§ 30. JOHN TAULER OF STRASSBURG. 259
large concourse of people, was a failure. The second sermon he preached in a nunnery from the text, Matt. 25: 6, "Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him," and so powerful was the impression that 50 persons fell to the ground like dead men. During the period of his seclusion, Tauler had surrendered himself entirely to Gqcl, and after it he continued to preach with an unction and efficiency before unknown in his experience.
Some of Tauler's expressions might give the impression that he was addicted to quietistic views, as when he speaks of being " drowned in the Fatherhood of God," of " melting in the fire of His love," of being " intoxicated with God." But these tropical expressions, used occasionally, are offset by the sober statements in which he portrays the soul's union with God. To urge upon men to surrender themselves wholly to God and to give a practical exemplification of their union with Him in daily conduct was his mission.
He emphasized the agency of the Holy Spirit, who enlightens and sanctifies, who rebukes sin and operates in the heart to bring it to self -surrender. ^ The change effected by the Spirit, which he called Kehr — conversion — he dwelt upon continually. The word, which frequently occurs in his sermons, was almost a new word in mediaeval sermonic vocabulary. Tauler also insisted upon the Eckartian Ahgeschiede^iJieit, detachment from the world, and says that a soul, to become holy, must become " barren and empty of all created things," and rid of all that "pertains to the creature." When the soul is full of the creature, God must of necessity remain apart from it, and such a soul is like a barrel that has been filled with refuse or decaying matter. It cannot thereafter be used for good, generous wine or any other pure drink. ^
As for ^ood works, if done apart from Christ, they are qf no avail.^ Tauler often quoted the words of Isaiah 64 : 6. "All our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment." By
1 One of the sermons, bringing out the influence of the Spirit, based on John 16 : 7-11, is quoted at length by Archdeacon Hare in his Mission of the Comforter. See also Miss Winkworth, pp. 350-358.
2 Inner Way, pp. 81, 113, 128, 130.
2t50 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
his own power, man cannot come unto God. Those who have never felt anxiety on account of their sins are in the most dangerous condition of all.^
The sacraments suffer no depreciation at Tauler's hands, though they are given a subordinate place. They are all of no avail without the change of the inward man. Good people linger at the outward symbols, and fail to get at the inward truth symbolized. Yea, by being unduly concerned about their movements in the presence of the Lord's body, they miss receiving him spiritually. Men glide, he says, through fasting, prayer, vigils and other exercises, and take so much delight in them that God has a very small part in their hearts, or no part in them at all.^
In insisting upon the exercise of a simple faith, it seenis almost impossible to avoid the conclusion that Tauler took an attitude of intentional opposition to the prescient and selfconfident methods of scholasticism. It is better to possess a simple faith — ewfaltiger Glaube — than to vainly pry into the secrets of God, asking questions about the efflux and reflux of the Aught and Nought, or about the essence of the soul's spark. The Arians and Sabellians had a marvellous intellectual understanding of the Trinity, and Solomon and Origen interested the Church in a marvellous way, but what became of them we know not. The chief thing is to yield oneself to God's will and to follow righteousness with sincerity of purpose. " Wisdom is not studied in Paris, but in the sufferings of the Lord," Tauler said. The great masters of Paris read large books, and that is well. But the people who dwell in the inner kingdom of the soul read the true Book of Life. A pure heart is the throne of the Supreme Judge, a lamp bearing the eternal light, a treasury of divine riches, a storehouse of heavenly sweetness, the sanctuary of the only begotten Son.*
A distinctly democratic element showed itself in Tauler's piety and preaching which is very attractive. He.^ut_hoilQt
1 Miss Winkworth, pp. 353, 475, etc.
2 Liner Way, p. 200. Miss Winkworth, pp. 345, 360 sqq. 8 Preger, III. 132 ; Miss Winkworth, p. 348.