It is now time to return to the consideration of that divine life — that life which is "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3), and therefore makes no glorious show or appearance in the world.
As the natural life consists in that narrow and confined love which ends in ourselves, so the divine life stands in a universal and unbounded affection.
The root of the divine life is faith; the chief branches are love to God, charity to man, purity, and humility.
However common these names may sound, they carry such mighty meaning that the tongue of man or angel can pronounce nothing more weighty or excellent.
The root is faith — by faith we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. The chief branches are love to God, charity to man, purity, and humility — which are developed as the seed of faith grows. 🙏
Le's note traces the whole life in one sentence: the branches develop as the seed grows. Not produced by effort. Developed by growth. The soul does not manufacture love, charity, purity, humility. The seed produces them — the way the tree in Psalm 1 produces fruit in season. The root is faith. The branches come from the root. And the soul's job is not to produce — it is to remain rooted.
Faith holds the same place in the divine life that sense holds in the natural, being indeed nothing else but a kind of sense — a felt persuasion of spiritual things.
In our fallen condition, it has a special relationship to the declaration of God's mercy and willingness to be reconciled to sinners through a Mediator; and therefore it is commonly called faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen, the assurance of things hoped for. 🙏
Scougal calls faith a kind of sense — a felt persuasion of spiritual things. Not blind belief. A seeing of what cannot be seen with natural eyes. The same faith Le declared at Brioux-sur-Boutonne: my faith is not blind. Hebrews 11:1 confirms it: faith is substance and evidence. The root of the divine life is not a doctrine held. It is a reality perceived.
The love of God is a delightful and affectionate awareness of the divine perfections, which makes the soul resign and sacrifice itself wholly to Him, desiring above all things to please Him, and delighting in nothing so much as in fellowship and communion with Him.
Though this affection may first arise from the favors and mercies of God toward us, yet in its growth it transcends such personal considerations, and grounds itself on His infinite goodness.
✦ Love That Transcends
Scougal traces the growth of love. It begins where the 500 denari soul began — with gratitude for mercy received. But love does not stay there. In its growth, it transcends the personal — it moves past what God did for me and grounds itself on who God IS. The love that began as gratitude becomes worship. The love that began as response becomes delight. 🙏
A soul possessed by divine love must naturally be enlarged toward all mankind, because of their relation to God — being His creatures, and bearing something of His image upon them.
The one who truly loves all the world will be deeply concerned for the welfare of every person, and will feel any harm that comes to others as if it had happened to himself.
A soul possessed by divine love must be enlarged toward all mankind — because God is love. Always trust God to be the final judge. 🙏
Le connects charity to turning the other cheek — not weakness but trust. Trust God to be the final judge. The soul that turns the cheek is not the soul that has no strength. It is the soul that has placed the judgment in hands bigger than its own.
By purity, I mean a proper freedom from the body and mastery over the lower appetites — a temper that despises and avoids all pleasures which are sinful in themselves, or which tend to weaken our taste for more divine and spiritual pleasures.
This also includes a resolve to endure whatever hardships may come; so that not only chastity and self-control, but also Christian courage and greatness of spirit, belong under this heading.
✦ Purity Is Courage
Scougal surprises: purity is not merely avoidance of sin. It includes Christian courage and greatness of spirit. The mastery over lower appetites — not by crushing them but by having a taste for higher pleasures that makes the lower ones lose their power. Purity is not the absence of desire. It is the presence of a better desire. 🙏
Humility means a deep awareness of our own smallness, with a warm and heartfelt acknowledgment that we owe everything we are to the divine generosity — always accompanied by a profound submission to the will of God, and a great indifference toward the glory of the world and the praise of men.
✦ A Deep Awareness of Our Own Smallness
Scougal's humility is not self-hatred. It is accurate seeing. The soul that sees God clearly sees itself clearly — small, dependent, owing everything to divine generosity. The fruit: submission to God's will and indifference to the world's praise. The humble soul is not the crushed soul. It is the settled soul — resting at its proper depth. 🙏
These are the highest perfections that either men or angels are capable of — the very foundation of heaven laid in the soul.
Scougal's closing sentence is the summit. Faith, love, charity, purity, humility — not duties imposed from outside. They are the foundation of heaven laid in the soul. Heaven does not begin when we die. Heaven begins when these branches grow from the root of faith. The divine life — hidden with Christ in God, making no glorious show — is heaven already begun on earth.
"These are the highest perfections that either men or angels are capable of — the very foundation of heaven laid in the soul."
Henry Scougal · The Life of God in the Soul of Man · Heaven begun on earthThe Root: Faith
A kind of sense — a felt persuasion of spiritual things. Not blind belief but spiritual sight. The evidence of things not seen. The root from which every branch grows.
Love to God
Begins with gratitude for mercy. Grows to ground itself on His infinite goodness. The love that started as response becomes delight.
Charity to Man
Enlarged toward all mankind because every person bears God's image. Feeling another's harm as your own. Trust God to be the final judge.
Purity and Humility
Purity: the presence of a better desire. Includes courage. Humility: accurate seeing — our smallness, His generosity. The settled soul at its proper depth.