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Dooyeweerd:
Revelation is not theoretical.
By J Glenn Friesen
(The following is an extract from 'Enstasy, Ecstasy and Religious Self-Reflection: A History of Dooyeweerd’s Ideas of Pre-theoretical Experience' by Dr J Glenn Friesen.)
Dooyeweerd says that our self-knowledge itself exceeds the limits of theoretical thought and is rooted in our “heart” (A New Critique of Theoretical Thought, p 55). Our experience is rooted in religious self-consciousness (NC II, 560, where he makes clear that ‘religious’ refers to the transcendent horizon of the selfhood). Such self-reflection is the only way leading to the discovery of the true starting-point of theoretical thought. [...]
We obtain knowledge of God by divine revelation. But Dooyeweerd does not view revelation in terms of propositional exegesis of Scripture (Friesen 2009, Thesis 42 and references). Revelation is not theoretical in nature. Revelation primarily has a religious enstatic character.
Dooyeweerd says that our self-knowledge itself exceeds the limits of theoretical thought and is rooted in our “heart” (A New Critique of Theoretical Thought, p 55). Our experience is rooted in religious self-consciousness (NC II, 560, where he makes clear that ‘religious’ refers to the transcendent horizon of the selfhood). Such self-reflection is the only way leading to the discovery of the true starting-point of theoretical thought. [...]
We obtain knowledge of God by divine revelation. But Dooyeweerd does not view revelation in terms of propositional exegesis of Scripture (Friesen 2009, Thesis 42 and references). Revelation is not theoretical in nature. Revelation primarily has a religious enstatic character.
Deze kennis uit openbaring draagt primair een religieus-enstatisch karakter, ze rust primair evenmin in een zin-synthesis als het kosmisch zelfbewustzijn (WdW II, 494)
This knowledge in the full sense of the word contains the religious principle and foundation of all true knowledge, and primarily has a religious enstatic character. It no more rests primarily on a theoretical meaning-synthesis than does the cosmic self-consciousness (NC II, 562).Religious self-reflection is dependent on the working in us of God's Word:
...als het gaat om de waarachtige gods- en zelfkennis, dan moeten we zeggen: er is geen theologie ter wereld en geen wijsbegeerte ter wereld, die de mens dat bij kan brengen. Dat is de onmiddelijke vrucht van de centrale werking van Gods Woord zelf in de gemeenschap van de Heilige Geest, in het hart, de radix, de worteleenheid van het menslijk bestaan (Dooyeweerd 1964).
[And concerning true knowledge of self and of God, we must then say: there is no theology in the world and no philosophy in the world that can bring us to this kind of knowledge. It is the immediate fruit of the central working of God's Word itself in the community of the Holy Spirit, in the heart, the radix, the root unity of our human existence.] [translated by J Glenn Friesen]Provided that we do not interpret self-reflection as pure consciousness, or nirvikalpa samadhi, we may compare it to some kinds of inner meditation, such as the sahaja samadhi emphasized by Ramana Maharshi (Friesen 2001, 2006d). A central difference is of course Dooyeweerd’s insistence that true enstasis is centered on Christ as the New Root. But both Dooyeweerd and Ramana Maharshi emphasize the importance of our central heart experience. Such experiential religious self-reflection goes beyond theoretical Ideas (NC II, 4). It is religious because it involves the center of our existence, the supratemporal heart, and our heart in turn is dependent on and refers to our Origin, God. Dooyeweerd emphasizes that self-knowledge is linked to knowledge of God and to knowledge of the cosmos. We do not have knowledge of self without knowledge of God. And neither do we have proper knowledge of the cosmos.
True knowledge of the cosmos is bound to true self-knowledge, which is bound to true knowledge of God (NC II, 560).This is shown in the biblical revelation of our creation concerning our creation in the image of God. Our self-knowledge is a central knowledge. Self-knowledge exceeds theoretical knowledge and is rooted in the heart or the religious centre of our existence (NC I, 55). The “earthly” cosmos is transcended by Man in his full selfhood where he partakes in the transcendent root (NC II, 593). Even if it is not disconnected from the outer and temporal, religious self-reflection involves an awareness of the inner and supratemporal.
The above text is an extract (pp 56-58) from
'Enstasy, Ecstasy and Religious Self-Reflection:
A History of Dooyeweerd’s Ideas of Pre-theoretical Experience'
by Dr J Glenn Friesen.
Download this entire article (PDF 125 pages)
Visit J. Glenn Friesen’s Dooyeweerd Site
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