Instructing the ignorant

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Ignorant is to ignore
Knowledge is to know

Surely all of us as students are a mixture of ignoring & not knowing. To merely label all the students as ignorant is not correct. Are we saying that we are only there to teach those that choose to ignore? Or are we there to teach those without knowledge?

I would think that its both the ignorant & the not knowing & if this is true then why choose the word ignorant to teach or instruct?

What this does is put everyone in the same basket as ignorant, is that what a student is?
 
Google dictionary defines ignorant as “lacking knowledge or awareness in general”

So being ignorant in the formal sense of the word is to not know rather than ignore.
 
If you go further & see the context
EssentialBeing said:
ignorance

noun
  1. lack of knowledge or information.
“he acted in ignorance of basic procedures”

It is ignorant NOT to read the procedure, they ignored the procedure, therefore they lack the appropriate knowledge, all because they willfully ignored it
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Yes it is without knowledge, in ignorance of something being known & ignored, you can not be in ignorance if you simply don’t have that knowledge
 
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I’m quoting Ignorant (adjective) not Ignorance (noun).

With the example:
EssentialBeing said:
“he acted in ignorance of basic procedures”
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That could mean he knew the procedures and ignored them, or that he had no knowledge of the procedures.

It does not leave the out the possibility that he had a “lack of knowledge or information” about the procedures. i.e. He did not know the procedures.

Therefore if he did not know the procedures he was Ignorant to the procedures.
 
I can see what your getting at, however to be ignorant or in ignorance is to not seek procedure in the first place. He was lacking knowledge of the procedure, the ignorance happened when he chose to ignore the procedure.
truthseeker said:
It does not leave the out the possibility that he had a “lack of knowledge or information” about the procedures. i.e. He did not know the procedures.
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A good point but it also refers to a given factor of honestly not knowing or choosing not to know.
Point 1b of the adjective definition of Ignorant
lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about a particular thing.
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Anyway we are getting caught up in semantics again, it is difficult to suggest that somebody that honestly does not know is ignorant of anything.

Am I being ignorant if i don’t see a traffic sign because it is hidden behind trees & cause an accident? Am I being ignorant if i don’t know the machine is faulty & causes injury?
 
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EssentialBeing said:
adjective definition of Ignorant
lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about a particular thing .
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Yes in both cases you are ignorant if this definition is true

But you are not necessarily responsible

That’s why the church teaches that if someone is ignorant of Christ and his Catholic Church they can be saved if they follow their conscience and the natural law written on their hearts
 
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catholicray said:
to actually develop relationships with those you seek to instruct
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Yes, I think this is very important.

It’s very much worthwhile for any Catholic to read the opening chapters of Augustine’s De Trinitate (On the Trinity) wherein he explains his teaching methodology.

He uses this wonderful analogy of he and his reader embarking on a journey: simul caritatis viam ingredientes ‘walking together on the path of love (or charity)’. Moreover, he pleas wherever the reader makes a mistake, to ad me redire ‘return to me [Augustine]’, and where the Augustine himself errs, that the reader ought to me revocare ‘call me [Augustine] back’.
 
MasterHaster said:
Calling someone ignorant who doesn’t agree with you seems like judgmental defined.
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Seems like that’s your hangup reading a 21st century meaning into a word used centuries before, when “ignorant” simply meant someone had not been instructed about the faith. “Invincible ignorance” could actually get someone to heaven who wouldn’t otherwise go.
 
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EssentialBeing said:
truth lies within the eye of the beholder.
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This is called relativism and is in opposition to Catholic teaching.
Catholics believe that there is an absolute truth and that is can and ought to be shared. Our Lord said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
We are called to instruct the ignorant, those unaware of this truth. How we accomplish that instruction may vary, based upon our gifts, but it ought to be accomplished to the best of our ability. that is the call of missionary discipleship: to go out and proclaim the Good news.
 
EssentialBeing said:
Correct, but how do the words “Instructing The Ignorant” come across to someone without that knowledge?
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Those lacking the knowledge will be unaware of the Spiritual Gifts of Mercy. I think you may be creating a false dilemma here.
Once they are familiar with the faith, no doubt they will look back upon those days in which they were unaware/ less aware as days of ignorance.
 
I have only skimmed this thread, not read every word, but it just occurred to me that we may “instruct” the ignorant by revealing truth in various ways, and that brought to mind the Prayer of St. Francis, which begins with these lines:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

For every form of ignorance, this suggests an instruction.
 
truthseeker said:
Yes in both cases you are ignorant if this definition is true
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Surely you don’t exclude yourself from also being ignorant. We as human beings are all ignorant as know one is all knowing.
truthseeker said:
That’s why the church teaches that if someone is ignorant of Christ and his Catholic Church they can be saved if they follow their conscience and the natural law written on their hearts
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To this i agree but the humans in the church must also understand that they share in the ignorance of humanity, no one on the planet is free of ignorance.
 
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The only point I am trying to make is that we are all equal in regard to ignorance. And if we persist with the idea that the “Ignorant need Instructing” then it is easily seen as the “Ignorance Instructing the Ignorant”
 
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jeannetherese said:
I think you may be creating a false dilemma here.
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How is it false for all humans to recognize their lack of knowledge or at least not knowing all? Are we as humans, not perfect? Are we as humans, not all students of life? Are we not ignorant of our own imperfection?
jeannetherese said:
This is called relativism and is in opposition to Catholic teaching.
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I agree that it is contrary to teachings, but I also understand that the view of “truth in the eye of the beholder” is factual & only makes indoctrination more difficult.
 
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Beryllos said:
I have only skimmed this thread, not read every word, but it just occurred to me that we may “instruct” the ignorant by revealing truth in various ways, and that brought to mind the Prayer of St. Francis, which begins with these lines:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

For every form of ignorance, this suggests an instruction.
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Sorry to tell you, but you are “ignorant” 😄 of the real origin of this prayer. A lot of people THINK it’s by St. Francis, and it is promoted that way by many Catholic publishers who ought not to, but here is the origin, if you care to be knowledgeable (instead of ignorant):

 
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We are not all knowing, only God is, therefore everyone is ignorant of something, as you’ve said.

However, as Catholics we believe that Jesus established a Church and that “… the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” Matthew 16:18

We as humans are ignorant as our nature prevents us from knowing all things. But if we believe what Jesus said, and know the Church has protected and propagated divine revelation throughout the centuries without error, under the infallible guidance of the Pope, we have a duty to share the Gospel with people who are unaware or uninformed.

In so doing we are Instructing the Ignorant as these people are:
EssentialBeing said:
adjective definition of Ignorant
lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about a particular thing .
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That particular thing being the Gospel.

We are ignorant but we can’t let our inability to know everything inhibit us from sharing the truth of Jesus Christ and what he did for us by his Sacrifice on the Cross and by instituting a Church, which we do know and believe to be true.
 
@truthseeker very well articulated & correct in every sense. So does the tittle of “Instructing the Ignorant” separate the imperfect human instructor from also being ignorant?
 
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