II. THE LADDER: PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE

^^'" VttX was written, then, by one who. after living for most of his monastic life as a hermit, had in old age been entrusted with the p stTraTcare of a large community, it is the work of a solitary w^.nng for cenobites The audience that John has in view is mona tic He be- gins hifbru, however, with a clear affirmation of God|s oving care for the entirety of humankind. Salvation is offered to all alike.
God is the life of all free beings. He is the salvation of believ- ers or unbelievers, of the just or the unjust . of monks or those living in the world, of the educated or the 'U^terate o the healthy or the sick, of the young or the very old. He is like the outpouring of light, the glimpse of the sun, or the changes of the weather, which are the same for everyone without exception. "For God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11).'^
To the married Christian John insists that matrimony is not an obstacle to salvation:
^or John of Ra.thu's letter and John Clim.cus- reply, see PC 88, 624-8; ET,
"'^^^^aSs^ L, N.rr....s, m. mentioning John the Sabba.te, hut pr K- refer- ring to John Climacus (cf, PC 88, 60yA). 18. 1 (633A), p. 74.
INTRODUCTION
Do whatever good you may. Speak evil of no one. Rob no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one. . . . Show compassion to the needy. ... Be satisfied with what your own wives can pro- vide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the king- dom of heaven."
Later in the work, he points out that purity is by no means the mo- nopoly of those who have never married, and he cites as proof the ex- ample of the apostle Peter, "who had a mother-in-law and who nevertheless received the keys of the kingdom. "^°
But, having insisted in this manner upon the universality of God's saving love, John makes it clear that he himself is writing spe- cifically for monks. This needs to be remembered by the modern reader. Yet does it therefore follow that The Ladder is of no interest to those in the "world"? Surely not. It has in fact been read with the ut- most profit by many thousands of married Christians; and, whatever the author's original intention, there is nothing surprising in that. Monasticism, as St. Basil the Great observes, is nothing else than "life according to the Gospel."^' Whether monastic or married, all the baptized are responding to the same Gospel call; the outward condi- tions of their response may vary, but the path is essentially one.
The Need for Personal Experience
St. John Climacus, like St. Symeon the New Theologian and St. Gregory Palamas at a later date,^^ lays heavy emphasis upon the need for personal experience. Christianity, as he sees it, is much more than the exterior acceptance of doctrines and rules. No one can be a true Christian at second hand; there must be a personal encounter, in which each knows, sees, tastes and touches for himself.
This applies first of all to anyone who teaches others:
The true teacher is one who has received directly from heav- en the tablet of spiritual knowledge, inscribed by God's own finger, that is, by the active working of illumination. Such a