joejoe and i were talking in the kitchen the other night... discussing the importance of reading the scriptures critically and formatively... at the same time. i.e... utilizing all the tools we've been given to understand the text and allowing The Counselor to shape us through the text.
it may sound like a simple discussion, but it isn't.. and wasn't. and yet it was.
as is often the case in our conversations... we stumbled together over a fascinating curiosity... wrapped in a question.
"when we read the scriptures, what are we seeking?
are we seeking to know truth? or are we seeking to know G*D?"
i always know when we've stumbled over a "good" question because he starts to salivate and his eyes turn a bit glassy.
"aren't they the same? isn't G*D truth?"
"certainly G*D is truth. but truth is not G*D."
as we talked more... i realized that most of my training has focused on discovering truth.
...the truth about life
...the truth about myself
...the truth about death
...the truth about G*D
...or even the truth about what the writer meant for us to understand
...or the truth about why that particular verse or story was included in the text
but i wondered if that was how people read it before "the enlightenment".
don't through me under that postmodern bus just yet. hear me out.
don't hear me saying that we can't know truth... or that truth is not important... or that truth doesn't inform us and shape us and help us to know G*D.
my question is... when we come to the ancient texts... or when we come to a new day, for that matter... what if our starting point was to seek to know G*D rather than to know about G*D?
some might say, "yes, of course. but how can you know G*D unless you first know something about him?"
and maybe there's a dog chasing its tail here. but at the same time... it seems to me that there's a huge difference between seeking to know G*D through knowing truth and seeking to know truth through knowing G*D.
is scripture the revelation of truth about G*D... or the revelation of G*D?
"both", you might say.
all i know... is that in the end, i want my kids (and everyone else for that matter) to know G*D... more than possess a knowledge of him... or self-discipline... ...more than learning contentment... or leadership & life principles... ...more than anything else that life has to offer.
some climb a tree as a scientist. some as a philosopher. some as an artist. some as a kid. some as a theologian.
lord... may i climb it as all these things...
...but may i never climb it alone.
Interesting topic, TRUTH. Truth in Knowing and Truth in Knowing...they look the same but when spoken, can certainly take on different meanings. My experience has taught me that you can definitely learn about God with the Word, (and let's not forget that He, himself, said that we can know Him by what is seen around us as well) but you can certainly know the Word without knowing God. The way I look at it is knowing God in knowing the the truth of what the Word says about God is one thing....but knowing God with experiential knowledge, is truth with shoes on.
Posted by: Judy | March 03, 2008 at 11:16 AM