Thursday, September 10, 2009

St. Bernard

I have just finished reading “The Two-Fold Knowledge: Readings on the Knowledge of Self and the Knowledge of God Selected and Translated from the Works of Bernard of Clairvaux” by Franz Posset. In the 149 page book, Posset’s goal is to take selects parts from St. Bernard’s works in order to frame the pathway of the two fold knowledge: knowledge of God and knowledge of self. Posset, to me, almost accomplished his goal. The book does contain quotes from St. Bernard’s works organized by chapter. However, it was just that, quotes from St. Bernard’s works. As I was reading this book, I was wishing for the Posset to have made his point in a more fluid way with the quotes of St. Bernard. The idea Posset had in uncovering the treasure of such a knowledge is most definitely awesome. The quotes themselves did, in fact, get the point across. However, for me, it did seem a bit choppy and repetitive because of the way Posset organized the book. Over all it was indeed a good read and one that I would suggest. However, one needs to take time when reading this book so that one can pull the ideas out of the quotes to get the entirety of the message.

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