Feeling and Knowing

Adelphoi,

In a culture obsessed by feelings, I offer the following for meditation.

Feeling and Knowing

Occurrences of the verb "to feel" in the KJV of the Bible are rare (not more than 10 examples!). Likewise in the classic Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1662, 1928) the verb is not common.

In contrast, beginning in 18thh century hymnody and private prayers and continuing & increasing through the 19th & 20th century into the 21st, many Christian people have been very ready to speak of and to sing of how they feel and of the variety of their feelings.

Thus the verbal and written expressions of English Christianity in prose and poetry are much different today from what they were in earlier centuries, e.g., the 16th & 17th.

In the Book of Common Prayer there is an important (partly because rare and partly because theological) use of the verb "to feel." It is in a Service that is only occasionally used these days, the "Visitation of the Sick." In one of the final blessings upon the sick person the Minister says:

"The Almighty Lord.be now and evermore thy defence; and make thee know and feel, that there is none other Name under heaven, given to man, in whom and through whom, thou mayest receive health and salvation, but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

I make 2 comments.

First, the order of the verbs in the blessing is important - to know and then to feel. The affections of the soul are to be directed by sound knowledge, in this case revealed knowledge. (Today we often seem to go in the opposite direction -- to try to impart knowledge through appealing first and foremost to the feelings of people whether they be in good health or in sickness.)

In the second place, if there is one time when a person needs not only to know but also to feel confidence in trusting in the Name of the Lord Jesus it is when that person is sick and dying. To give calm to the reasoning mind and imagination as well as to the affections of the soul is a great gift to a sick/dying believer. Then he or she can rest in the peace that passeth all understanding.


The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon