A civilization which puts a high premium upon education of the mind is in danger of forgetting the training of character. Never before in the history of the world has there been so much education, and never before more wars, chaos and juvenile delinquency. It must be follow then, as night the day, that knowledge alone does not create virtue; in fact, of and by itself, it can be very dangerous. Bacon in his treatise on the "Advancement of Learning" rightly said that "knowledge has in it somewhat of the serpent, and therefore when it enters into man it makes him swell." The knowledge that puffs up and makes one conceited is here to be understood as loveless knowledge.

The knowledge  any man possess is trivial in comparison with the summa of knowledge. Newton once once said that he felt as if he were standing on the shore, and the ocean of truth stretched infinitely before him. Darwin, who achieved a fair knowledge of natural science, once said: "All our knowledge of this planet is something like and old hen's knowledge of a forty-acre field, in one corner of which she happens to be scratching."


Knowledge of and by itself has not the power to bind men together into cohesive unity. It often drives them apart, for a professor can be as jealous of another's gowns. A university which is made up of knowing men is not necessarily a chummy club. If knowledge made men one, then  a college should be a model to the world of human fraternity and brotherly love. Knowledge sometimes leads to the belittling of others, either through boasting of one's learning or by telling others how little they know. The Greeks disparaged the peoples of other land's as barbarians, principally because they were so vain in their knowledge. Horace, who knew much, wrote: "I hate the vulgar crowd and i avoid them."


Knowledge indeed is power, but it can be power for evil as well as good, unless like an engine it has safety valve and its governor. It takes love to save knowledge from conceit. As St. Paul said - Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Knowledge without love leads to conceit, intolerance and selfishness. This does not mean to say that love without knowledge is to be commended any more than knowledge without love. As a matter of fact, love without knowledge to sentimentalism, superstition and ignorance.

Love makes knowledge practical. There are many men who know the elements of the moral law, and may even understand the proofs of the existence of God; but because they do not act on that knowledge, that is because they do not love it, they never make any further advances in knowledge. True love and knowledge leads to deeper insights. Knowledge halts at the threshold of the temple; love enters in and worships.

A minimum of knowledge is always required before one can love another, example, one must know a person, or have an introduction before one can have an attachment to that person. But from that point on, in all personal relations, it is love that increases knowledge. Hence the Sacred Scriptures say that "he who does not love, does not know God, for God is love." The truest treasures of human affection are unlocked not by the intellect; in fact many a person will say when another becomes too intellectual curious about him: "What are you trying to do,psychoanalyze me?"

Personality resents intellectual scrutiny, which makes it close like a sensitive flower in the frost. Loveless knowledge is a disruptive force; that is why it is no explanation to say of any juvenile delinquent: "He was such a smart boy." Yes! But did he ever learn to love - his parents, his country, his God? We are now safeguarding ourselves from the knowledge that the atom can be split. But it will take some love to prevent us from using that knowledge to blow up the planet. We have enough education of loveless knowledge; perhaps it might be well to a few schools where love of God is a companion of the knowledge of nature.

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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless. 

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -