and that is all we need to know
In describing how we can know how near we are to the Kingdom of God, Meister Eckhart tells us “If I were a king, and did not know it, I should not really be a king. But, if I were fully convinced that I was a king, and all of mankind coincided in my belief, and I knew that they shared my conviction, I should indeed be a king, and all the wealth of the king would be mine. But, if one of these three conditions were lacking, I should not really be a king.”
First Stars
In other words, if I know at thing to be true and you also know the truth of it, and I know that you know it to be true then it must be true. But conversely if either I do not know a thing to be true or you do not know the truth of it or I do not know that you know it to be true then it must not be true.
While there is some obvious logic to this argument, it is not without its fault; for it presupposes that what we know and understand to be true is, in fact, the truth. If all know that a thing is true which is in fact false, then my awareness of your knowledge of the truth can never transform the falsity of it into the truth.
All this is in continuation of what I previously declared by stating that “I do not know God – but I know that God exists.”
There are many forms of knowing, many types of knowledge, and numerous definitions for the word. It is far too easy to miss the truth when your perception and acceptance of it comes from a different perspective or context.
One can say that ‘to know’ means ‘to perceive directly’ or to ‘to have a practical understanding of, as through experience; be skilled in’ and if that is your understanding of the term, then clearly, since “[n]o one has ever seen God” [1 Jn 4:12], no one can ‘know’ God.
Another use of the word, although archaic, is ‘to know someone in the conjugal sense’ and this most definitely does not apply to any knowledge of God.
No one truly ‘knows’ another, for no one can ‘know’ what lies within the heart of another. This applies whether someone is a complete stranger or a beloved spouse with whom you have spent a life-time ‘knowing’ one another. If you are incapable of ‘knowing’ someone whom you love, how can you ever assume that you could ‘know’ God? As you can never completely know your beloved, all the more so, you can never know God.
There is yet another meaning for knowing that is of far greater import; and that is, as created beings, we cannot formulate or calculate who or what God is. No one can describe God’s appearance nor can He be measured or quantified, for God cannot be contained and confined within any theology or etymology. We can state, affirm, and prove that God does exist, but God is beyond our understanding, “God is great beyond our knowledge” [Job 36:26].
The truth is: to love God is to know God … and that is all we need to know.
