexity that he carries, as well as the corrupting influences of sensual desires that he has? For then he sees his blindness, his worldliness, his weakness, his involvement in repeated errors. Then he also sees how he is exposed to a thousand dangers, trembling in the midst of a thousand fears, confused by a thousand difficulties, defenseless before a thousand suspicions, and worried by a thousand needs. Indeed, he is one who finds virtue repugnant and who welcomes vice. How can such a man lift up his head proudly, or afford to have haughty eyes?

So for myself, as long as I look at myself, my eyes are full of bitterness. But if I look at the blessed vision of God, with the aid of divine mercy, then this soon tempers the bitter vision of myself. This vision of God is no small thing. It reveals God who hears our prayers compassionately, and as One who is truly kind and merciful, never indulging in resentment (Joel 2:13). For His very nature is to be good, and to always show kindness. Thus by this kind of experience, and in this way, God makes Himself known to us for our good.