Spiritual Friendship: Learning to Be Friends with God and One Another

Chapter 7: Accepting and Enjoying Spiritual Friends (Book 3.76–97)

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to death?” he asked. “What was his sin? What has he done? For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine . . . you saw it and rejoiced. Why then shall he die?” (1 Sam 19:4–5; 20:32). 5 On hearing this the king became insane with anger and tried to pin Jonathan to the wall with his lance, adding this insult to his threat: “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?” (1 Sam 20:30).

Jonathan Takes Aim to Warn His Friend David

94. Then he poured forth all the venom he could to bespatter the young man’s heart, adding this as an incitement to ambition, as kindling for envy and incentive for zeal and bitterness: “For as long as the

5 Aelred paraphrases and combines 1 Sam 19:4–5 and 20:32 here.