One of the biggest problems in literature and in life is the fact that humans are limited. More specifically, humans are limited by words and time. Augustine struggled with this throughout his life and included it in his autobiography, The Confessions. In book nine he writes, "But with the mouth of the heart wide open, we drank in the waters flowing from your spring on high, 'the spring of life' which is in you. Sprinkled with this dew to the limit of our capacity, our minds attempted in some degree to reflect on so great a reality." Many times in our day and time it seems culture teaches us that we have no limits. We may even be taught that the only limits we have are the limits we place on ourselves. Movies like Rudy and Rocky are championed. Crowds cheer for the "underdogs" that seem to have insurmountable odds. While it is important to overcome obstacles, it is not to glorify a humanistic mindset. This is not true. Humans are finite beings that depend on the LORD God (whether they acknowledge it or not) for their existence. Humans are limited, especially in their full understanding of the divine. He also stated in chapter 9, "Eternal life is of the quality of that moment of understanding." Here Augustine shows through his own experience that humans can encounter glimpses and hints of the eternal future. However, he does understand that while his mind may be able to comprehend it, there is no language that can fully express what the glorious future in eternity will be like, even to the outer limits.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Outer Limits
One of the biggest problems in literature and in life is the fact that humans are limited. More specifically, humans are limited by words and time. Augustine struggled with this throughout his life and included it in his autobiography, The Confessions. In book nine he writes, "But with the mouth of the heart wide open, we drank in the waters flowing from your spring on high, 'the spring of life' which is in you. Sprinkled with this dew to the limit of our capacity, our minds attempted in some degree to reflect on so great a reality." Many times in our day and time it seems culture teaches us that we have no limits. We may even be taught that the only limits we have are the limits we place on ourselves. Movies like Rudy and Rocky are championed. Crowds cheer for the "underdogs" that seem to have insurmountable odds. While it is important to overcome obstacles, it is not to glorify a humanistic mindset. This is not true. Humans are finite beings that depend on the LORD God (whether they acknowledge it or not) for their existence. Humans are limited, especially in their full understanding of the divine. He also stated in chapter 9, "Eternal life is of the quality of that moment of understanding." Here Augustine shows through his own experience that humans can encounter glimpses and hints of the eternal future. However, he does understand that while his mind may be able to comprehend it, there is no language that can fully express what the glorious future in eternity will be like, even to the outer limits.
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