NSoC 21: The Mystery of Christ

See Notes on this series...

Merton tackles the incarnation in this fine chapter.

All experience of God comes to us through Christ, Merton writes. God's truth and love are concentrated through his birth, death, resurrection, and ascension like sunlight through a magnifying glass. God and man become inseparable, and access to the supernatural becomes available to all, through him. Faith in him is "the foundation of the Christian life and the source of all contemplation..."

Merton describes the platform of the Nestorian heresy and his disagreement with it. Merton declares that Christ's two natures cannot be separated, and states the Nestorian error as concentrating on the natures of Jesus, not the person of Jesus. Contemplatives aren't content with mere natures. "We do not love Christ for what He has but for Who He is." (emphasis Merton's)

This Christ is of faith, not imagination. We all project ourselves onto our images of Christ, personally and culturally. And since we are called to imitate him we must take care not to imitate the imaginary version. We must study the gospels and let the spirit teach us and transform us. And we must hope that others are doing the same, for as Merton says, there is only one Christ. He is not divided.

Quibble:
Can you imagine some of the cultural Christs that have been developed throughout the ages? A lot of people are going to be shocked one day to discover that Jesus is not a 6-foot 4-inch white guy with blue eyes and a British accent.

Feast day tomorrow. Back on Monday!