Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream
Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream
Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream
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though he knew no other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). And if<br />
you should seek other divine or corporal visions and revelations, behold Him,<br />
become human, and you will encounter more than you imagine, because the Apostle<br />
also says "In Christ all the fullness <strong>of</strong> the divinity dwells bodily" (Col. 2:9). ciii<br />
It is entirely illegitimate, therefore, in John's teaching to bypass Jesus in seeking to know<br />
God, although even here the soul must proceed in faith alone, for it is only faith which most vividly<br />
sheds light concerning the Beloved. civ In Edwards' words: "There is no other knowledge than that <strong>of</strong><br />
the crucified Jesus. St. John tells us to look at the Son 'become human.' All wisdom, all knowledge<br />
<strong>of</strong> God is mediated by the Incarnate Word." cv In him we have received all.<br />
According to Edwards, this same point is confirmed in John's "Prayer <strong>of</strong> a Soul Taken with<br />
Love." He cites the following:<br />
Why do You delay? For if, after all, I am to receive the grace and mercy<br />
which I entreat <strong>of</strong> You in Your Son, take my mite, since You desire it, and grant me<br />
this blessing, since You also desire that.<br />
Who can free himself from lowly manners and limitations if You do not lift<br />
him to Yourself, my God, in purity <strong>of</strong> love? How will a man begotten and nurtured<br />
in lowliness rise up to You, Lord, if You do not raise him with your hand which<br />
made him?<br />
You will not take from me, my God, what You once gave me in Your only<br />
Son, Jesus Christ, in whom you gave me all I desire. Hence I rejoice that if I wait for<br />
You, You will not delay.<br />
With what procrastination do you wait, since from this very moment, you can<br />
love God in your heart?<br />
Mine are the heavens and mine is the earth. Mine are the nations, the just are<br />
mine, and mine the sinners. The angels are mine, and the Mother <strong>of</strong> God and all<br />
things are mine; and God Himself is mine and for me, because Christ is mine and all<br />
for me. cvi<br />
In this prayer, claims Edwards, Christ is seen as the mediator in three ways. In him is all<br />
forgiveness <strong>of</strong> sin. He is the basis <strong>of</strong> all our hope. And union with God and all creatures is given in<br />
and through him, "because Christ is mine and all for me." cvii<br />
Here we can see that the soul's growing union with God is itself being mediated by God's<br />
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