Walter Hilton

Walter Hilton and his Scale of Perfection

Biographical

1340?-96 - Priest; Canon of the Augustinian Priory of Thurgarton (near Nottingham); practised both civil and canon law before he was a priest; probably educated at Cambridge. Hilton's "Scale of Perfection" (books one and two) is the first exhaustive work of ascetic and mystical theology to be written in the English language.

  One eternal situation of Christianity is that the popularity of false mysticism and questionable spirituality will constantly blind honest seekers to the truth which is the gift of God. Today, when there is a revival of interest in the mystics of the 14th century, it is unlikely that the works of Walter Hilton will top any best seller lists. Those new to Christian mysticism, if they are clever enough, can read Julian of Norwich, or the Cloud of Unknowing, and cast them, respectively, in the roles of aged New Age or western Zen. The principles of ascetic theology, which Julian or the author of the Cloud assumed to be a part of the seeker’s life, cannot be missed in Walter’s formidable works. Their invaluable contents are the stuff of a lifetime's journe

The scope of Walter’s work is far beyond the limitations of this essay, but several outstanding points, illustrated in his works, are both inspiring and delightful, if our 21st century blinders are removed. Walter dealt with many problems in his readership that continue to exist (and had existed for fourteen centuries in his day!) He presented eternal truths and sought to clarify equally eternal confusion.

Walter is the truly learned man, and his works include hundreds of references to the Scriptures and the works of the Fathers and theologians which spanned many centuries. His gift was for relating them to the current situation (and 14th century England was a tough proving ground for faith and virtue!) without compromising their eternal truths.

God may not be an Englishman, but He does understand the language

Hilton's "Scale (or Ladder) of Perfection" is the first work of ascetic and mystic theology in the English language, and composing this in the vernacular was a massive undertaking, particularly in a time when there was a vague notion that theological works in the common tongue were dangerous. (And, in some sense, indeed they could be.) Adapting theological terms to a constantly evolving vernacular terms (minus the previous precision of Latin and Greek!) presented the irony of causing as many problems of understanding as it remedied (as still exists with the terminology of law, medicine, psychology, and theology in particular.) Hilton's Scale was aimed at anyone seeking contemplation, not an "academic" work, to be shared with other theologians. He could not assume that the readers had a previous background in the subject, where the scholarly works up to that point presumed extensive knowledge.

Heresies were rampant in Walter’s era and land, and those who propagated them most vigorously tended to be rather a rough lot. The heretics, counting on their followers’ lack of knowledge of such matters, often used incorrect but convincing English translations of the Scriptures, and the general attitude was that English verses are a tricky business. Walter, the consummate lawyer, solved this problem with his usual neatness. He quoted the Scriptures in Latin, then provided his own English translations, which both remains "within the law" and shows, quite cleverly, that education and interpretation can be artfully incorporated.

Gift according to the manner of the recipient

One of the most delightful tactics of divine providence is God's using our natural tendencies and abilities in bringing us to love and service. Walter Hilton's work, staggering though it is, shows a wonderful blend of his own strengths. There is a constant balance between the skilful man of law and the warm, homely pastoral father. The precision and order of the former, which makes some of his references nearly humorous, is accompanied by constant insertion of references to prevent problems with application. Here are a few examples:

• Where the theologian stresses that all should strive for virtue / contemplation, he adds, very clearly, that the tiniest bent towards contrition (even the "imperfect" sort, which is rooted in fear of punishment rather than love!) assures salvation.

• He is careful to address points that undoubtedly would have confused those who'd been exposed to popular heresies, but (though he may have been an inquisitor) does not take an academic approach. He "works them in" with no reference to the heretics. (Though the lawyer does roundly condemn the heretics in other areas of his work.)

• Contrast between the lawyer who speaks of the Passion as if it were a criminal case (penalty of capital punishment which needed to be paid) and the delightfully homely assurance that little is required on our part for forgiveness, or else the "heavenly courts would be much too empty"

• Another example of "the lawyer" and "the priest": Hilton's focus on only two sacraments (baptism and penance), undoubtedly aimed at refuting the current heresies about, seems quite appropriate for one experienced in both civil and canon law. (The era, especially with the new emphasis on purgatory, was one of a very complex judicial system - where jurisdiction, pardons, remitted sentences, and the like were now applicable to those already dead!) Yet his mention of Penance becomes very warm and pastoral. He assures his readers that, though forgiveness was guaranteed with repentance of the weakest sort, the sacrament kept a penitent from any fear that he might not be forgiven … the lawyer reappears to speak of "the warrant" which guarantees pardon being issued.

