How does meekness defeat envy and covetousness?
Does meekness guard against the passions through reason? Do the meek conquer their passions?
How can meekness overcome evil with good?
Are the meek cowardly, or courageous?
We have a long-running series on St John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent, and Steps 24 and 25 are on meekness and humility. We pondered what meekness means in the Bible and the Beatitudes, consulting Vine’s Expositional Dictionary, and also how Aristotle defined meekness, since he influenced how the ancient Greeks defined meekness. When Jesus blesses the meek, he was likely quoting from Psalm 37, which is another reflection. Then we can compare these to the definitions our saint offers in the Ladder of Divine Ascent.
YouTube video for this blog: https://youtu.be/fSlkWrzaTS4
CHURCH FATHERS DEFINE MEEKNESS
How do the Church Fathers define meekness? Let us reflect on their commentary on the Beatitude:
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”[1]
In his treatise on the Beatitudes, St Gregory of Nyssa defines meekness. The translator in footnote 21 notes that the Greek word for meekness can also mean slowness or sedateness. St Gregory of Nyssa has this second meaning in mind when he teaches, “There is a great tendency towards evil in nature, which is quick to turn toward the worse.” But, “the habit that gives way to these evil downward impulses only slowly and with difficulty is called meekness.” Meekness is like the love of St Paul that does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rather rejoices in the truth.[2]
St Gregory of Nyssa mentions envy in this discourse. “Man’s character is divided into opposite impulses. Wrath is opposed to gentleness, arrogance to modesty; envy to wishing people well, and hate to a loving and peaceable disposition.”
St Gregory of Nyssa teaches us: “Blessed are those who are not easily turned towards the passionate movements of the soul, but who are steadied by reason.” “To boast of riches or to be proud of one’s family, to have regard to fame and to think oneself above one’s neighbor, all these human honors destroy and shame the honor of the soul. No righteous man would thus defile the purity of his soul. When humility is well established, wrath will find no entrance into the soul. If there is no wrath, our life will be in a settled state of peace. This is true of meekness.”[3]
St Gregory of Nyssa, Beatitudes, Blog 3, Blessed are the Meek and Those Who Mourn
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-gregory-of-nyssa-beatitudes-blog-3-blessed-are-the-meek-and-those-who-mourn/
St Gregory Of Nyssa on the Beatitudes, and the Commandment, DO NOT ENVY
https://youtu.be/xaqFTPgoDI0
In his treatise on the Sermon on the Mount, St Augustine teaches us that the “meek are those who do not yield to acts of wickedness, and do not resist evil, but overcome evil with good. Let those who are not meek quarrel and fight for earthly and temporal things,” while the meek “by inheritance shall possess the earth from which they cannot be driven out.”[4] Similarly, St Paul in Romans exhorts us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”[5]
St Augustine on the Beatitudes from His Treatise, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount
https://youtu.be/xZeDjusUwPg
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustine-on-the-beatitudes/
The early Church Father Chromatius teaches us: “The meek are those who are gentle, humble and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says: ‘Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.’” (Matthew 11:29)
Chromatius continues: “Moses found the greatest favor with God because he was meek.” (Numbers 12:3) One of David’s Psalms sings: “Be mindful, O Lord, of David and his great meekness.” (Psalm 132:1)[6]
One ancient anonymous author notes: “A gentle person neither provokes evil nor is provoked by evil. Charges of sin do not prevail against such people, as they are not the cause of sin. The meek are more content to endure an offense than to commit one. For unless one is unafraid of being offended, one cannot be without sin. For even as weeds are never lacking in the field, provokers are never lacking in the world. Therefore, that person is truly gentle who, when he has been offended, neither does evil nor even thinks of doing it.”[7]
REFORMED THEOLOGIANS ON MEEKNESS
The Reformed Preacher Gervase Babington teaches us: “The meek are those who are not easily provoked with injuries, who are not short and testy upon every offense, but are ready to suffer anything than to do the things that the wicked do,” “seeking to overcome evil with good.” “They are not fierce, seeking revenge, but are mild, tractable, courteous, soft, and gentle, easily forgiving wrongs,” avoiding “contention and strife.” They choose “with a quiet mind to commit all to God,” declining to angrily “purse their own rights.”[8]
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, reflects how meekness is misunderstood. “Apathy is as far from meekness as it is from humanity. Too many Christians have confused these two.”
“The meek are not those who have no concern about the evils which occur” because of their ignorance. “The meek are not those who are sheltered from the shocks of life by stupid insensibility. Neither are the meek those who by nature or art resent nothing, because they feel nothing.” “Christian meekness does not imply a lack of zeal for God.”
