Evangelical Counsels

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(Or COUNSELS OF PERFECTION).

Christ in the Gospels laid down certain rules of life and conduct which must be practiced by every one of His followers as thenecessary condition for attaining to everlasting life. Theseprecepts of the Gospel practically consist of theDecalogue, orTen Commandments, of theOld Law, interpreted in the sense of the New. Besides theseprecepts which must be observed by all under pain ofeternal damnation, He also taught certain principles which He expressly stated were not to be considered as binding upon all, or asnecessary conditions without whichheaven could not be attained, but rather as counsels for those who desired to do more than the minimum and to aim atChristian perfection, so far as that can be obtained here upon earth. Thus (Matthew 19:16 sq.) when the young man asked Him what he should do to obtain eternal life, Christ bade him to "keep the commandments". That was all that wasnecessary in the strict sense of the word, and by thus keeping the commands whichGod had given eternal life could be obtained. But when the young man pressed further, Christ told him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor". So again, in the same chapter, He speaks of "eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven", and added, "He that can receive it, let him receive it".

This distinction between theprecepts of the Gospel, which are binding on all, and the counsels, which are the subject of the vocation of the comparatively few, has ever been maintained by theCatholicChurch. It has been denied byheretics in all ages, and especially by manyProtestants in the sixteenth and following centuries, on the ground that, inasmuch as allChristians are at all times bound, if they would keepGod's Commandments, to do their utmost, and even so will fall short of perfect obedience, no distinction betweenprecepts and counsels can rightly be made. The opponents of theCatholic doctrine base their opposition on such texts asLuke 17:10, "When ye have done all that is commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants". It is impossible, they say, to keep the Commandments adequately. To teach further "counsels" involves either the absurdity of advising what is far beyond all human capacity, or else the impiety of minimizing the commands ofAlmighty God. TheCatholic doctrine, however, founded, as we have seen, upon the words of Christ in the Gospel, is also supported bySt. Paul. In1 Corinthians 7, for instance, he not only presses home theduty incumbent on allChristians of keeping free from allsins of the flesh, and of fulfilling theobligations of the married state, if they have taken thoseobligations upon themselves, but also gives his "counsel" in favour of the unmarried state and of perfect chastity, on the ground that it is thus more possible to serveGod with an undivided allegiance. Indeed, the danger in the Early Church, and even in Apostolic times, was not that the "counsels" would be neglected or denied, but that they should be exalted into commands of universalobligation, "forbidding to marry" (1 Timothy 4:3), and imposing poverty as aduty on all.

The difference between a precept and a counsel lies in this, that the precept is a matter of necessity while the counsel is left to the free choice of theperson to whom it is proposed. It is fitting, therefore, that the New Law, which is a law of liberty, should contain counsels of this kind, which would have been out of place in theOld Law, which was a law of servitude. Theprecepts of the New Law have for their scope the ordinance of those matters which are essential for the obtaining of life eternal — the gift which it is the special object of the New Law to place within the reach of its followers. But the counsels show the means by which that same end may be reached yet more certainly and expeditiously. Man is, in this life, placed between the good things of this world and the good things ofeternity, in such a way that the more he inclines to the first the more he alienates himself from the second. A man who is wholly given up to this world, finding in it the end and object of his existence, loses altogether the goods ofeternity, of which he has no appreciation. So in like manner, the man who is wholly detached from this world, and whose thoughts are wholly bent on the realities of the world above, is taking the shortest way to obtain possession of that on which his heart is fixed. The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light, but the case is reversed if a larger view be taken.

Now the principal good things of this world easily divide themselves into three classes. There are the riches which make life easy and pleasant, there are the pleasures of the flesh which appeal to theappetites, and, lastly, there are honours and positions of authority which delight the self-love of the individual. These three matters, in themselves often innocent and not forbidden to the devoutChristian, may yet, even when no kind ofsin is involved, hold back thesoul from itstrue aim and vocation, and delay it from becoming entirely conformed to the will ofGod. It is, therefore, the object of the three counsels of perfection to free thesoul from these hindrances. Thesoul may indeed be saved andheaven attained without following the counsels; but that end will be reached more easily and with greatercertainty, if the counsels be accepted and thesoul does not wholly confine herself to doing that which is definitely commanded. On the other hand, there are, no doubt, individual cases in which it may be actuallynecessary for aperson, owing to particular circumstances, to follow one or more of the counsels, and one may easily conceive a case in which the adoption of thereligious life might seem, humanly speaking, the only way in which a particularsoul could be saved. Such cases, however, are always of an exceptional character. As there are three great hindrances to the higher life, so also the counsels are three, one to oppose each. Thelove of riches is opposed by the counsel of poverty; the pleasures of the flesh, even the lawful pleasures of holy matrimony, are excluded by the counsel of chastity; while the desire for worldly power andhonour is met by the counsel ofholy obedience. Abstinence from unlawful indulgence in any of these directions is forbidden to allChristians as a matter of precept. The furthervoluntary abstinence from what is in itself lawful is the subject of the counsels, and such abstinence is not in itself meritorious, but only becomes so when it is done for the sake ofChrist, and in order to be more free to serve Him.

To sum up: it is possible to be rich, and married, and held inhonour by all men, and yet keep the Commandments and to enterheaven.Christ's advice is, if we would make sure of everlasting life and desire to conform ourselves perfectly to the Divine will, that we should sell our possessions and give the proceeds to others who are in need, that we should live a life of chastity for the Gospel's sake, and, finally, should not seek honours or commands, but place ourselves under obedience. These are the Evangelical Counsels, and the things which are counselled are not set forward so much as good in themselves, as in the light of means to an end and as the surest and quickest way of obtaining everlasting life. (SeeASCETICISM;MONASTICISM; RELIGIOUS ORDERS.)

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