Knowing and Being Known
“The apostles were important in the life of the Church not because they knew a lot about Christ, but because they knew Christ. And so we read the Scriptures because through them we encounter the living Christ. This is complementary to our understanding of the purpose of theology itself: knowing God…what we see in Christ, as proclaimed by the apostles, is what it is to be God, yet other than the God whom Christ calls upon as Father and makes known through, and is himself made known by, the Holy Spirit. It could not have been otherwise, nor could it now be, for this is how the God of the Christian faith is…Jesus tells us that eternal life is to ‘know God’ (John 17: 3). The spiritual life for the Christian is to come to know God, or rather as St Paul says, to be known by God.” (Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, Fr. John Behr, Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“St. Isaac the Syrian said that only the tomb is the “land of certainty”. Writing to hermits living in the desert, St. Isaac wanted to free them from the delusion that they could be certain about anything in this world. I wonder if St. Isaac was reflecting on the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 8: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” (Fr. Michael Gillis)
“If you spend precious quiet time with the Lord, in prayer, you will be surprised that the Lord will often come to you (rather, you will sense His presence) and He speak quietly into our hearts and say “Take heart, my son.” “Take heart, my daughter.” “Have courage, be at peace, I am with you always.” Just as the Lord knew the troubles that this man had faced in his life, He also knows each of us intimately. He knows every aspect of our lives. He understands you even when you think that no one else understands you. He knows you intimately because He created you and He dwells in you through baptism and Holy Communion.” (Fr. James Guirguis)
“A therapist lightly connected to Christianity might push back at my critique by quoting Scripture, “Know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32). But truth is a person, not a collection of facts; in fact, truth is a person who cannot be known fully and meaningfully all in one moment of intellectual analysis. No real person can be known like that. The truth which makes us free in Scripture is a Person who appears to us first through theophany, as Beauty.” (Timothy G. Patitsas)
“In some manner, I profess with St. Paul that I know Christ. I do not know Him exhaustively (who could?). St. Paul longed to “know, even as I am known.” My first glimmers of Christ came from reading the gospels – what He said and what He did. It came secondly through reading those who had chosen to follow Him and were seen as exemplars (the saints). Along with these external witnesses was my own internal witness that has been unfolding for most of my life. It is what happens if we keep His commandments: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21) and “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23) This knowledge does not belong to the category of objects. We do not and cannot know God as an object. Knowing God is closer to knowing ourselves than it is to knowing objects outside of ourselves. We can note, over time, that our inner knowledge of Christ resembles the inner knowledge described by others and consistently confirms the truth of His commandments. It is more than mere subjectivity.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
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