John Wesley affirms: “Meekness keeps us clear of every extreme.” “It does not destroy affections, but balances them.” “Meekness evenly balances anger, sorrow, and fear.” “Meekness is defined as a calm acquiescence in whatever God wills concerning us, even when that does not please us.”
“Those who are truly meek can clearly discern what is evil. The meek can also suffer from evil. Although they are aware of everything that is evil, they still remain meek. They are extremely zealous for God, and their zeal is always guided by knowledge. Their zeal is tempered in every thought, word, and deed, with the love of man, as well as the Love of God.”
John Wesley teaches us that the meek do not extinguish their passions, but “have mastery over all their passions.” “Thus, even harsh and unpleasing passions can be applied to the greatest purposes. As a result, anger, hatred, and fear can be engaged against sin, and regulated by faith and love.” But Wesley tempers this by teaching us: “We have a great need for patience, so that we may suffer and do the will of God.”[9]
In summary, the Broadman Baptist Commentary comments: “The meek are not the weak or cowardly. They are those who under the pressures of life have learned to bend their wills and to set aside their own notions as they stand before the greatness and grace of God. They are characterized by humble trust rather than arrogant independence. The earth does not belong to the self-trusting or self-assertive who seek to possess it but to the ‘poor in spirit’ who are willing to lose all for the kingdom.”[10]
DISCUSSING THE SOURCES
We have several reflections on the sources we use for our Biblical Interpretations, which include my favorite Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish Translations and Commentaries, as well as reflections on the sources for the Psalms and the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.
Biblical Interpretation: How the Ancient World and Modern World Differ
https://youtu.be/rSSF3Wq6Bsw
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/biblical-interpretation-how-the-ancient-world-and-modern-world-differ/
Biblical Interpretation: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish Translations and Commentaries
https://youtu.be/stlcAGgLhhg
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/catholic-orthodox-protestant-and-jewish-bibles-commentaries-and-cultural-backgrounds/
My Favorite Commentaries on the Psalms
https://youtu.be/kyJRf_JoGsI
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/my-favorite-commentaries-on-the-psalms/
Who are our more obscure sources?
Chromatius, who lived in the fifth century, was the “friend of Rufinus and St Jerome and was an author of tracts and sermons.”[11]
Regarding the Incomplete Commentary on Matthew, from the IVP website: The translator relates the following story: “As Thomas Aquinas was approaching Paris, a fellow traveler pointed out the lovely buildings gracing that city. Aquinas was impressed, to be sure, but he sighed and stated that he would rather have the complete Incomplete Commentary on Matthew than to be mayor of Paris itself.”
“Thomas’s affection for the work attests to its great popularity during the Middle Ages, despite its significant missing parts,” but what remains are fifty-four homilies that fill two volumes recently published by InterVarsity Press. “The unknown author, who for several centuries was thought to be John Chrysostom, follows the allegorizing method of the Alexandrians.”[12]
Gervase Babington was a sixteenth-century Anglican bishop who published many sermons, including expositions on the Decalogue, the Lord’s Prayer, and commentaries on Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus.[13]
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A5&version=NRSVCE
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%205%3A7
[3] St Gregory of Nyssa, “On Beatitudes,” Sermon 3, in The Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, translated by Hilda C Graff, (New York: Paulist Press, 1954) pp. 97-105.
[4] St Augustine, “Our Lord’s Sermon On The Mount,” In the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume 6, translated by Rev CL Cornish (Boston: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994, first published 1887), pp. 4-5.
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+12%3A21&version=RSVCE
[6] Chromatius, Tractate on Matthew 17.4.1-2, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Volume Ia, Matthew 1-13 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), p. 82.
[7] Anonymous, Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 9, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Volume Ia, Matthew 1-13, p. 83.
[8] Gervase Babington, A Brief Conference Betwixt Main’s Frailty and Faith, Reformation Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Volume 1, Matthew (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021), p. 59.
[9] John Wesley, The Sermon on the Mount (Alachua, FL: Bridge Logos Foundation, 2010, originally 1746, Chapter 4, Inheriting the Earth, pp. 83-87.
[10] Broadman Commentary, Volume 8, Matthew-Mark (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1969), Matthew 5, p. 105.
[11] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Volume Ia, Matthew 1-13, Biographical Sketches, p. 300.
[12] https://www.ivpress.com/incomplete-commentary-on-matthew-opus-imperfectum-vol-1 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Imperfectum
[13] Reformation Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Volume 1, Matthew, Biographical Sketches, p. 402.
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