Mere Shadows

One of Plato’s most famous ideas was his allegory of the cave. To oversimplify, he suggested that most humans are like prisoners in a cave, only able to see shadows on the back wall. Because those shadows are all they have seen, they mistake the shadows for the thing itself. It’s only when they are set free from their shackles that they can experience the true forms of the shadows they have known.

The human problem, in this analogy, in addition to mistaking the shadow for reality, is that we are so used to our experience of the shadows that we don’t respond well when one of the prisoners who escapes comes and tells us about the wonderful world of true forms that make the shadows. Instead of receiving the information with joy, we discount, devalue, or even respond with anger and violence against the one who has been enlightened. We’re comfortable in our life experiences and don’t want anything to upset that comfort.

From the Christian perspective, there are some major problems with Plato’s dualistic understanding of existence. We can chat about those problems over coffee one day, but there are some things I think we can learn from this allegory as we think about the birth of Christ and who He is.

First, the ideal and the ultimate knowledge of reality was called the Logos in Greek Philosophy. It was the total understanding of reality wrapped up in one word. The prisoner who escaped the cave was enlightened about the Logos and tried to bring it back to his cellmates. The Greek word “Logos” is usually translated “Word” in the New Testament. In fact, the Apostle John intentionally used the word “Logos” to refer to Jesus in John chapter 1 to communicate that in Jesus, we have the ultimate knowledge of truth and beauty in a single person. He wrapped up the prologue to his gospel with the words, “No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten God (Jesus) who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Second, people are often comfortable in their imperfect experiences of life. In our student ministry, we talk about them as “Empty wells,” or imperfect counterfeits of the beautiful life God wants us to experience. The writer of Ecclesiastes uses the phrase “Under the Sun” to talk about this. But we are so wrapped up in our daily experience, in trying to find meaning in these empty wells under the sun, that we often miss out on the One that gives meaning to these things. Unlike the Platonic dualist, Christians don’t consider most of these experiences evil in themselves but empty as we experience them outside our relationship with the One who created those good things. They become empty when they are the goal rather than something that points us to the goal.

Third, people don’t usually respond well initially when someone tries to show them the better way. There is a great amount of resistance to the message that someone might be wrong or engaging in activities that will leave them empty and broken. Jesus Himself, the Logos, went to His own people who should have recognized Him for who He is, and He was rejected and eventually killed. The good news, since Jesus is the Eternal Christ who came to show us the fullness of Grace and Truth, is that even though He was killed, His presence was never removed. He is still with us today, having resurrected (in His physical body), continuing to show us the better way. I think that might be instructive for us as we seek to show the people around us what Christ has to offer. We speak the truth of the Gospel and demonstrate to those around us that we don’t have to be stuck in a cave mistaking the shadows of life for life itself. We seek out and maintain relationships with broken and hurting people so we can lead them to the Logos.