Father Richard Rohr and C.S. Lewis on Certainty, Ignorance, and Our Images of God

I’ve come across a handful of quotes this week that seem pretty relevant – particularly as a preface to my anticipated post on post-modernity. There was a time when these types of quotes would’ve made me uncomfortable – so, my apologies if they have that effect. I do think they are important to wrestle with.

Here’s one from Father Richard Rohr that has tremendous application to me, both past and present:

"Ignorance does not result from what we don’t know! Ignorance results from what we think we do know—but don’t! Most ignorant people are, in fact, quite certain."

Here’s more:

"Great spiritual teachers always balance knowing with not knowing—and knowing that you don’t know, even your own motives... This balancing act became the central Biblical great idea called “faith.” I am afraid it has been largely lost in the west in our desire to combat secularists, atheists, and unbelievers. The Christian churches today largely define faith as knowing, and even being certain about your knowing, when in fact it means exactly the opposite!

Faith is being willing not to know, and still being content, because God knows. Faith is a learned “tolerance for ambiguity” because I no longer use knowledge as power, so I no longer need to be right. I do not even need to know that I am perfectly moral, superior, or good, because I now know as Jesus said, that “God alone is good” (Mark 10:18).

Now that’s definitely a gift from God—to be able to live with the freedom not to know and not to be right—and that is exactly why we always said that faith is a gift. It is a gift we can consciously ask for and grow into, but we do need to know what the goal is!"

Here’s a related quote. I can’t source it (if you’re interested, I can tell you where I found it), but it’s thought provoking nonetheless:

"That we might see God more clearly… for now we see as though through a glass dimly, but then we will see Him as He is face-to-face. All of our images of God are merely that…images of God. Yet, we are like the blind men describing the elephant… We only know part of the eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, God… His ways are higher than our ways and beyond our finding out. How could it be otherwise? I have heard it said that the greatest hindrance to wisdom is not ignorance, but thinking we already know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We may know much of it, but we will always have much more to learn. Blessed are the poor in spirit–the humble–for they will see and know God in increasing measure. Our quest in life should be to know more of Him and to know Him more clearly day-by-day."

And finally, C.S. Lewis wrote a great poem called, “Footnote to all Prayers”. I’m not good at understanding poetry, so I think I only understand about 10% of this one, but I like it. C.S. Lewis sure wrote a lot of scandalous things...

He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing Thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshiping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to Thyself divert
Our arrows, aimed unskillfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolaters, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if Thou take them at their word.

Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.