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Thursday, 23 October 2008

Can we know things beyond knowledge?

The reading of the epistles of Paul is rather demanding. Not only must we take care of his logic / philosophy / theology, but also his rhetoric. Times and again, people are persuaded not by the logical flow of his reasoning, but his rhetoric. Before we come to the difficult part of the reading today, let us enjoy the rhetoric first.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God
(Ephesians 3:14, 16-19).
Paul bows and prays before God,
that the Ephesians may be strengthened through the Holy Spirit; and
that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith; and
that the Ephesians may understand the breadth, length, height and depth of the love of Christ and
that they may know the love of Christ and
that they may be filled with all the fullness of God etc.
I fancy that if we read the original Greek text, it would be more enjoyable. Now, let's turn to the more difficult and philosophical part.
The theological part is not difficult.
First of all, the Holy Spirit is able to strengthen the conscience (the inner man) of the Ephesians. Secondly, through our faith, Christ may dwell in our hearts.
Consequently, it is possible to fill our whole being with all the fullness of God (πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ.) That means, our nature will be transformed to divinity. Now, let's continue with the philosophical part.
How shall we interpret Ephesians 3:19? Let's us assume that the English translation we were reading is very close, very true to the Greek. Then can we know the unknowable?
Knowledge can be public and private. Most of the time, knowledge revealed to the public is less that the knowledge privately known. For example, recently, it is revealed to the public that CITIC PACIFIC has incurred heavy losses in foreign exchange investments. However, I doubt very much whether the full story is revealed because there is a time gap of at least 6 weeks between the loss and the announcement. In short, there is insider information not made known to the public. Only insiders know what is unknowable to the public. Similarly, Mr. and Mrs. Kwok are a loving couple. That's public knowledge. Yet, the width and the depth of the love between them is beyond (public) knowledge.
Go back to our case. Christ loves us. That is "public knowledge". How much Christ loves us personally is beyond knowledge, even beyond our knowledge. But one day, we will know. Why is it like this? It is because the love of Christ is beyond description, beyond naming. As we are getting more mature, we find it more difficult to precisely articulate it.
道可道,非尚道。名可名,非尚名。【道德經】
Speakable truth is not the Supreme Truth and nameable names are not the Supreme Name.
箇中有真義,欲辯而忘言。
There is truth in it, but when I want to articulate it, I have forgotten the word.
These two statements might capture the essence of Paul's idea in Ephesians 3:19.

My dear Advocate, Your wisdom transcends our limited language. I praise You. I love You. Amen.

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