"There Will Always be an England"

Some of Walter Hilton's traits will later be reflected in the Church of England at its best (…even if repentance seemed a formidable concern in the 1662 BCP … particularly in the fate mentioned in the first exhortation to the Eucharist…)

• Truth and integrity of doctrine are maintained, yet the emphasis is on a pastoral rather than judicial approach.

• Primacy of the Scriptures is clear in Walter’s presentation. His work is rich in concepts of many theologians, but, in case the reader had any doubt, the scriptural references are always included.

• Original sin, redemption, atonement, etc., are clearly referenced, but Walter avoids the scholastic emphases on the "how" of each that so pre-occupied the Council of Trent a few centuries later. (It would have astonished Thomas Aquinas, himself a great mystic and one with deep humility, that he would be depicted as the last word on everything during the Counter-Reformation, when the tumult of a divided western Church would lead those in authority to take an increasingly judicial approach.)

• Awareness of both the wonderful accessibility and the potential confusion that resulted from use of the vernacular. (There still are practical difficulties which can result here. I defy anyone to read the 26th chapter of Acts from the King James Version aloud without admitting the possibility of unseemly hilarity.)

• His incorporation of references to many schools of thought shows diversity at its best: truth need not be compromised because emphasis and presentation vary.

• Sacramental theology which stresses the value of the sacraments for the faithful, not the "obligations" which later would be attached to them.

• The academic Hilton uses many different theological sources - Augustine, Bernard, Aquinas, and Franciscans of the period, the Fathers. This was a refreshing blend in the last centuries when one could be eclectic - displaying the (very English) love for an inquiring mind, rather than the "faith excludes curiosity" attitudes of Trent

Beauty so ancient and so new

Truth is eternal, but emphasis can change depending on the circumstances of an historic period, in theology as in all else. To place this in focus, we can recall that the faith in man's basic goodness, and the optimism presented by writers of the Victorian era, would seem far too idealistic after two World Wars. Our dignity as creatures of God, and our potential for union with Him, will never change, but theologians treating of this in later years would need a far different approach than that which was popular amongst the upper classes in the late 19th century.

There can be no new gospel – and there are no really new heresies, either, though they may be given different names in different periods. Saints walk the eternal tightrope, insofar as pastoral work and preaching are concerned, between accepting that they are products of their time and standing in opposition to the norms of their era when the latter contradict the gospels. For teachers such as Walter, yet another element arises. Wonderful truths, presented by great saints, are to be shared with one's "pupils," but with allowance for how the accidental of the presentation can confuse the essence of the message.

In Western Christendom, it may be said that all roads eventually lead to Augustine, and many theologians of the 14th century were returning to the "Augustinian model," rather than that of the 13th century scholastics, Walter being a prime example.

Two schools of theological thought from the previous century, wonderful though some of their effects were, were becoming problematic in the 14th. The scientific approach of the scholastics, where reason of such magnitude that, of itself, it could bring us to know there was a God, was questioned.

The increasing numbers of educated laity presented new strengths and difficulties. Thomas Aquinas's excellent position that the "image of God" in reason/intellect could make pursuit of any discipline a road to contemplation assumes that the academic, like Aquinas, has the faith and love to wish contemplation in the first place.

Aquinas was writing in Christendom, and in a century which had unparalleled progress in theology and in religious concepts being incorporated into other disciplines. Augustine had been in quite another climate during the time when he needed to draft a response to those who believed the Goths had sacked Rome because the Christians had outlawed worship of the pagan gods. He was familiar, from his own experience, with how even those most blessed with intellect and reason could fall into error.

Augustine's belief that even the knowledge of God eludes us without the gift of faith, and that the greatest mind cannot overcome the weakness of original sin, was more popular. The educated laymen of the day would have been well versed in logic… the question, then and now, is how to incorporate this knowledge into one's personal Christian life. Walter Hilton wisely realised, and allowed for, that one must be quite creative in introducing solutions.

