12-27-2007, 12:00 AM
Hi Vrill,
"The saying "Those who know ... don't tell" is translated incorrectly.
Those who know, can't tell. They want to desperately, but they can't because there are no words for what they know!!!..."
That is very true. Spiritual things cannot be put into words. Or even if they are, they are interpreted in terms of hard cold matter, so the words lose their meaning somewhere between the one relating the experience and the listener's understanding.
"But actually that's not even entirely true.
There are those with great skill, and they know and can tell and lead others to the truth."
Yes, but they lead by pointing a direction not by description.
I always found it interesting that Jesus when asked what the Kingdom of Heaven was like never attempted a description of it. He told how it came or grew in a person's understanding of it. He compared it to how a seed grows or how leaven changed a lump of dough. These are parables that enable a person to recognise what is happening after the fact.
I like to call it 20/20 hindsight. You first have an experience, and only then, afterwards, do you recognise the description in Scripture. Parables point to underlying patterns, processes and principles, kind of like algebra.
And like algebra, they excercise the mind to work in a different way than we are accustomed to using our minds.
That is how good teachers teach spiritual things. By comparison and analogy. One who has experienced some of these things can recognise another who has also experienced them by how they approach the subject.
Bob
"The saying "Those who know ... don't tell" is translated incorrectly.
Those who know, can't tell. They want to desperately, but they can't because there are no words for what they know!!!..."
That is very true. Spiritual things cannot be put into words. Or even if they are, they are interpreted in terms of hard cold matter, so the words lose their meaning somewhere between the one relating the experience and the listener's understanding.
"But actually that's not even entirely true.
There are those with great skill, and they know and can tell and lead others to the truth."
Yes, but they lead by pointing a direction not by description.
I always found it interesting that Jesus when asked what the Kingdom of Heaven was like never attempted a description of it. He told how it came or grew in a person's understanding of it. He compared it to how a seed grows or how leaven changed a lump of dough. These are parables that enable a person to recognise what is happening after the fact.
I like to call it 20/20 hindsight. You first have an experience, and only then, afterwards, do you recognise the description in Scripture. Parables point to underlying patterns, processes and principles, kind of like algebra.
And like algebra, they excercise the mind to work in a different way than we are accustomed to using our minds.
That is how good teachers teach spiritual things. By comparison and analogy. One who has experienced some of these things can recognise another who has also experienced them by how they approach the subject.
Bob