The blind men and the elephhant

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."

They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Every one of them touched the elephant.

 "Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.

"Oh, no! It is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.

"Oh, no! It is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.

"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.

"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant, and every one of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."

"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.

(http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25.htm)

This is a popular story about the human quest for truth.  The application is that all religions have access to the truth.  Therefore it does not really matter what religion you belong to: essentially they are all about the same truth.

And yet, the story calls all those who search for truth “blind men”, for their observations are very limited.  The only enlightened one is he who believes that all religions are the same.  In other words, those who hold this view insist that only they have access to the whole truth, while all the others are groping in the dark.  Why is this story totally incompatible with the biblical story?

First, there is an Enemy, who seeks to deceive the people.  Nobody learns purely from personal observation: everyone learns mostly by accepting the teaching from those they trust. Beware whom you trust, for there are many deceiving spirits!

Second, the elephant story treats the truth (or “God”) as a passive object for human exploration.  Yet, the God of the Bible is a personal God who has revealed himself to humankind.  This implies that there is a third source of knowledge: humankind does not only acquire truth from personal observation and learning from others, but also through revelation. 

Looking from the biblical perspective, the elephant is not merely a passive object of observation, waiting to be felt and touched by the curious.  Rather, he is alive and powerful: perhaps the lion would be a more appropriate symbol.  “Who said anything about ‘safe’?”  He decides to come to town to reveal himself as King.  Sure, he wants to be found, but he wants to be treated with respect.  He talks to us, and he says, “You really want to know the truth, even if it hurts?  Listen to what I say, and look what I am doing and what I have done!”  Then you will know the truth.  Jesus has come, and he proclaims “I am the truth!”  And at Pentecost, the Spirit ripped off the blindfolds so that thousands could see and believe!