God made us to be knowers. We long to know. Esther Meek argues ( Longing to Know ) that the frustration of this desire is one of the effects of skepticism and relativism:
“To be human is to make sense of experience. There are voices today that would discourage the attempt. They say, You can't really get it right, you can't really understand. All you can do is come up with some private interpretation, and you need not worry about your private interpretation fitting the world, because there is no world for it to fit. And for you to think you can get it right, objectively right, is an attitude that threatens everyone else's freedom to think what they like. It is socially inappropriate to believe that you can understand, or make sense of experience, in any objective way. It is socially inappropriate to long to know. So keep your opinions in the realm of the private, please” (71-2).
Meek exhorts her readers to resist: “Don't let these antagonistic voices win the day! Do not deny or repress your own fundamentally human passion to make sense of experience. As a human, I believe, you long to know. Do not surrender the passion.” This amounts to “a call to authenticity - honest admission of what is already going on. Humans make sense of experience. In this way they navigate life and give expression to their longings. Don't stop loving the longing” (72).
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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