--- uuid: "6480094197842398628" title: "Plato's Cave" date: "2007-11-27" permalink: "/Plato-s-Cave.html" description: categories: ---

I've been thinking today about something my good friend (and former boss) Brent posted about yesterday. Brent talks about how difficult it is for somebody to understand the nature of Christ without having experienced Christ.

Being the astute philosophy student that I am (what's up, Professor Kalkman!), I noticed some huge connections to something that we talked about at the beginning of the semester, and thought that I would post my thoughts here.

So imagine you're in a cave. You're so far down in this cave that you can't even see daylight. And you never have. You've always been in this cave.

In addition to never having seen daylight, you've never interacted with another human being. You can't. You're chained to a rock, facing the wall of this dark cave.

But it isn't all dark. Behind the big rock you're chained to is a fire. People and animals are constantly walking between the fire and your rock. You don't know anything of these people, though you've been observing these strange shadows on the cave wall you're whole life. Sometimes, when one of the people talk, an echo bounces back from the shadows. It's almost as if it's speaking to you. You can't understand the shadow isn't the source. You're chained to a rock, facing the wall of this dark cave.

So you embrace this "reality" that you know. Why wouldn't you? It's all you've ever known.

One day, you're ripped from your big rock, carried out of the cave and into daylight. You see the sun. You see the trees. You see people walking and talking with eachother.