Though, in England, Franciscan scholars were presenting some of the best of sacramental and pastoral theology, friars of that Order had unwittingly caused a great deal of confusion in another land or the past century. The Franciscan Order had increased dramatically, and, with its members being wanderers rather than attached to a monastery, their often sharp, dynamic, entertaining, simple but vivid preaching was accessible to far wider an audience than that of the intellectual sorts (of which the Franciscan variety generally existed in bulk only in England.) Francis, far from intellectual and totally unaware of his holiness, had composed a deceptively simple Rule, and himself had been naïve and poor in judgement. If Aquinas overestimated the powers of reason, and stressed going from the cognitive to the affective, the purely affective Franciscan emphasis on truth as so lovely that we'd all be inclined to embrace it was the more problematic. Many of the worst of the heretics a century later were splinter Franciscan groups

Our lawyer Hilton would have known that there must be order, or the alternative is chaos. The contribution of those who purely accent the positive is of great value to the Church … provided there are others, equally valuable, who address the problems. Whatever failings the Church may have (and probably never more than in the 14th century), its sacramental life, role in divine revelation (which its members may fail in individually but somehow eventually manage to grasp as a whole!), etc., were key in the way which Walter presented. The Augustinian model, which is presented briefly later on this site, was as apt as it was centuries before … or would be centuries later. Part of its strength is that it was developed before the Church was a strong temporal power or judicial force.

Hilton incorporates elements that are particularly suited to the tumult of the period

• Presentation of solid ascetic theology (with references to various forms of emphasis and presentation) and incorporating these into one's personal "climb", not as an academic exercise, addresses the eternal difficulty of confusing secular education with a response to divine love.

• His strong, if homely, stress on how there is no love of God unless there also is love of neighbour (one cannot love the head of the Body and neglect the feet) has special pathos in a time when many heretical groups justified exterminating the "wicked" of the hierarchy as part of their "asceticism"

• The value of the "mixed life" of action and contemplation (which Augustine had noted as the "best route" - despite his own justifiable grumbling about the active life he hardly wanted!) was an apt concept. It applies not only to the laity (in a time when there were more in the professions, and more taxed by the economic crises and lack of labour force that resulted from the Plague). The "mixed life", such as that of the Augustinians and the mendicant congregations, was a fairly new development, at least insofar as established Orders were concerned. (The Rule of Augustine pre-dates the establishment of the Canons Regular by nearly a millennium.)

• Stressing particular areas specifically because they were those being opposed by heretical groups of the area, of which his "readers" would certainly have had some knowledge (if only through the gossip against which he gently cautions them).

• Guarding against the tendency to think of asceticism as extreme mortification rather than the practise of virtue

• Papal authority, law, and benefices all had increased as the outcome of refuting the heretical movements, and there was much legitimate opposition in England. Hilton is very skilful in presenting the authority Christ gave to his church in a prudent, limited, and most benevolent fashion.

The Ladder

Christian ascetic and mystic theology is founded on the belief that we all are called to holiness. Our Redemption, through Christ, is the ultimate expression of divine love, and indeed we rejoice in our salvation and long for union with God in heaven, but our current, common vocation to holiness is far beyond being "saved" from any fiery destiny. Regretfully, avoiding damnation rather than responding to a call to sanctification always clouded the Christian vision.

In Walter Hilton's day, while the fear of hellfire was used to terrorise the faithful into repentance (or to fill the Pardoner's pockets), the "saving grace" was that the Church's position (admitted at least by those pressed!) was that any contrition would assure salvation for the believer. Excesses of the Reformation would leave some Christian thought that centred entirely on a singular act of faith that saved the sinner, with little emphasis on classic approaches to growing in holiness, as if the second somehow denied that only Jesus is our salvation. By contrast, though the catholic idea of contrition remained as it had in Walter’s time, there would be much confusion when the common approach became one of stressing obedience to the Church more than seeing oneself as part of a Church called to holiness.

The idea that progress in the spiritual life (that is, advancement in love of God and neighbour) involved stages of development was classic, though it previously had been stressed mainly in relation to monastic life in application. The first part of Walter’s Scale of Perfection is addressed to one who is unlettered and living as an anchorite, at least ostensibly. (It is unclear whether it was specifically aimed at an individual, or whether his writing in that fashion was a technique for presentation.) Despite the austerity inherent in such a life, an anchoress often was visited by others in the village, both sharing and hearing opinions that did not necessarily conform to the principles of mystic theology. Walter’s homely advice against excess, imprudence in speech, and the like have the unexpected effect of giving us a quite clear picture of the reality of the life of your average anchorite!

