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6.21.2005    |    Knowledge and Power
It is often said that "knowledge is power." The most perfect knowledge is that of the revelation of God, which is the basic subject for all of Scripture. Mere words, you say? Well, as John reminds us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". Think on this: the Word was God.

This is a very Hebraic concept, acknowledging that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His Word -- the Word incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ; the words of the Bible, transcribed by men empowered and informed by His Spirit.

The Jewish kabbalists had put forward the notion that God, when He created the universe, first created the Hebrew alphabet to build it with, and that "mere" words in Hebrew have immense power beyond the concepts they may convey. John the Evangelist was, among other things, a Jew, and, to judge from his writings, would have been right at home among the kabbalists who came some 1,000 years later. I don't know how handicapped John may have felt to be writing in Greek, as opposed to Hebrew, but among his purposes was to acquaint all, Jew and Gentile, with the Word made flesh.

John's gospel, and his Book of Revelation, should remind those of us hung up on the literal meaning of words, that words can have power far beyond the mere arrangement of letters on a printed page. Knowledge is power? Yes; true as far as it goes. But the greatest power is that which God gives us in the Word. With a capital W.

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About this site and the author

Welcome. My name is John Luke Rich, (very) struggling Christian. The focus here is Christianity in its many varieties, its fussing and feuding, how it impacts our lives and our society, with detours to consider it with other faiths (or lack thereof).

Call this blog my way of evangelizing on the internet.

Putting it differently, we're only here on this earth a short time. It's the rest of eternity that we should be most concerned about. Call it the care and feeding of our souls.

I was born Jewish, and born again in Christ Jesus over thirty years ago. First as a Roman Catholic; now a Calvinist by persuasion and a Baptist by denomination. But I'm hardly a poster boy for doctrinal rigidity.

I believe that Scripture is the rock on which all Christian churches must stand -- or sink if they are not so grounded. I believe that we are saved by faith, but hardly in a vacuum. That faith is a gift from God, through no agency on our part -- although we sometimes turn a deaf ear and choose to ignore God's knocking on the door.

To be Christian is to evangelize. Those who think it not their part to evangelize perhaps haven't truly understood what our Lord told us in Matthew 28. We must preach the Gospel as best we are able. Using words if necessary.

Though my faith waxes and wanes, it never seems to go away. Sometimes I wish it would, to give me some peace of mind. But then, Jesus never said that walking with Him was going to be easy...

Final note: I also blog as Jack Rich on cultural, political and other things over at Wrong Side of the Tracks

Thanks for stopping by.