Looking Up: Thales, Plato, and Paul

Looking up to the heavens is as old as the human race itself. Whether sitting around a campfire, watching a meteor shower, stargazing, daydreaming, or navigating the high seas, looking upwards at the sky in wonder and awe is an ancient and human tradition.

Throughout history there have been famous instances of looking upwards that have shaped the course of human thought and human history. Three famous examples come immediately to mind: Thales the first philosopher, Plato and his Allegory of the Cave, and the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. I wish to spend a little time reflecting on these famous up-lookers and see what theological lessons can be learned from them about what it truly means to keep our eyes and minds focused on the "above" as Christians.

I shall begin with Thales, who is known in western philosophy as the "first philosopher." In addition to the serious contributions Thales made to the history of human thought, there is a slightly apocryphal story about Thales falling into a well. So goes the story that he was so preoccupied with looking upwards trying to understand the workings of the heavens (i.e. proto-astronomy) that he was not watching where he was walking and fell into a well. Thus the history of western philosophy begins with an unsubtle image of the impracticality and perhaps futility of the human intellect in light of practical concerns. In an important way, the story of Thales and his well shaped the prototypical image of the philosopher with his head in the clouds, abstracted and detached from the concerns of the "real world." Philosophers and thinkers have lived with the reputation of being too abstract and impractical ever since Thales. (Bear with me. There is an important point to this history lesson. I promise.)

While Thales may have made some important mathematical and astronomical discoveries as a result of his skyward gazing, it was not until Plato and his "Allegory of the Cave" that any real systematic treatment was made of the importance of keeping one's mind upward-focused. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato recounts a fictional tale as a metaphor for the human condition. The human quest for real knowledge, Plato claims, is like living life as prisoners within a dark cave. Seeing only a dark cave wall, illuminated only by faint shadows, the prisoners in the cave live their entire lives thinking that the shadowy illusions along the walls of the cave are the extent of their reality. But suppose that one of the prisoners were able to break free from his chains and crawl his way up and out of the cave into the blinding light of the sun. The freed prisoner would discover the true source of illumination and come to realize that there is an underlying reality that provides the grounding for the false images he had previously taken to be "real." There would be a period of adjustment while his eyes adjusted from darkness into light, but for the first time the prisoner would have real knowledge.

Now for Plato the sun is still just a metaphor for the source and grounding of reality. For Plato this grounding was in terms of abstract and pure concepts like justice, piety, beauty, etc. Certainly there are instances of these grounding principles in the physical world; good and just actions, beautiful things, etc., but Plato held that in order to have real knowledge, one must understand these pure concepts themselves apart from their instances in the physical world. Thus the true source and grounding of reality for him was a separate realm of abstract concepts he called "forms." And it is the job of human reason to use its ability to think abstractly and philosophically to reason one's way to knowledge of these pure forms; a job which only reason could do since for Plato it is by reason and abstract thinking alone that we can have knowledge of perfect and abstract concepts.

It is no wonder that the early Christian theologians were often Neoplatonists who thought that Plato's notion of an underlying and grounding reality was harmonious with the notion of God as the creator and ground of all existence. The difference between Plato's theory of the forms and the neo-Platonism of these early Christian theologians, of course, was the role Christ plays in the system. Instead of Socrates being the true philosopher, as for Plato, who was able to lead humanity out of Plato's cave, for the Christian Neoplatonists it was Jesus himself who leads the way for mankind to the true origin and source of being, God the Father.

And finally we come to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. Formerly named Saul, the Apostle Paul was originally a fierce persecutor of the early church. On the road to Damascus he was blinded by a light from heaven and rebuked by the voice of Jesus himself for his persecuting. Saul was told by our Lord Jesus that he was God's chosen instrument to carry the gospel, the good news, of Jesus to the Gentiles. From that moment Saul underwent a radical conversion experience, perhaps the most radical in all of human history, from the staunchest persecutor of the church to the person most responsible (albeit guided by the Holy Spirit) for spreading the good news of Jesus and his forgiveness of sins across the known world. From that moment on he would become known as "Paul" and would become the man who is still even today the most convincing apologist for Christ the world has ever known.

What is unique about Saul's transformation and conversion to Paul along the road to Damascus is the way in which his skyward vision sought him out through no volition or attempt on his own part. Both for Thales and for Plato, the heavens are waiting passively to be sought out by philosophy and human reason; but for Paul and for all Christians, it is God who seeks us out in the darkness around us and within us. Paul was not looking to meet Christ on the road to Damascus, but Christ sought him out from the right hand of the Father and convicted him of his sinfulness in his heart.