The second part of his work apparently is addressed to an educated layman. In toto, the Ladder of Perfection presents details of the classic concepts which make them understandable and accessible to those in any state of life. It was by no means the laity alone to whom spiritual development may have been a new concept. The purgative stage could well have been far more extensive for members of the clergy …

Walter expounded (and expanded) on the concepts of the purgative, illuminative, and unitive states of prayer, with the constant awareness that the idea of a universal ascetic vocation needed to be balanced by the understanding that holiness is not a matter of achievement, but a loving response to divine grace. No doubt, his use of the imagery of the ladder required a constant balancing act on his own part, lest those exposed to the ideas spend more energy on deciding how "high up" they are  (... and how much lower are others..) than on the love that exists on all rungs!

Walter Hilton is very frank about the temptations of various stages, particularly in that those who have climbed the ladder a bit are subjected to those so subtle that the impetus to pride, despair, and the like can masquerade as virtue.

The following examples show how Walter adapted this specifically to his "readership":

Prayer life influenced by "stage" (each building upon, not eliminating, that previous)

• First stage - rational knowledge of the truth

  • Humanity of Christ is an essential emphasis in the "first stages"

  • Twelfth century models - the Passion, the Holy Name (calling upon the Saviour was acknowledging salvation) – were intensely popular during the high middle ages. Hilton affirms the value of devotion to Christ's humanity, but cautions against excessive exuberance in devotion and attachment to its emotional accidents

  • Then as now, those attracted to quasi mysticism without understanding the entire "package" fell into confusion. Walter needed to address dangers which had arisen: seeking of feelings alone; assumption that private revelations were to be sought and revealed unquestionable truth; stories of the saints stressed revelations and miracles as if the mark of holiness were a sort of elite, infused knowledge confined to the individual. Sensible consolation is secondary to sanctifying grace and charity

  • Christ first comes to us in His humanity where we are able to receive him, but His humanity appeals to our humanity, which has a "fallen nature." Sensible consolations need to be withdrawn so that we may have a spiritual knowledge of him

  • The approach to God in Christ must be formed by the mind of the Church

  • Importance of common, vocal prayer – particularly the Liturgy of the Hours

  • Awareness of personal sin leads to an awareness of and reverence for divine mercy and love

• Illuminative - affective devotion

  • Freer, affective prayer - but still derived from the liturgy, especially the Psalter. New dimensions of liturgical prayer, not rising above the need for it nor for the Church.

  • Progression from love of God's benefits to love of God for Himself

  • Contrition: progresses from fear of punishment to fear of offending the beloved

  • Aridity in prayer and violent temptations - accompanied by unity with God through infused virtues

  • Progress from wishing to avoid grave sin to striking at its roots, especially pride. Hilton notes that humility and charity are interlaced, are the only antidote to sin.

• Very contemplation - unity of knowledge and love

Various points

• All are called to contemplation - but contemplation is not necessary for salvation.

• "Scale" does not imply that one reaches a point and cannot stumble - they coexist. (Certain popular heresies promoted the idea that individuals reached a point where they had the union with God we can only have in heaven; that new gospels could be written by those who'd achieved an advanced state; that we could become incapable of sin and weakness in this life; there was the eternal beckoning of gnosticism. The upsurge of interest in mysticism then caused more difficulties than it solved.)

• Self-knowledge particularly crucial - the closer one comes to created nature, the greater the possibility of a huge tumble!

• Stresses how our self-deception / pride can make us cast our sins in the role of virtues

• Seeking unusual experiences (heretical movements of the time believed we reach a point of mystic perfection where we are incapable of sin and beyond the church and sacraments) often leads us entirely off the path

• The excessive emphases on "ascetic" practises of another kind (flagellants, Spirituals, etc.) had such extreme effects as leading to violence and libertine ways, because their practitioners were convinced of their own unique insight and excellence

Spirituality of "The Scale" - renewal, love of God and neighbour

1. Renewal / reforming of mankind: we are made in the image and likeness of God

   1. "Image" of God (rational nature - capacity to know and love God) is ineradicable, though our vision is clouded as a result of our fallen nature / original sin

   2. "Likeness" (conformity to God's character disclosed in Christ) must be regained through grace

2. Human soul is a created trinity reflecting the "uncreated Trinity"

   1. (Augustinian model: ) Characteristics of power, wisdom, and love reflect the manner in which the activity of the Trinity is disclosed to us

   2. Human soul, in turn, has three faculties: memory / awareness; understanding / reason; will / love (& choices).

3. Because of our fallen nature (original sin), human beings lost the intuitive awareness of God and conformity to his will, which was intended in our created nature.

