Against Order is Against Reason.
1257.
Let such a one then hear this:
The teaching of all doctrine has a certain order, and there are some things which must be delivered first, others in the second place, and others in the third, and so all in their order;
1258.
and if these things be delivered in their order, they become plain;
yet if they be brought forward out of order, they will seem to be spoken against reason.
1259.
And therefore order is to be observed above all things, if we seek for the purpose of finding what we seek.
1260.
For he who enters rightly upon the road, will observe the second place in due order,
and from the second will more easily find the third;
and the further he proceeds, so much the more will the way of knowledge become open to him,
even until he arrive at the city of truth, whither he is bound, and which he desires to reach.
1261.
But he who is unskilful, and knows not the way of inquiry,
as a traveller in a foreign country, ignorant and wandering,
if he will not employ a native of the country as a guide,
undoubtedly when he has strayed from the way of truth, shall remain outside the gates of life,
and so, involved in the darkness of black night, shall walk through the paths of perdition.
1262.
Inasmuch therefore, as, if those things which are to be sought, then be sought in an orderly manner,
they can most easily be found,
yet the unskilful man is ignorant of the order of inquiry,
it is right that the ignorant man should yield to the knowing one, and first learn the order of inquiry,
that so at length he may find the method of asking and answering.
Learning Before Teaching.
1263.
To this Simon replied:
Then truth is not the property of all,
but of those only who know the art of disputation, which is absurd;
for it cannot be, since He is equally the God of all, that all should not be equally able to know His will.
1264.
Then Peter:
All were made equal by Him, and to all He has given equally to be receptive of truth.
1265.
yet that none of those who are born, are born with education,
yet education is subsequent to birth, no one can doubt.
1266.
Since, therefore, the birth of men holds equity in this respect, that all are equally capable of receiving discipline, the difference is not in nature, but in education.
1267.
Who does not know that the things which any one learns, he was ignorant of before he learned them?
1268.
Then Simon said,
You say truly.
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1269.
Then Peter said,
If then in those arts which are in common use, one first learns and then teaches,
how much more ought those who profess to be the educators of souls,
first to learn, and so to teach, that they may not expose themselves to ridicule,
if they promise to afford knowledge to others, when they themselves are unskilful?
1270.
Then Simon:
This is true in respect of those arts which are in common use;
yet in the word of knowledge, as soon as any one has heard, he has learned.
The Book of Recognitions CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
Divisions 1271-1305
Book 3
RECOGNITIONS 3
Self-Evidence of the Truth.
1271.
Then said Peter:
If indeed one hear in an orderly and regular manner he is able to know what is true;
yet he who refuses to submit to the rule of a reformed life and a pure conversation, which truly is the proper result of knowledge of the truth, will not confess that he knows what he does know.
1272.
For this is exactly what we see in the case of some who,
abandoning the trades which they learned in their youth, betake themselves to other performances,
and by way of excusing their own sloth, begin to find fault with the trade as unprofitable.
1273.
Then Simon:
Ought all who hear to believe that whatever they hear is true?
1274.
Then Peter:
Whoever hears an orderly statement of the truth, cannot by any means gainsay it,
yet knows that what is spoken is true, provided he also willingly submit to the rules of life.
1275.
Yet those who, when they hear, are unwilling to betake themselves to good works,
are prevented by the desire of doing evil from acquiescing in those things which they judge to be right.
1276.
Hence it is manifest that it is in the power of the hearers to choose which of the two they prefer.
1277.
Yet if all who hear were to obey, it would be rather a necessity of nature, leading all in one way.
1278.
For as no one can be persuaded to become shorter or taller,
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because the force of nature does not permit it;
so also, if either all were converted to the truth by a word, or all were not converted, it would be the force of nature which compelled all in the one case, and none at all in the other, to be converted.
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