Leaven from Heaven

Continuing our series of posts on Dr Wolfgang Smith's 2019 monumental monograph: Physics & Vertical Causation, the End of Quantum Reality. (Angelico Press, 2019, also available on Amazon Kindle). 
For further reading on this and related material, see the Philos-Sophia Initiative website.

We are now approaching the end of  Dr Smith's final chapter, entitled ''Pondering the Cosmic Icon''.  His final reflections crown his earlier achievements by examining whether the sacred literature of mankind supports or even sanctions the notion of a trichotomous cosmos.

He cites, for example, the following verse from the Bible, attributed to Sophia (Wisdom):

[27] Quando praeparabat caelos, aderam; quando certa lege et gyro[1] vallabat abyssos; [Vulgate]
When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law and compass he enclosed the depths:[Douay-Rheims]
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:[King James] [Prov 8]

[1] gȳrus, i, m., = γῦρος, a circle, esp. that which is described by a horse in its movements (mostly poet.; cf.: circus, circulus, orbis, orbita).

The next reference is to a parable in the Gospel of St Matthew. Here is the relevant verse:

[33] Aliam parabolam locutus est eis : Similis est regnum caelorum fermento, quod acceptum mulier abscondit in farinae satis tribus, donec fermentatum est totum.[Vulgate]
Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.[Douay-Rheims]
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.[King James] [Matt 13]

Latin vocab: It is worth noting the derivation of fermentum (via fervimentum) from ferveo which also gives rise to fervour and comparing it with the ''tongues of fire'' of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.
fermentum, i, n. contr. for fervimentum, from fervo, ferveo, that which causes fermentation, leaven, yeast, ferment.
ferveō, ferbuī, 2, n., and fervō, fervī, 3, n.: to boil; (fig.), to blaze, be bright; flash; glow; stir, be alive, teeming; move, speed on; rage.
abs-condo, condi and condĭdi, condĭtum and consum, 3, v. a. to put away, conceal carefully, hide,to make invisible, to cover;
fărīna, ae, f. far, ground corn, meal, flour.
satum, i, n., = σάτον, Hebrew measure of corn, etc., containing about a modius and a half (eccl. Lat.), Vulg. Gen. 18, 6; id. Matt. 13, 33; id. Luc. 13, 21.
fermento, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. id., to cause to rise or ferment; in pass., to rise, ferment.

Smith proposes a striking interpretation of this parable and its language.

In answer to the question: Who is the ''woman''? he answers: none other than Sophia (Wisdom), see the verse from Proverbs above.

The three measures of meal correspond to the three macrocosmic realms:

• the spiritual or aeviternal
• the intermediary and
• the corporeal;

And to the three elements of our microcosmic being:

• the spiritual
• the psychic (pertaining to the psyche, anima or soul) and
• the corporeal.

He then asserts that the ''leaven,'' which Christ himself identifies with ''the kingdom of heaven,'' proves thus to be something inherently transcendent and ultimately divine, which gives reality—gives being—to the cosmos in its tripartite manifestation.

Christ before Pilate. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

When Pilate asked Christ whether He was king of the Jews, His reply included the following:

[36] Respondit Jesus : Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo. Si ex hoc mundo esset regnum meum, ministri mei utique decertarent ut non traderer Judaeis : nunc autem regnum meum non est hinc.

Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence.[John 18]

But Christ was also to explain that this Kingdom is within each of us:

[20] Interrogatus autem a pharisaeis : Quando venit regnum Dei? respondens eis, dixit : Non venit regnum Dei cum observatione :
And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come? he answered them, and said: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
[21] neque dicent : Ecce hic, aut ecce illic. Ecce enim regnum Dei intra vos est.
Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you.[Luke 17]

It is within us in the fullest conceivable sense, within each of the elements of our tripartite being: the spiritual, the psychic (pertaining to the psyche, anima or soul) and the corporeal. The leaven, however, is added to the three measures of meal; in fact, it is hidden and thus invisible. This is in keeping with the notion that the Kingdom of Heaven is transcendent, superseding the corporeal, the intermediary and the cosmic centre point ''O'' of the cosmic icon.

Smith develops his reflections upon the ''leaven'' or Kingdom of Heaven by citing the parable in which Christ compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding feast (see Matthew, 22 : 1-14). We are invited to His Wedding Feast to enjoy eternal life. When Christ arrived in Bethany, after the death of Lazarus, He explained to Martha:

[25] Dixit ei Jesus : Ego sum resurrectio et vita : qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet : Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live:[John 11]

His conclusion follows unerringly from his reasoning:

The “leaven,” in the final count, proves thus to be Christ Himself: it is He that resides at the core of all being as the font of all that is good. Like the actual leaven in the meal, it is He that renders the cosmos hospitable and ''flavoursome.'' In all that is good, He is the Goodness; and in all that is beautiful or sublime we catch a glimpse of His presence.

[The reviewer noted briefly at this point certain harmonies and parallels adding further force to this understanding: the Israelites pass through the waters of the Red Sea from the land of bondage into a wilderness where Manna (the Hebrew word is written as ''Man'' in Latin) is miraculously provided to keep them alive, enabling them to continue to the Promised Land. This Manna is honoured by being placed in the tabernacle and later in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. 

In the New Testament, John describes the feeding of the multitudes and then records the following words of Christ, particularly pertinent to the present discussion:

[31] Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto, sicut scriptum est : Panem de caelo dedit eis manducare.
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
[32] Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : non Moyses dedit vobis panem de caelo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de caelo verum.
Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
[33] Panis enim Dei est, qui de caelo descendit, et dat vitam mundo. 
For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.
[34] Dixerunt ergo ad eum : Domine, semper da nobis panem hunc.
They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread.
[35] Dixit autem eis Jesus : Ego sum panis vitae : qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet umquam.
And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.[John 6]

First Holy Communion. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

At the Last Supper, Our Lord said the First Mass and gave Himself (body, blood, soul and divinity)  to His apostles under the form of bread in Holy Communion.]










Tomorrow, Deo volente, we shall conclude our review of Dr Smith's monograph. This will be in time to offer our faltering words as a present to the Sancta Dei Genitrix, in honour of her feastday on Friday, the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary.