On Mon, 11-17-08 11:51 am
In the Nov 17, 2008, edition of Insight for Today, Charles Swindoll discusses Romans 6. His thoughts are summarized in one of the paragraphs:
In order for us to live free from sin’s control, free from the old master, with the power to walk a new kind of life, we have to know something, we have to consider something, and we have to present something.”
The emphases are mine but they are also the three major points of his brief article: know, consider, present. These three words are vital, Swindoll maintains, if a Christian is to live “by grace, above sin’s domination.”
I’m using his article merely as a springboard for something else, not at all assuming that this is all Swindoll believes about living out the Christian life. He has written numerous books – The Grace Awakening being foremost – that go into more detail about other aspects of the Christian life.
Swindoll’s emphasis in this particular article, however, represents a basic, halfway approach to the Christian life. In fact, a great number of conservative, evangelical churches never seem to go much further than the approach put forth in the article.
The words know, consider, present have at least this much in common: they are all mental or cerebral activities, as though the cognitive apprehension of these truths was sufficient to engender spiritual growth.
The words are absolutely necessary for growth but they are not sufficient.
It was Aristotle, I think, who elevated the rational parts of our being to supremacy in life, relegating the affective and behavioral dimensions to subordinate status. Perhaps he misunderstood Socrates (which is pretty arrogant for me to say, as though I understand Socrates better than Aristotle) and his comment about knowing good.
Socrates had stated that if one knew the good then he would never do evil, which could be construed to mean that knowledge alone is sufficient for growing and achieving excellence in life. But Socrates was not talking about mere knowing: he was talking about a knowing that is founded upon and dependent upon a preceding commitment to the doing of truth and the pursuit of excellence.
Clearly Aristotle, if he did believe that knowledge was sufficient, was wrong. We see the disproof not only in our over-educated society in general but in our fact-saturated subculture of Christendom specifically. Knowing, considering, and presenting are never enough, not even when – and I say this advisedly- we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.
It is to these kinds of things that I now find myself drawn. There is something – or Someone – towards which knowledge points us but which knowledge alone is unable to apprehend.
Certainly that Someone is God – Jesus – Yahweh – Paraclete, but such a statement is too general to be of much value. There is something more, some unknown (to me, anyway) attribute or facet of God that is missing in so much of conservative Christianity.
That’s what I’m trying to figure out these days. I don’t know that I’ll actually figure it out but I’ll try to keep you abreast of where I’ve been and where I’m heading.
I’ve long wondered what Aristotle was getting at. On the face of his assertions, it just doesn’t make sense that if someone knows mentally what is good that he would do it. But Aristotle was a smart fellow, and I wonder if the trouble isn’t with our Modern glasses, that we somehow don’t understand the kind of knowledge he meant. I think you’re right, though, that Western thought goes back to him in believing that somehow knowing the good will help us do the good.
For Christians, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Of course, merely hearing the words spoken or seeing them on a page won’t give us faith. That depends someone on having ears, as Jesus said.
I’ll be interested in reading your own thoughts as they develop on this topic. Peace.
I’m not sure that “present” is primarily a cerebral activity. Paul says, “present yourselves to God,” which implies something more than just cognitive apprehension, it’s more an act of submission to God’s will. In light of certain truths we need to present ourselves (submit) to God. But this gets back to your original point in the first place, knowledge is necessary but not sufficient.