theology-less knowledge of God
Yesterday I was talking with my brother Dallas. And began talking about evil and the Garden of Eden. I began to tell him that I was wondering whether evil was the move away from tacit knowledge/experience of God.
Tacit knowing is language that Micheal Polanyi gave us. Polanyi lays the foundation for it in his book ”Personal Knowledge” and articulates it more fully in “The Tacit Dimension.” Both books are must reading.
Tacit knowing like the kind of “knowledge” that a fifth-generation violin maker who has made violins his whole life has; he just knows. So this violin maker picks up two pieces of wood that look the same, but some how he knows that one piece would make a great violin while the other piece would not. How does he know this? Even though he has been making violins his whole life, he can not fully articulate how he knows this; but he does know.
That is tacit knowing. No checklist, no objective signs to lean on, simply knowing, and acting on that sense of knowing. Like when the painter knows the painting is done. Or when a dating couple know they are to get married.
I believe that tacit knowing of God is what we were created for.
God created us for a tacit relationship, we were created to live within a theology-less knowledge of God.
So maybe Adam and Eve’s articulation their relationship with God moves humanity from tacitly relating in the Divine to objectification of that relationship; they turned “just knowing” into a checklist.
peace, dwight
They spoke the word of separation. They spoke I-It.
Thought I would check out your site. My SD recommended it a few months back. I have just gotten around to tracking it down as of late. It is my understanding that you have a discussion board somewhere for folks intereseted in conversations with a contemplative flavor. I would be interested in knowing where I might find such a delightful place.
I enjoyed your last entry. Interesting thought about evil. If the spirit of Christ is all knowing, He informs our moments. Sin begins then at the point of lack of awareness of him present with us. Unfortunate how objective "knowing" suffocates the reality of greater union with divine love, and tacit knowing.
Jean Kleffman