John Tauler · 99 of 121

The third way of a poor, perfect life, when you contemplate God internally, is, that a man do not fly from what may kill him in spiritual things. · 86.

But a reversed view may here be taken. Thus love doth not come entirely from the understanding, but also from faith. Therefore if one man hath more faith than another, and loveth him from that reason, because he holdeth him for good, should God not reward him more than another who hath not so much faith, and therefore doth not love him so much? I answer, The man hath only so much real faith as he obtaineth from divine light; to whom the light faileth, faileth also the faith. He who hath learnt to know divine truth best hath also the truest faith; but no one hath this except the man who hath understood essential truth, and who loveth from complete faith; this love is the most useful and most worthy. It also happeneth that a man trusteth another, holding him to be righteous, and loving him, but he doth not exactly understand why he loveth him; whilst another hath no trust in him, doth not hold him as righteous, and doth not love him, and understandeth what he should believe; and this hostility is nobler and more useful than that love, for God doth not reward a false faith when some one believes a thing that is not true; it is, on the contrary, almost faithlessness and sinful, rather than perfection; such love is not rewarded by God which springs from faithlessness. Thus Jesus said, “Take heed of false prophets, that come to you in sheep’s clothing, but are inwardly raging wolves.” They are false prophets who point to themselves as respectable (righteous), but who are really bad; and holding such men as good is rather unrighteous than righteous. Jesus adviseth us to defend ourselves from them, therefore it is bad. In the latter time false teachers shall rise up and preach, but he who believeth in them showeth that he is not good. He who liketh the superficially righteous man (hypocrite), and holds him for good, is certainly not righteous himself; he is certainly, as a teacher saith, “a fool, that believeth anything or everything.”