Countering False Gospels: Medieval Wisdom on Spiritual Warfare
R. Jared Stout, Ph.D.
We are for God, not the other way around. If we turn our backs on God, our lives will be pointless and miserable.
Modern society is pushing its own gospel that focuses on “self”. God is merciful, so there is no need to be afraid. Follow your heart and desires, and that will bring you happiness. There is no need to think about death, judgment, or anything negative. You can decide for yourself what is sinful with your own conscience. No one goes to hell, except for the worst people like Hitler. As long as you are a good person, you don’t need to take religion too seriously. Times have changed, and we have overcome all the old superstitious and prejudiced beliefs. The reason we pray and go to church is to feel good about ourselves.
It may be tiring to hear this nonsense over and over, but it is the foundation of our mission. People need to hear the gospel preached by Christ Himself: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The Bible teaches that the desires of the heart are evil until they are turned to God, and that we are redeemed by being born again to new life in the spirit. All our purpose in life comes from God calling us into existence and giving us happiness in his glory. We are for God, not the other way around. If we turn our backs on God, our lives will end up being futile and miserable.
While we may not be able to go back in time to escape the false gospels of today, we can still be enlightened by the wisdom of our faith’s forefathers. For decades, TAN Books has been at the forefront of bringing “spiritual classics” to the general public, and I am thrilled to see the new translations of classics appearing. In particular, Father Robert Nixon, a Benedictine monk from New Norcia, Australia, has made a major contribution by translating classics such as Thomas à Kempis, St. Bonaventure, and St. Anselm. I was particularly drawn to two highly popular medieval classics that are little known in the English-speaking world:
The first Pope St. Leo IX’s “Battle between Virtue and Vice” is rooted in the great allegorical tradition of moral life first set forth in Prudentius’s The Spiritual World in the fourth century. Leo realized that we all face a battle between virtue and vice within ourselves, even if we are not experiencing external persecution or battle. Yes, we must fight our own corrupt desires. Paying attention to the dynamics of the battle between virtue and vice helps us combat the false gospel that encourages us to pursue every new thing.
For example, wandering “wanders aimlessly, constantly stopping and seemingly changing direction without purpose,” constantly inviting the soul to “move onward somewhere else!” (51), to which solid stability responds: “This pernicious but attractive tendency to constantly seek something better, a form of restless ambition and discontent, led to the fall of the angels. We must never forget the fall of the angels, nor should we forget Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise! These two primitive examples show the dangers that arise from constantly striving for something new and better” (52).
In addition, Father Nixon translated “The Visions of St. Francis of Rome: Revelations of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.” St. Francis, patron saint of Benedictine consecrated monks, opened her home to the poor and, after becoming a widow, lived as a consecrated monk with other women to serve the needy in Rome. Her visions are essential to remind us of the reality of hell. We affirm by faith that hell exists because the Lord Himself has revealed it to us. Today, we desire freedom, but we also desire to avoid its consequences. Francis, like Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” states that the punishment fits the sin. She describes how searing hot nails and piercing instruments torment those damned in hell in response to sexual perversion. “As diverse and monstrous as the acts of human perversion, desire, and sexual abuse are, so were the tortures inflicted on those who committed those sins” (27). As traitors followed their own heart’s desires against those who trusted them, the devil “grabbed each of their traitors’ hearts, one by one, and pulled the beating organs out of their throats” until he “pulled them out completely” (24).
We may think that we cannot imagine hell in such a horrific form, but Francis’ meditation reminds us that now is the time to rely on God’s mercy. To escape the false gospel of our time, we should heed the warning heard by the saint in hell: “O wretched and vile scoundrels! During your life you were completely blinded by the desires and ambitions of a deceitful and fleeting world, and now your sins have bound you here forever! Now… you will never see the light of day again. You did not fear to cure your terrible punishment… and you chose to pursue sin rather than preserve the precious members of God’s Church! Now you must regret that foolish and wicked decision forever!” (45-46).
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