The links between ancient Greek philosophy and Christianity are numerous. The most famous of the Greek precepts: Gnothi Seauton , "Know thyself", inscribed in Delphi retains a certain mystery. Another end of the sentence has stuck with us: “But not too much”… Know yourself… But not too much! Plato leads Socrates to reflect on the Delphic formula in the Philebus :
SOCRATES: In short, it is a species of vice which takes its name from a particular habit, and this part of vice in general is a disposition contrary to that recommended by the Delphi inscription.
PROTARCHUS: It is a precept: know thyself, that thou speakest, Socrates?SOCRATES: Yes, and the opposite of this precept, in the language of the inscription, would be not to know oneself at all.
"Know thyself" in order to improve yourself, to erase in you what hinders your development. Not knowing himself is already a fault for Socrates. "But not too much", because man so easily believes himself much more than he is, son of Adam, man is the plaything of his presumption. “But not too much” so as not to take yourself for a god.
This is one of the foundations of Greek culture, the idea of knowing oneself, the idea of wisdom, of advancing in wisdom, but also the feeling that if you dig too deep, surprises can arise, and not necessarily good. The Greeks were very aware of man's weaknesses, his shortcomings. The Greeks are even, with the Christians, those who have most highlighted the possibility of human weakness, it is also what makes them so close to us. The weakness of man is expressed in their gospels, the tragedies. Pity and terror are the two pillars. Know yourself… but not too much.
So far so close. The idea of holiness, the idea that we are all dedicated to holiness (our free will being the only obstacle) is one of the characteristics of the Christian. The advance in Greek wisdom takes on a new dimension in choosing the path to holiness. But where the Greeks declare to take the path of wisdom to know themselves, the Christians decide to embrace the vocation of holiness to resemble God. In both cases, deep reflection, constant work, valiant effort allow the beginning of results to be achieved. In both cases, it is knowledge that allows you to rise. Self-knowledge that follows the work on oneself. And if the path of holiness is addressed to all Christians, the path of work on oneself should just as much be part of our life project. Moreover, the path to holiness cannot exist without this work on oneself.
Blessed Cardinal Newman wrote thus:
“Strange as it may seem, crowds of people who call themselves Christians pass through life without making any effort to come to an accurate knowledge of themselves. […] When I say strange, I do not mean that knowing oneself is easy: it is very difficult to know oneself, even partially, and therefore self-ignorance is not something strange. But where it is strange is that men profess to receive the great Christian dogmas and to act in accordance with them, while remaining so ignorant of themselves, given the self-knowledge is the necessary condition for their understanding. […] Now, I repeat, if we do not have a just idea of our heart and of sin, we will not be able to form an exact idea of what is meant by teacher of morals, savior or sanctifier: otherwise said, we will use in our profession of faith terms to which we attach no precise meaning. So self-knowledge is at the root of all true religious knowledge. […] It is first and foremost to our hearts that God speaks. Self-knowledge is the key to the precepts and doctrines of Scripture. What any outward preaching of religion can do is at most surprise us and make us turn our gaze to our heart to probe it. And it is then, once we have experienced what it is to read within ourselves, that we will benefit from the doctrines of the Church and the Bible. »
I remember a very beautiful and good sermon by Father AJ, a substitute priest during a holy Sunday mass at the Notre Dame du Lys chapel. The gospel recounts the wedding at Cana. The abbot built his sermon on the first sentence of the Gospel: Jesus and his mother were invited to a wedding. And he built his speech on the invitation we make to Christ, when we accept that He is at our side, when we pretend that He is not there, when we openly slam the door in His face. The abbot pointed out that in our daily life, in our habits, we forbid ourselves from mercy by refusing to invite Jesus to our side. Because too much of our life is based on habit, a habit that very often is based on a lack of humility. It is humility that pushes the craftsman to always put the loom back on the workbench. It is humility that drives us to know ourselves. By knowing ourselves, by knowing our way of acting or reacting to events, by knowing the weaknesses that generally make us succumb, it is by knowing ourselves that we can let Christ be present at our side, and reach the true religious knowledge.
NB. We will re-read with interest the homily of Benedict XVI for the beatification of Cardinal Newman on September 19, 2010.
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