We will be convening here at the ZigZag café, Suisse, on Thursdays for conversation and dialogue. I invite you to stop by every Thursday for the question of the day. Your thoughts and participation are most welcome. Pull up a stool, avec un café, un thé, ou un chocolat chaud, et un croissant, and join in here on Thursday at the ZZ café.
For today:
When and in what circumstances would you ever consider a lack of knowledge as advantageous?
READ THE BOOK - FIND THE RHYTHM
7 comments:
The first thought that sprang to mind when I read this was - a lack of knowledge regarding evil practices would advantageous.
Susan,
Thanks. Good point. What do you think? Would there be any place for having a knowledge of such practices in order to help others and to avoid them oneself?
Hi,
what about Romans 14,23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
So if I do not know things and therefore believe it is ok, it is no sin?
Hi Lukas,
Thanks. Excellent question. Too bad we can't ask Paul. Considering that the verse you mention could fill a few pages of a commentary, let me just throw put a few brief thoughts.
I would think that the whole of chapter 14 is primarily about the issue of food and the disunity that it causes, rather than being a general statement about knowledge, faith, or conscience. Surely, Paul would not be so conscience oriented on other matters - sexuality, for example. In this case, he seems willing for the "weak" conscience to have its say. A lack of knowledge about all food being clean could be considered, if one eats something one assumes is unclean, a sin for that person in that faith is not the motivator from which the action comes. But it is equally true that the strong who have knowledge that all food is clean, and who might be condemning or arrogant, can also not be acting on faith and therefore sinning.
I prefer as much knowledge as possible but: knwoledge as the gathering of information is not what I have in mind. Maybe I would prefer the term "understanding". Understanding covers a web of topics such as ethics, self-understanding, ethics, science etc.
I was thinking more along the lines of Romans 16:19 "but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil."
Thanks Susan. Good thinking.
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