And here the true meaning of the "heavens" for us as Christians presents itself. We often think of God in heaven being "above" us, and we often look up to the sky to pray to God the Father; but we simultaneously have the Holy Spirit within us to convict us and to comfort us and to orient us back to following Jesus. And so for us as Christians, the full meaning of using our minds and eyes and hearts for understanding is inextricably bound with keeping our hearts fixed on God our Father, Jesus our savior, and the Holy Spirit within us.

But unlike the heavens of Thales or Plato, the grounding of our being and our salvation is not passive and inactive, but personal and close at hand. We can know God in a personal way, while Plato could only know about the forms in an impersonal and abstract manner. And while Thales' skyward gazing led him to stumble, as Christians we have assurance that our inner heavenly gazing, being of the heart towards God, will never lead us astray but rather into the loving arms of our Father and creator.

Thales and Plato certainly show us the grandest heights and deepest pitfalls of human reason unaided by divine providence. But it is Paul's heavenly vision and encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus that illustrates the true encounter waiting to be found with Jesus and with the heavens; for Jesus did not wait for us to find him with our weak and imperfect faculties; Jesus instead sought us out by humbling himself (as Paul says, even to the point of death on the cross) and brought the hope of salvation to our doorsteps and to our hearts.

We need not have any fear of the wells and ditches along our path, for God's providence surrounds us even in times of trial. We need not have any grand delusions of climbing our way to God out of Plato's cave because of our own merits. Instead we place our faith, as Paul says, in "Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks." (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23) And this is the most important heavenly truth of all: "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16). Foolishness to the Greeks indeed, but the Greeks can have their Thales' well and their Plato's cave and their impersonal heavens; for it took a foolish and active vision from heaven on the road to Damascus to bring them a savior in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul showed us how to love Jesus with all one's soul, and all one's mind, and all one's heart. He toiled to spread the gospel to the ends of the Earth because that was the path God laid before him. He not only shared Jesus with the Gentiles because of his Christ-like example of service and sacrifice, but he knew that Jesus could be preached to the Gentiles with his mind as well.

Paul used his every mental strength to understand God's plan for redemption and salvation, and his reasoning in his New Testament letters is first-rate; and yet Paul took no credit for himself, counting his own strengths apart from Christ as a loss for the sake of Christ. It is only with Christ that man is able to walk with God, and yet Christ himself did not enter the world as a metaphorical Platonic sun or form; but as the servant and son of the living God. He died for us, he rose again, and conquered the death and destruction to which our sin would lead us. His body was broken as a sacrifice for our salvation and forgiveness; and this is the true meaning of the following passage of John in his gospel:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1:1-5)

So like Plato, let us keep our eyes on the Light, but instead not of our own accord but on that of Jesus. Like Thales, let us seek to understand the heavens, but instead let us bring the Light of Christ to the world and not lose sight of the path before us. And like Paul, let us follow the path God has laid before us for our lives; to love Jesus, our Light, with all our beings and all our minds, and to know that it is only in service for the cause of Christ that our human walks have their true purpose.

My Ten Favorite Bible Passages

Here are my ten favorite Bible passages. I think you can learn a lot about a person by what scriptures they turn to for comfort and guidance. Please share your own list, too, in the comments section or as a link to your blog.

1) John 1:1-5: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

2) Philippians 4:4-8 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."

3) Romans 8:1-5 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the spirit."

4) Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 "Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in words or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few. For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of a fool through many words."

5) Revelation 21:1-8 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new. And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

6) Luke 23:33-43 "And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One. And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!" Now there was also an inscription above Him, "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." And one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And indeed we justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

7) James 3:5-12 "So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among out members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Neither can salt water produce fresh."

8) Proverbs 9:7-10 "He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be wiser still; Teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

9) Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."

10) John 10:25-30 "Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.""

How to Read the Bible: Biblical Literalism or Open Interpretation?

Here is an article I had published on Associated Content entitled "How to Read the Bible" in which I consider the opposing views of Biblical Literalism and Open Interpretation:

Nearly every Christian will agree that reading the Bible is an important spiritual discipline (something that draws you closer to God). I have found, however, that individual Christians differ wildly regarding the approach one should take to reading the Bible. I do not mean here simply what passages to read when, although there are many methods one can follow to systematically read through the entire Bible. Instead I mean the interpretive work and the hermeneutics involved when one interacts with such an important text (arguably the most important text ever created insofar as it constitutes God's plan for salvation for us, his creations).

I advocate a position involving a middle way (media via) between two opposing extremes or dangers when reading the Bible. These two extremes are over-flexibility in interpretation and under-flexibility in interpretation. On the one hand, I find it too naive to think that there is no interpretive work done when reading the Bible. The doctrinal distinctions and differences from Christian denomination to Christian denomination are enough to show that there is a fair amount of interpretive work to be done when encountering ancient texts, even texts that one believes to be divinely inspired. I have met Christians, bless their hearts, who are literalists and hold that every word, in English no less (forgetting that the Bible is a culmination of different texts from different time periods in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic), is a direct communication from God.

