Saturday, July 14, 2007

Understanding


Understanding is a form of love. I don't mean pure, disinterested intellection, but rather an inward knowing; knowing that may issue forth rational knowledge but sometimes can only show forth as the vagueness of a soft, light mist. I think this is in the end why I've never gotten fully into modern philosophy; it seems to remove this aspect of understanding, settling for a mere, objective account of what there is, and thus displaying a certain hollowness. Maybe this is how Scotus accounts for theology as a practical science.

More importantly than that, however, is that I think this may be an insight into what it is to know and love God. We see God work throughout Scripture, and in particular we see Jesus in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. Jesus said that whoever has seen him, has seen the Father. I doubt that this plumbs the depths of that statement, but could part of this be that through seeing Jesus' life, through understanding him in the gospels, through learning what matters to God through the actions of his Son, and through our own imitation of Christ, through these we find what it means to know and love God? This seems to tie together the words of Jesus at the Last Supper in John's gospel. While we're at it, maybe this is a key to understanding the Eastern idea of theosis.

Of course, upon writing it down, it's probably the case that I'm the last person to notice this. Darn head seems to keep getting in the way.

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