   1. Memory inattentive to the Father

   2. Reason no longer responsive to the Son

   3. Love disordered and not responsive to the Holy Spirit

4. The intuitive awareness of God and conformity to His will can be recovered (though not totally in this life) through the grace of Christ. In this sense, the goal of our Christian lives is contemplative ("perfect" love of God and neighbour.) Advancing in this love brings us ever closer to our created nature.

Love of God and Neighbour

(Augustinian model. Also emphasised by Thomas Aquinas, who defines love as "willing the best" for the other - the other's salvation is implicit.)

1. God is to be loved for Himself

2. Others are to be loved in God or for God

• We love others in God when their attractive qualities (reflecting the love of God - virtue expressed) causes us to love them, looking beyond them to the God who is the source of the goodness.

• We love them for God when their qualities are unattractive (sinful, wicked) because they are among those for whom Christ died and their redemption is to be desired.

Triple Foundation of the Christian Life
 

1. Humility

• Self-knowledge: proper perception of ourselves as we are before God

• Consequent openness to receive His gifts

• Right attitude towards others

1. Faith - act of the will in the face of doubt and temptations

2. Infused Charity: whole-hearted intention to serve God which is His gift

As is common for the best of English mystics, Walter Hilton's writings were not popular after the Reformation, in any "camp." His stress on Church, the liturgy, and the sacraments would dissuade the Protestant. Certain of his essential points of moral and ascetic theology (such as the distinction between mortal and venial sin) would be very misunderstood concepts later, when one school of thought insisted "faith alone", and the other gave "grades" of sin a highly judicial approach, where one could easily think that forgiveness from God Himself was impossible. Though nothing in Walter’s writings contradicts Roman Catholic theology, his emphasis and explanations do not meet the interpretations of the Council of Trent, and typical commentaries on his work in later centuries (when they existed at all) would be akin to one miserable 19th century manuscript I consulted, the bulk of which was devoted to cautioning readers that the warm and comforting "warrant" Walter speaks of in relation to sacramental confession must not lead them from the obligation to confess all grave sins.

....There are times when it seems as if a frank, detailed, solid presentation of the call to holiness does not have a prayer....

As Walter looked back through the centuries to Augustine (and all Christians need to remember events of the first century!), we can recognise the honesty of the Middle Ages to help us on our own "ladder" to Christian love in the 21st century. The mediæval awareness of God, and of our relationship with Him as a blissful bond for eternity, has special impact when we realise that eras such as Walter's were times of horrible suffering, war, disease, poverty, and corruption within the Church that led to its more often being a hindrance than aid to holiness. No holier that we are by nature, those in the Middle Ages nonetheless were sustained by their acceptance of mystery. However abused the concept was, only mystery - an awareness of our own limitations, concurrent with our awe at the Divine Power which is not a detached "Source" but a loving bond which overcomes our own weakness - can let us grasp the truth that there is much beyond us, and much potential we can achieve in the recognition.

The greatest hindrance to a sincere believer's grasping the truths presented by mediæval authors is our smug assumption of our own superiority. Our need to foster the supposedly enlightened viewpoints of 21st century society leads us to forget that Christianity (in the true sense, not as membership in a group or a political entity!) has always been radically different from our natural (fallen?) nature. We deny reality lest we be accused of being "out of touch" with reality! Sin is "bad self-esteem" - virtue violates the rule of "self first" - service a neurotic expression of guilt or a way to dominate others - counsel "co-dependence". Accepting Christianity as truth, revealed by God, somehow insults non Christians, and evangelism is a lack of respect for other cultures or for personal conscience.

Walter Hilton, scholar though he was, was not an academic removed from those for whom his books were intended. His pastoral work was with those who'd seen the harsh reality of the stake, the Plague, the Peasants' Revolt, economic depression, and a Church that presented them with a model of excess and unjust use of power. His work was aimed at those interested in sanctification, but he could have had no illusions about the (small) numbers who would flock to such a call. Perhaps he found the passage which follows to be some sustenance:

Augustine   — The Trinity 1, 8 (particularly appropriate to Walter Hilton's approach)

It is also necessary—may God grant it! — that in  providing others with books to read I myself should make progress, and that in trying to answer their questions I myself should find what I am seeking.

Therefore, at the command of God our Lord and with his help, I have undertaken not so much to discourse with authority on matters known to me  as to know them better by discoursing devoutly of them.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. Let your users get to know you.