Bernard of Clairvaux: The Church and the Individual

ABSTRACT How does the individual relate to the health of the Church? Bernard provides a complex and satisfying answer, which is primarily based on his interpretation of St Augustine, the Scriptures and the Apostolic Tradition. In particular Bernard identifies the role of personal holiness and purity within individuals as the crucial means through which the Church undertakes reform. Bernard is clear that it is not systems or temporal power arrangements that make the Church more harmonious or more effective at holiness. Individual change drives the earthly Church to become more like the heavenly Church, the City of God. Such an overview also helps to make clear that Bernard’s mysticism is world embracing, and is about immanence, as well as the transcendent.