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Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) · 9 of 23 · tr. Claud Field

III-a

THE ANGEL’S GREETING St Luke i. 28 .—“Hail, thou that art highly favoured among women, the Lord is with thee.” Here there are three things to understand: the first, the modesty of the angel; the second, that he thought himself unworthy to accost the Mother of God; the third, that he not only addressed her, but the great multitude of souls who long after God. I affirm that had the Virgin not first borne God spiritually He would never have been born from her in bodily fashion. A certain woman said to Christ, “Blessed is the womb that bear Thee.” To which Christ answered, “Nay, rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it.” It is more worthy of God that He be born spiritually of every pure and virgin soul, than that He be born of Mary. Hereby we should understand that humanity is, so to speak, the Son of God born from all eternity. The Father produced all creatures, and me among them, and I issued forth from Him with all creatures, and yet I abide in the Father. Just as the word which I now speak is conceived and spoken forth by me, and you all receive it, yet none the less it abides in me. Thus I and all creatures abide in the Father. Hereto I adjoin a parable. There were a certain man and wife; the woman by accident lost an eye, and was sorely troubled thereat. Her husband then said to her, “Wife, why are you troubled? “She answered, “It is not the loss of my eye that troubles me, but the thought that you may love me less on account of that loss.” He said, “I love you all the same.” Not long after he put one of his own eyes out, and came to his wife and said, “Wife, that you may believe I love you, I have made myself like you: I, too, now, have only one eye.” So men could hardly believe that God loved them till God put one of His eyes out, that is took upon Himself human nature, and was made man. Just as fire infuses its essence and clearness into the dry wood, so has God done with man. He has created the human soul and infused His glory into it, and yet in His own essence has remained unchangeable. If you ask me whether, seeing that my spiritual birth is out of time, whether I am an eternal son, I answer “Yes,” and “No.” In the everlasting foreknowledge of God, I slumbered like a word unspoken. He hath brought me forth His son in the image of His eternal fatherhood, that I also should be a father and bring forth Him. It is as if one stood before a high mountain, and cried, “Art thou there?” The echo comes back, “Art thou there?” If one cries, “Come out.” the echo answers, “Come out.” Again: If I am in a higher place and say to some one, “Come up hither,” that might be difficult for him. But if I say, “Sit down,” that would be easy. Thus God dealeth with us. When man humbles himself, God cannot restrain His mercy; He must come down and pour His grace into the humble man, and He gives Himself most of all, and all at once, to the least of all. It is essential to God to give, for His essence is His goodness and His goodness is His love. Love is the root of all joy and sorrow. Slavish fear of God is to be put away. The right fear is the fear of losing God. If the earth flee downward from heaven, it finds heaven beneath it; if it flee upward, it comes again to heaven.
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Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The author answers 'Yes' and 'No' regarding eternal sonship, indicating the divine transcends simple categorical affirmation.

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Birth Of Word In Soulanthropology

Eckhart's signature doctrine that the Father eternally begets the Son in the ground of the soul; the human interior as the actual site of the divine generative act, distinct from inner_light's static indwelling.

[auto] The passage explicitly states it is more worthy for God to be born spiritually of every pure soul than of Mary, identifying the human interior as the site of divine generation.

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Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

[auto] The text advocates putting away slavish fear and humility as the means for God to pour grace, reflecting Eckhart's concept of letting-go.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The son is described as slumbering like a word unspoken in the everlasting foreknowledge of God.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

God is described as infusing His glory into the soul, similar to fire infusing essence into dry wood.

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Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

God's essence is equated directly with His goodness and love without distinction of parts.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

Salvation is linked to hearing and keeping the Word of God rather than physical lineage or external rites.

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Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The glory of God is infused into the human soul, creating an internal luminous quality.

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Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The passage asserts that if the earth flees downward from heaven, it finds heaven beneath it, locating the divine realm internally.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is depicted as actively giving, loving, and dealing with humanity rather than an abstract principle.

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Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The text references the 'Word of God' and uses the analogy of a spoken word to explain divine creation and presence.

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Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

Humanity is described as the Son of God born from eternity, mirroring the Father's eternal fatherhood within the human soul.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The text emphasizes abiding in the Father and God giving Himself completely to the humble man, indicating a merging of identities.

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Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The paradox of finding heaven beneath by fleeing downward dissolves the binary of up and down.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The author answers 'Yes' and 'No' to eternal sonship and uses the paradox of fleeing downward to find heaven to destabilize ordinary understanding.

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Poverty Of Spiritanthropology

Eckhart's radical reading of Matthew 5:3 — the saint as one who wants nothing, knows nothing, and has nothing, having emptied even the will and the self with which to receive God; distinct from renunciation_of_wealth (material poverty).

God gives Himself most to the least of all, and slavish fear is to be put away in favor of humility.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The text describes the soul's journey back to God through humility, finding heaven beneath when fleeing downward.

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Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

Understanding that humanity is the Son of God born from eternity is presented as a key spiritual realization.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

Humility is presented as the mechanism by which God comes down and grace is poured into the man.

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Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

[auto] God infuses His glory into the human soul and humanity is described as the Son of God born from eternity, indicating transformation into divine nature.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The text states that the speaker and all creatures abide in the Father, emphasizing ontological unity.

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Related passages · 5 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 611
“Section 4 4. Then consider this god [in man] whom we cannot think to be absent at some point and present at another. All that have insight into the nature of the divine beings hold the omnipresence of this god and of all the gods, and reaso…”
Shared concept: Divine Simplicity — The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 426
“Section 10 10. We have shown the inevitability of certain convictions as to the scheme of things: There exists a Principle which transcends Being; this is The One, whose nature we have sought to establish in so far as such matters lend them…”
Shared concept: Logos — The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Human Body in Symbolism-j
“When humanity has completed its physical evolution, the empty shell of materiality left behind will be used by other life waves as steppingstones to their own liberation. The trend of man's evolutionary growth is ever toward his own essent…”
Shared concept: Self Knowledge — The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Human Body in Symbolism-a
“THE oldest, the most profound, the most universal of all symbols is the human body. The Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, and Hindus considered a philosophical analysis of man's triune nature to be an indispensable part of ethical and religious…”
Shared concept: Microcosm Macrocosm — The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXI
“Is, therefore, what you add in the third place more true; viz. “ that there is a certain mixed form of hypostasis, consisting of our soul and divine inspiration externally derived ?” Consider this then more accurately, lest we should be dec…”
Shared concept: Inner Light — The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection. (derived)