Sunday, March 29, 2009

Confident of Not Knowing

I came across the website for the Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Decatur, Georgia where D.E. Paulk is the senior pastor. They describe their church as radically inclusive in regards to all faiths. Paulk's newest book is titled "I Don't Know...The Way of Knowing." The following is the promotional material for the book from their website:

"'I Don't Know...The Way of Knowing' by D.E. Paulk. I Don't Know is the required confession needed to be granted admission to the path of enlightenment and to The Way of Knowing. I Know is conclusive, ending, finite and therefore devastating. I Know is an enemy of immortality and nemesis to The Way of Knowing. We are all infinite spirits and the offspring of the Infinite Creator. When we discover the I Don't Know within we unleash our Infinite nature and unearth the Endless Us! Are you ready to put on immortality?All Truth flows to us from One Divine River . From that One River many wells form and are fed. We might call these wells religions, cultures or philosophies. All wells sustained by the One River contain beauty and truth. However, we make a grave mistake when we declare any particular well as being the One River. I Don't Know dissolves religious division, bridges cultural chasms and dodges philosophical divorce originating from the I Know. I Don't Know is the Repairer of the Breach. In a day when the I Know is to be charged with so much human suffering - I Don't Know shines brightly as an ancient idea whose time has come of age. $20."

I find it interesting that a book is written to asert what one doesn't know. Certainly "I know" has been used to abuse many, both flowing from religion as well as in society at large. But why spend many pages encouraging people to not know something? And how confident can I be that this approch to knowing is best? Can I really know what I don't know? Humm...

1 comment:

__REV__ said...

OK... so is this agnostic Gnosticism? (that is, we don't know the hidden truths that are known by one/few) OR is this Gnostic agnosticism (that is, there are hidden truths that once known reveal we don't know!)...

OR is this just typical postmodern, post-critical, blather nonsense of the same bizarre ilk as positivism, Gnosticism, Scientology, and New Age all wrapped up into one.

"We are the infinite"? Gimme a break! Now where did I put that Thetan...

REV