Questions

I have recently been reading The Confessions by Augustine and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Early last week I read one part in particular I thought would be worthy of a comment. In this section Augustine describes a comforting dream his godly, Christian mother had while he was still a pagan. In the dream a radiant young man approached Augustine’s mother, asked why she was mourning, and comforted her with the knowledge that her son would one day be a Christian. What stuck me was the comment Augustine made regarding the heavenly man’s question to his mother. Augustine writes:
“But she dreamt that she was standing on some kind of wooden ruler, and saw a young man of radiant aspect coming toward her; he cheerfully laughed at her, whereas she was sorrowful, overwhelmed with grief. He asked her the reason for her gloom and daily tears, though as usual his question was intended to teach her, not to elicit information for himself. She replied that she was mourning my ruin. He then instructed and admonished her to take good heed and see that where she stood, there also stood I. This was to reassure her.” (51)

Augustine notes that the man’s question was intended not to gain information for himself that he did not already have, but to use the question as a tool for teaching. This is a more than common use of questions, yet it seems when it comes to interpreting the Bible we often forget this. There are some who routinely point to passages in the Bible where God is portrayed as asking questions and then conclude on that basis that God must therefore not actually know the answer to his own question. This is absurd if you think about it. A common example of this can be seen in how parents interact with their children. Children are often asked, for instance, whether they did a particular thing, when it is more than clear to the parent exactly what the child did. The question in this case is asked in order to provide the child with a test, to see whether they will respond appropriately when confronted with being found out. In Scripture we can see this at work in Genesis 4:9-12 when God asks Cain where his brother Abel is. We should not assume from God’s question that he did not actually know where Abel was; rather, it is clear God asked Cain this as parents ask what their disobedient children have done. In addition to this, questions also provide opportunity for teaching in a way that simply stating the facts would not. Observe for yourselves how often in the Gospels Jesus asks his disciples questions, and then follows by providing them with teaching. Just a random thought inspired by Saint Augustine.