understanding |ˌəndərˈstandi ng |
noun
• an individual's perception or judgment of a situation
noun
• an individual's perception or judgment of a situation
We are surrounded by towering pillars of moral authorities that sometimes are unanimous in their ideals and sometimes are not. Whether it be, family, church, school, the government, the media, your friends, your enemies, or the books you read, we are bombarded by the ideas and ideals of these influential structures and, more often than most, we concede that they are right.
"But what if you are challenged? What if they are challenged? What does that mean to you?" Professor Moody looked out at my class and simply paced back and forth as the questions were posed, "Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Was he on to something there? Or was he crazy. Is a life not examined really worthless? Is that what he meant?"
Now, just a background on Socrates: The oracle in Delphi stated that there was no man wiser than Socrates, which, in short, surprised Socrates so much that he set out to prove the oracle wrong. He knew that there were people out there more intelligent than he was, so the oracle just had to be wrong. But on the course of his mission he encountered men of power and great intellect, interviewing them only to find that, while they did not lack intelligence, they surely lacked wisdom. All these men considered themselves to be right. They lacked tolerance and open-mindedness and could therefore were not open to change. Socrates discovered that the reason why he was wiser than men like these, wasn't because he knew more, but because he knew that he knew nothing.
Wisdom and Intellect are very very different. And Socrates states that true wisdom is knowing that we really don't know that much. And in that, we must know that there is always more to learn and always something to advance to. So, back to the questions:
"What if you are challenged? What if they are challenged? What does that mean to you?"
So the topic of the church and how the constrictions of the church came up. (the most popular example sex outside of marriage. [weird. but ok]) What if you grew up your whole life being told by your church that it is wrong to have sex outside of marriage but someone challenged it. What would you say? What would that mean to you? More importantly: Would you examine what you believe in afterward?
The answer: well there is no definitive answer because the fact of the matter is you make your own choices. BUT, I do believe you should.
For a long time I stood by the reasoning that, "It's what the Bible said. It's what my family taught. So that's what I believe." And I was okay with that. I was fine with just that reasoning, which sadly is probably why the majority of my friends wrote me off as ignorant. But as I got older, I found myself in doubt over some things because I did not understand and also, I could not share the gospel with people I cared about when I did not truly understand. I mean, why would someone want to dedicate their lives to God when I could not even explain why I dedicated my life to him. Sometimes, saying "I believe just because," Just is not enough.
So you should question it. You should do the research not only because an "unexamined life is not worth living" but because in 2 Corinthians it says "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"
An examination of your beliefs is called for so that you can know if your faith is truly founded upon faith and NOT on habit. So that you can know that you are saved because you truly believe in Jesus Christ's atonement for your sins and not believe it just because you were told. It's important. Because there will be people left behind because they did not know that they truly did not know. (does that make sense?)
Anyway, so if you are challenged, welcome the challenge and find the answers. Maybe you'll learn something new. And even if you end up right where you were at least you went through the process and you have been changed. You have been tested. And you have passed.
I do think that Socrates was on to something when he speaks of this "unexamined life." Is it really worthless? Well, the way I see it, if we do live lives that are left unexamined, lives that are not challenged; not questioned and therefore doomed to stay stagnant then what is it that we live for? If we have no desire to try and understand this life that has been so graciously given to us, then what are we to do for the lifespan?
Sit in an unexamined faith and wait until we are judged and found to be lacking in true faith?
Wow.
That's what I call ignorance.
No. We have to examine ourselves and then, like it says in Mark 16:15 "He said to them, 'Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation'"
Don't stay stagnant. Move forward. And share the gospel. Share what you know.
-aarika
"But what if you are challenged? What if they are challenged? What does that mean to you?" Professor Moody looked out at my class and simply paced back and forth as the questions were posed, "Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Was he on to something there? Or was he crazy. Is a life not examined really worthless? Is that what he meant?"
Now, just a background on Socrates: The oracle in Delphi stated that there was no man wiser than Socrates, which, in short, surprised Socrates so much that he set out to prove the oracle wrong. He knew that there were people out there more intelligent than he was, so the oracle just had to be wrong. But on the course of his mission he encountered men of power and great intellect, interviewing them only to find that, while they did not lack intelligence, they surely lacked wisdom. All these men considered themselves to be right. They lacked tolerance and open-mindedness and could therefore were not open to change. Socrates discovered that the reason why he was wiser than men like these, wasn't because he knew more, but because he knew that he knew nothing.
Wisdom and Intellect are very very different. And Socrates states that true wisdom is knowing that we really don't know that much. And in that, we must know that there is always more to learn and always something to advance to. So, back to the questions:
"What if you are challenged? What if they are challenged? What does that mean to you?"
So the topic of the church and how the constrictions of the church came up. (the most popular example sex outside of marriage. [weird. but ok]) What if you grew up your whole life being told by your church that it is wrong to have sex outside of marriage but someone challenged it. What would you say? What would that mean to you? More importantly: Would you examine what you believe in afterward?
The answer: well there is no definitive answer because the fact of the matter is you make your own choices. BUT, I do believe you should.
For a long time I stood by the reasoning that, "It's what the Bible said. It's what my family taught. So that's what I believe." And I was okay with that. I was fine with just that reasoning, which sadly is probably why the majority of my friends wrote me off as ignorant. But as I got older, I found myself in doubt over some things because I did not understand and also, I could not share the gospel with people I cared about when I did not truly understand. I mean, why would someone want to dedicate their lives to God when I could not even explain why I dedicated my life to him. Sometimes, saying "I believe just because," Just is not enough.
So you should question it. You should do the research not only because an "unexamined life is not worth living" but because in 2 Corinthians it says "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"
An examination of your beliefs is called for so that you can know if your faith is truly founded upon faith and NOT on habit. So that you can know that you are saved because you truly believe in Jesus Christ's atonement for your sins and not believe it just because you were told. It's important. Because there will be people left behind because they did not know that they truly did not know. (does that make sense?)
Anyway, so if you are challenged, welcome the challenge and find the answers. Maybe you'll learn something new. And even if you end up right where you were at least you went through the process and you have been changed. You have been tested. And you have passed.
I do think that Socrates was on to something when he speaks of this "unexamined life." Is it really worthless? Well, the way I see it, if we do live lives that are left unexamined, lives that are not challenged; not questioned and therefore doomed to stay stagnant then what is it that we live for? If we have no desire to try and understand this life that has been so graciously given to us, then what are we to do for the lifespan?
Sit in an unexamined faith and wait until we are judged and found to be lacking in true faith?
Wow.
That's what I call ignorance.
No. We have to examine ourselves and then, like it says in Mark 16:15 "He said to them, 'Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation'"
Don't stay stagnant. Move forward. And share the gospel. Share what you know.
-aarika
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