I can appreciate the heart of the literalist position, although I disagree with it) since to hold such a view is to have a rock solid foundation in an ever-changing and morally-bankrupt world. While I agree with the need for the rock, the rock should be none other than Christ himself rather than the literal interpretation of ancient texts. Only Christ is qualified to be the foundation of Christian faith, and I do not believe one's faith should stand or fall based on whether every word in the Bible is literally true. To do so actually places Christian faith on shaky foundations (especially if one's faith could be disproved by showing that specific claims were actually false) rather than on the true foundation of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

So it seems clear that the need for some level of interpretation ought to be allowed or even encouraged. The disagreements Christians have among themselves about certain textual passages from the Bible is enough to show that there are already competing interpretations abounding. The question is: how much interpretation should be allowed in Christian beliefs and doctrine? In other words, is there a point at which the interpretation has diverged too far to the point that the new interpretation has lost what was essentially (i.e. indispensably) Christian about the gospel? Another way to put this is to ask whether there any central tenets of Christian faith without which one ceases to be a Christian altogether? You can see the problem already forming once the door is allowed for interpretation. How does one allow for competing interpretations to allow for human fallibility while not compromising about the heart of being a follower of Jesus? While I do not have a well-worked out answer to this question, I do suggest a few things to keep in mind when you yourself are faced with the question of interpretation and when encountering others who do not share your interpretation.

I think the most important factor to keep in mind when reading the Bible is to read with a spirit of humility and an open heart. All too often religion has been used to propagate an individual's or an institution's individual agenda. In other words, people try to make the Bible conform to their own priorities and beliefs rather than to let themselves be guided by the Holy Spirit working within them. It is only God who is an omniscient (all-knowing) and perfect being. By definition, then, humans in general are limited in their knowledge and imperfect in their natures (God called Adam good, not perfect). All too often Christians will fail to keep these considerations in mind when reading the Bible (and especially when expounding their own beliefs of the meaning contained therein). So the first thing to keep in mind is to have a humble spirit when reading and interpreting the Bible, remembering that only God knows all things. It is also important to remember that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and will guide our hearts when we are receptive to its movements. Only the spirit should guide one's interpretation of the Bible, never one's self, ego, or prejudices (especially those from your particular tradition and which you are most likely to be blinded to the presence of).

The next thing to keep in mind is that the Bible is viewed by a majority of Christians to be a divinely inspired book written by fallible human beings. There is a point at which it is possible to sacrifice too much to the sake of interpretation and at which the essential message of the Bible is lost. If I had to retain one principle that is central to Christian belief, it would be Jesus' claim in John 14:6: "...I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." In other words, there is only one path to salvation, through Jesus Christ. This I find to be the one central tenet without which one ceases to be a Christian. Paul knew this when he wrote to the Corinthians that ..."if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:14) Paul saw that if the uniqueness of Christ as the paschal lamb for our salvation is not retained, then Christ's death on the cross was neither necessary nor worth our faith.

This last point has immediate relevance for today's multiculturalism. One often hears people say that the Christian way is only one path to God, but is not the only path. Paul saw that if this perspective were taken, then Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection would all have been in vain. For if there were another path to salvation available, then why would the Father God sacrifice Christ his Son? I do not intend to go into the theological reasons for the necessity of a sacrifice and resurrection of a messiah, but hopefully you see the force of this argument (given originally by Paul). With other paths to salvation freely available, Christ's entire ministry, life, death, and resurrection become meaningless and arbitrary. Paul also uses this rationale to justify the necessity of taking a missional, evangelistic stance towards people who do not yet know of the good news (literally "Gospel") of Jesus Christ. God provided the path to salvation, and it is up to us to make it known to the world (although with a spirit of humility and imperfection ourselves).

Different Christian denominations and movements have differed about how to walk this line between interpretation and Christological foundations, but Christians are at their best when they retain the self-sacrificing spirit of our Lord Jesus and are humble about their own correctness. I believe it is possible to promote Christ as the one and only path to salvation out of a sense of love, compassion, and understanding for those who do not yet know Christ. This does not mean we should all be relativists and believe that all beliefs are correct or valuable just because they are beliefs. I do not believe this to be a coherent position anyways. Rather it means that we should not be so forceful in promoting our own beliefs that we lose the forgiving and humble spirit of Christ himself, guided by the Holy Spirit within us. The same should be true of our own devotional time reading the Bible. The essential message of the Bible should be quite apparent, but remember to be humble about the details, for only God has complete knowledge of all things.