After reading nothing but Plato for an entire semester, I'm still not exactly convinced on what he believes about sin. On the one hand, he really believes in a Just man- a guardian. He believes that there are some men of gold, those men are wise and good and seek justice and can censor others.
But if the just man can't be found- what then? I once heard that the genius of the American system is that we don't underestimate the corruptibility of everyone- everyone watches everyone else. I like this. I like the understanding that power corrupts all men. I think I am more of the opinion that if I had a ring of invisibility, I would try to get away with things. I really would. I am not above saying that I would probably be selfish, even though I wish that wasn't true.
Socrates, to me, describes Jesus in the just man, and i'm not convinced that anyone outside of Jesus is just. I am not fully convinced that any man is made of gold. At the same time, I want to be just, I do want very much to be made of gold, and it seems as if Jesus really meant it when he said "Be perfect just as I am perfect."
hmm.
But if the just man can't be found- what then? I once heard that the genius of the American system is that we don't underestimate the corruptibility of everyone- everyone watches everyone else. I like this. I like the understanding that power corrupts all men. I think I am more of the opinion that if I had a ring of invisibility, I would try to get away with things. I really would. I am not above saying that I would probably be selfish, even though I wish that wasn't true.
Socrates, to me, describes Jesus in the just man, and i'm not convinced that anyone outside of Jesus is just. I am not fully convinced that any man is made of gold. At the same time, I want to be just, I do want very much to be made of gold, and it seems as if Jesus really meant it when he said "Be perfect just as I am perfect."
hmm.
Although I do not fully grasp all that Plato says, I do grasp the reality that his questions make me think. They make me think, and think, and think until my head hurts. But his questions are not irrelevant to us. I think they are essential and I am glad the questions are challenging. I agree that outside of Jesus, none of us are just people and I would also try to get away with things if I had a ring of invisibility. But when reading your post, this is the only thing I could think of, "Therefore, Jew, though justice be thy plea, consider this. That in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation."
ReplyDeleteLet me throw in a hypothesis, which is probably an oversimplification. For Plato, it is ignorance that causes corruption. We do not know what the Good is, so we fail to pursue it and become corrupt. For the Apostle Paul, it is corruption that causes ignorance. We know the good we ought to do, but we refuse to do it, so we suppress our knowledge and become willfully ignorant.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, that's probably not doing justice to either side, but it may be a starting point.
-Dr. Schuler