Words
Recently I have been doing some reading in philosophy, especially as it relates to post-modernism. Let me share one of my findings:
"In the naming, the things named are called into their thinging.Thinging, they unfold world, in which things abide and so are abiding ones."
That's Martin Heidegger (born 1889).
It became obvious to me as I read this that I have a long way to go in philosophy. I'm still working on it.
It seems, however, that in the ongoing dialog concerning how we come to know things, that philosophers went from thinking of us as observers who can see things objectively, to participants who can think only in the terms allowed by our language, and from there to "language creates reality" to "there is no shared reality available to us". It seems our isolation is complete- there is no single reference point from which we can all begin to build a concept of reality. You are on your own.
There is a certain logic to this, if you start only with individual persons. This gives a whole new depth to the description of Jesus in I Peter 2:6, "a chosen and precious cornerstone". A cornerstone is the first block laid down; all subsequent measurements in the construction of the building are referenced back to this point.
So Jesus, being very smart, anticipated this problem of knowing, and tells us plainly that He Himself is the one, unmovable point from which we can understand what it is to be human. He said "I am the way (giver of direction ), truth (the ultimate reference point) and life (source) You may say, "Smart, maybe, but not very humble." That would be so if you or I were to make the claim. So- having made the claim, Jesus challenges us with a choice- true, or false? Savior, or charlatan? This is the most important decision you will ever make.
"In the naming, the things named are called into their thinging.Thinging, they unfold world, in which things abide and so are abiding ones."
That's Martin Heidegger (born 1889).
It became obvious to me as I read this that I have a long way to go in philosophy. I'm still working on it.
It seems, however, that in the ongoing dialog concerning how we come to know things, that philosophers went from thinking of us as observers who can see things objectively, to participants who can think only in the terms allowed by our language, and from there to "language creates reality" to "there is no shared reality available to us". It seems our isolation is complete- there is no single reference point from which we can all begin to build a concept of reality. You are on your own.
There is a certain logic to this, if you start only with individual persons. This gives a whole new depth to the description of Jesus in I Peter 2:6, "a chosen and precious cornerstone". A cornerstone is the first block laid down; all subsequent measurements in the construction of the building are referenced back to this point.
So Jesus, being very smart, anticipated this problem of knowing, and tells us plainly that He Himself is the one, unmovable point from which we can understand what it is to be human. He said "I am the way (giver of direction ), truth (the ultimate reference point) and life (source) You may say, "Smart, maybe, but not very humble." That would be so if you or I were to make the claim. So- having made the claim, Jesus challenges us with a choice- true, or false? Savior, or charlatan? This is the most important decision you will ever make.
posted by John Elliot | 11:57 PM
1 Comments:
As for language...
in the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.
and in Genesis...
and God SAID...
And God also changed the names of many bibical heroes, like Abram, Jacob, Simon...
I think these scriptures are quite in agreement with Heidegger, but it's not as if his idea is original. As a Christian, all I can say to Heidegger is, "Oh, that's nice. But tell me something I DON'T know."
Kris
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