Sometimes I am tempted by the gnostic thought that I might save myself by learning. I see those around me walking around as if they were asleep, aware of only the smallness of a material animal life. Towards them I feel a resentful superiority. They come home from work, pop open a can of beer, and vegetate on the couch. In my indignant pride, my mind screams at them "Gain knowledge or buy a rope!" I struggle to comprehend the sinfulness of these feelings. My conscience reproaches me:
"Despite all your knowledge, you are not saved any more than those".
There are holy fools, and invincible ignorance.
and there is much to falter upon with intelligence.
The world wizened atheist, grace does flout,
When tasting suffering, he is led to doubt.
We say with Augustine that evil is naught but the privation of Good, because God in the first chapter of Genesis repeatably affirms the goodness of creation. We believe the natural man to be dull in his animality, and we associate innocence with ignorance; were not human beings originally deprived of moral knowledge in Eden? If God created man as an ignorant creature, then ignorance cannot be written off as unfortunate and a bad mental state of affairs without reservation.
Ignorance can be a grace and a great form of consolation. The proof of the first of these is that temptation originates in the awareness of certain potential actions-- I can only be tempted to steal a book, if I am aware that it is possible to do so. Moreover, additional items of knowledge regarding the potential action effecting temptation modulates its severity-- If I know that I will not be caught stealing a particular book, then I am tempted all the more by the idea of stealing it. If God impedes my awareness regarding the possibility for committing certain sins then this lack of awareness is a grace for He has shielded me from sin.
The proof that Ignorance can be a form of consolation: The awareness of suffering, whether my own or of others, can cause me to feel distress. God knows the specific instances of suffering which (my knowledge of) would cause distress in me. God may impede my knowledge of those instances, and thereby allow me to maintain a cheery state of mind. Or we might alternatively state that it is within God's power to induce ignorance in me of an unfortunate state of affairs which would distress me if I had knowledge of it. If God acts upon this power then it is a form of consolation.
It also appears to me to me that God induces obstructions to the clarity of our spiritual vision regarding certain spiritual truths so that we might better be able to live out our Faith. These obstructions ought to be counted as a kind of blessed ignorance. This story, from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, suggests the same:
"This is what Abba Daniel, the Pharanite, said, 'Our Father Abba Arsenius told us of an inhabitant of Scetis, of notable life and of simple faith; through his naïveté he was deceived and said, "The bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol. Two old men having learnt that he had uttered this saying, knowing that he was outstanding in his way of life, knew that he had not spoken through malice, but through simplicity. So they came to find him and said, "Father, we have heard a proposition contrary to the faith on the part of someone who says that the bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol." The old man said, "it is I who have said that." Then the old men exhorted him saying, "Do not hold this position, Father, but hold one in conformity with that which the catholic Church has given us. We believe, for our part, that the bread itself is the body of Christ as in the beginning, God formed man in his image, taking the dust of the earth, without anyone being able to say that it is not the image of God, even though it is not seen to be so; thus it is with the bread of which he said that it is his body; and so we believe that it is really the body of Christ." The old man said to them, "As long as I have not been persuaded by the thing itself, I shall not be fully convinced." So they said, "Let us pray God about this mystery throughout the whole of this week and we believe that God will reveal it to us." The old man received this saying with joy and he prayed in these words, "Lord, you know that it is not through malice that I do not believe and so that I may not err through ignorance, reveal this mystery to me, Lord Jesus Christ." The old men returned to their cells and they also prayed God, saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, reveal this mystery to the old man, that he may believe and not lose his reward." God heard both the prayers. At the end of the week they came to church on Sunday and sat all three on the same mat, the old man in the middle. Then their eyes were opened and when the bread was placed on the holy table, there appeared as it were a little child to these three alone. And when the priest put out his hand to break the bread, behold an angel descended from heaven with a sword and poured the child's blood into the chalice. When the priest cut the bread into small pieces, the angel also cut the child in pieces. When they drew near to receive the sacred elements the old man alone received a morsel of bloody flesh. Seeing this he was afraid and cried out, "Lord, I believe that this bread is your flesh and this chalice your blood." Immediately the flesh which he held in his hand became bread, according to the mystery and he took it, giving thanks to God. Then the old men said to him, "God knows human nature and that man cannot eat raw flesh and that is why he has changed his body into bread and his blood into wine, for those who receive it in faith." Then they gave thanks to God for the old man, because he had allowed him not to lose the reward of his labour. So all three returned with joy to their own cells.'" (pg 53, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Cistercian Publications, 1984).
Dear Lord,
Remember the weakness of my will and preserve in me the ignorance necessary for the accomplishment of the tasks You have laid out for me, in accordance with Your will.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment