“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)
What does the Lord mean by his statement “receive the kingdom of God like a little child?” Does this imply the child’s character of unconditional dependence upon their parents? Or does it mean their natural behavior of touching anything around them without knowing what is his and what are others? Moltmann says, “The root of cognition is in wonder.” Following is an excerpt from the writing of Moltmann that may help you understand the above mentioned verse:
“We first recognize the thing in wondering. There is no other possibility to have the first cognitive experience without wondering. We are entrusted to the image of object without any protection in our first cognition. That experience rules over us. Wondrous child doesn’t have any presentation to understand all impressions when the stimulation rushes to all his sensing organization from every side. It is because a child cannot retrospect anything to compare to the object at all. When such perception is repeated reflections are formed to recognize an impression of object as itself. So an attitude to repeat for approaching impression to him is generated. Child is familiar with this impression and knows it. Now a child has knowledge for an object and no more wonders. Whom we call a genius like scholars, artist and philosophers kept more childlikeness of wonders and a sense for new and wonder than others. They are original for they stayed near to the root of cognition.”(Moltmann, Science and Wisdom, p. 229)
Do we identify with the kingdom of God when we frequently experience the kingdom of God with such wonder only?
What does the Lord mean by his statement “receive the kingdom of God like a little child?” Does this imply the child’s character of unconditional dependence upon their parents? Or does it mean their natural behavior of touching anything around them without knowing what is his and what are others? Moltmann says, “The root of cognition is in wonder.” Following is an excerpt from the writing of Moltmann that may help you understand the above mentioned verse:
“We first recognize the thing in wondering. There is no other possibility to have the first cognitive experience without wondering. We are entrusted to the image of object without any protection in our first cognition. That experience rules over us. Wondrous child doesn’t have any presentation to understand all impressions when the stimulation rushes to all his sensing organization from every side. It is because a child cannot retrospect anything to compare to the object at all. When such perception is repeated reflections are formed to recognize an impression of object as itself. So an attitude to repeat for approaching impression to him is generated. Child is familiar with this impression and knows it. Now a child has knowledge for an object and no more wonders. Whom we call a genius like scholars, artist and philosophers kept more childlikeness of wonders and a sense for new and wonder than others. They are original for they stayed near to the root of cognition.”(Moltmann, Science and Wisdom, p. 229)
Do we identify with the kingdom of God when we frequently experience the kingdom of God with such wonder only?
No comments:
Post a Comment