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The year is 311 and St. Antony lives in a cave surrounded by wide recognition and a few disciples. At this time and place, he had a vision that would change Christianity until the present time. The Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers) describes the revelation this way:
“Abba Antony said: I saw all the snares of the devil spread out over the whole world. And I groaned and said: ‘Who can escape such snares?’ Then I heard a voice saying to me: ‘The humble.’”
This was the third time Christianity would change: First was the Christianity of Jesus and his brother James the Just. Then the Pauline Christianity. The imperial Christianity would follow and propagate humility as the highest virtue.
The idea has been propagated through time and space. In the East by Saint John Chrysostom, in the West by Saint Augustine, and in both directions by the armies of Constantine the Great. It became the sine qua non for Church and State hierarchies, for empires and colonizations. It is the second building block that made Christianity the fittest religion for the Empire and made Christ become the King (of Kings).
But was this revelation truly understood?
Regardless of the power to domesticate the human spirit and the great benefits it bestows on the meek. I argue that the message contained in this revelation is deeper than the one that is commonly accepted.
I would like to return to the original text:
“I saw all the snares of the devil spread out over the whole world.”
The vision happens in the visual field.
“Then I heard a voice saying to me: ‘The humble.’”
Then it finishes in the auditory.
This is significant: the level of precision of the message is higher in the visual cortex than in the auditory cortex. When a “vision” is in fact heard, it leaves a lot to the interpretation of the receiver. Why was “the humble” not shown as well as heard? That was the will of the Bestower. But it may have left a deep and lasting scar in human history.
Because later commentators of what “being humble” means seem to have missed the point, I will detail what it means for me, in the light of the Theory of Virtues.
I propose that humility is not an atomic virtue, but it is of 3 types:
You be the judge what the voice in the vision meant and in what proportions, but I would like to believe that point 3 was meant with greater emphasis than point 2, and (in a much lesser proportion) point 1.
The implications of accepting another order of internal hierarchies are much greater than what is obvious. It also means changing your personal God upon proof that a God with greater goodness exists. It means also accepting the existence of other people’s beliefs (and Gods) when you are unable to reason with them (or them with you) to achieve a common ordering of virtues (or the same God).
This problem is not solved by merely believing in the same creed. Until we establish a common order of virtues and sign the same social contracts by our own will and without imposition, we Christians do not believe in the same God. Much less in the same type of humility or other virtues.
The existence of the same Christian God has to be proven by the vote of each Christian and the full humble (humility of type 3) acceptance of the result of the vote. The vote may be weighted by authority, spiritual recognition, etc., or unweighted. But if there is one aspect of God that a Christian holds that is not in perfect accord with other Christians, that will be proof that our internal God is not the same as the Christian God.
I would argue that the true Christian God cannot exist until it is proven by the will of all Christians (by vote or similar mechanism). Creed has already been insufficient for more than 1000 years.
Can Christians be humble and accept Hinduism and Buddhism as partners in making humankind better? Hinduism and Buddhism accepted this (in principle) about Christianity. Do we have enough humility to answer in kind?
The duty of humility would ask a Christian to accept the virtues of the religions that do not accept Christianity: Islam, Judaism, etc. As well as the belief that God does not exist: Atheism.
Should we practice Christianity now the way it was revealed to Saint Antony the Great…