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Dark Night of the Soul: Self Help for the New Christian // Abigale Bell

 


I found themes in this reading to be reminiscent of themes from my philosophy class. The language and message of St. John is very similar to that of Socrates as written by Plato. The same themes can also be found in Scripture. 

According to St. John, the "dark night" is a process of self-contemplation. For Socrates, this is the way to true enlightenment. Both Socrates and St. John of the Cross saw human emotion and desire as hinderances to the path of enlightenment. According to Socrates, the best way to live was to be totally detached from fleshly desires. The same idea comes from St. John. He also says the "dark night" or contemplation purges the soul of sin on two levels: the sensual and the spiritual level. 

The difference between these two schools of thought is their end goal. For Socrates, the goal was oneness of the body (sensual) with the soul (spiritual). This merging of the body and soul would, according to Socrates, would lead to ultimate wisdom and virtue. For St. John, the goal was, instead, oneness with God. He believed that the purging of sins through the experience of the "dark night" would result in unity of the soul (sensual) with the will of God (spiritual). 

Not only was I reminded of Plato's work recounting the words of Socrates, but also the words of Paul in Galatians chapter 5. He says in verse 16: "...let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." Here is a warning to resist succumbing to the desires of the flesh. The same warning is expressed by St. John and is an undercurrent in the teachings of Socrates (even if he doesn't give credit to the Holy Spirit). 

Comments

  1. Jamie PetersApril 12, 2021 at 11:06 PM

    Impressive observation, Abigale! I think that, the more and more we read works of literature, the more and more we see how each one of them is intricately connected, even if they were written thousands of miles and centuries apart. This concept also applies to the unity we find in Christ; our identity in Him joins us with other believers with that same identity, even if we have never met.

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  2. Braylan StringfellowApril 13, 2021 at 9:10 AM

    Good job comparing the Socrates with St. John. They both have a good point with emotions being a hinderance. Although we can't go completely emotionless, we should not make decisions based off of our emotions but instead rationally based off of truth from God's word. I think that is part of what is meant by letting the spirit guide us.

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