For this post, I decided to share an essay I wrote last year for The Great Conversation 4 at Wilson Hill Academy. I wrote this essay after reading Plato’s Republic for class. It was in response to a prompt asking about Plato’s allegory of the cave and how it can be seen through a Christian lens.
Plato’s Cave and Christian Doctrines
Plato’s allegory of the cave has been interpreted in numerous ways throughout history. For some, this analogy is used as an attempt to support or prove their worldview, claiming that Plato meant it to be symbolic of a certain idea. For others, Plato’s cave is used as a means to illustrate a parallel idea within their worldview. It is not used to prove or support the idea; rather, it is applied as just another analogy to further explain a concept. It is clear that Plato’s cave was not intended as an allegory of the Christian faith. Despite this, it is still possible to find parallels between the two. Plato describes the prisoners in his cave as being in chains from birth just as Christians know that everyone is in the bonds of sin from birth. Because of their chains the prisoners are able to see only shadows of the truth, just as those in sin only see shadows of the reality of life in Christ. Finally, analogous to how the sun illuminates objects of sight, Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness. Through these similarities, Plato’s cave can be seen to parallel the Christian doctrines of sinful nature and salvation.
One can understand Plato’s cave from a Christian perspective by first realizing that Plato suggests that men are in bonds from the time they are born. For Plato, the bonds were ignorance and foolishness regarding the form of Good; for Christians, the bonds can be seen as sin and unawareness of God’s saving grace. John writes in his Gospel, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (New International Version, John 8.34). He who sins is held captive by the bonds of sin. Because humans are sinful by nature, these shackles hold everyone from birth. Psalm 51:5 explains this, saying, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” This idea of a characteristic that is inherent in all men is consistent with Plato’s allegory, which he describes in this manner, “[The prisoners are] in it [the cave] from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds” (Rep. 514a). Plato’s prisoners are not born knowing the Good. From their childhood they are trapped in the chains of their ignorance, which parallels the words of Psalm 51:5. When men are in sin they are in bonds and are ignorant of God’s amazing saving grace, similar to how Plato’s prisoners are in the shackles of their unenlightenment and are not capable of knowing the Good.
Plato’s allegory also parallels Christian doctrine by realizing that when men are in the bonds of sin, they only see shadows of the truth. Plato says, “Such men [the prisoners] would hold that the truth is nothing other than the shadows of artificial things” (Rep. 515c). Equivalently, those who are in sin live in the darkness created by their sin. They are only able to see the silhouettes of the truth of salvation; they cannot experience it firsthand. The Law given to Moses is one example of these shadows. God gave His people the Law before Christ came to save men, but the Law itself can’t save because no one can fully keep the Law. However, because they refused to be released from the bonds of the Law, the Pharisees remained in the shadows and would not fully step into the light. They looked to the Law for salvation, following it to an extreme extent. Yet when men attempt to find salvation through rules alone, they hinder themselves from knowing the Truth. Hebrews 10:1 says, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— not the realities themselves.” When one is saved he sees the reality of God’s grace and goodness, and the destruction of his sin. Those who are not truly saved, such as those who look to the Law for salvation, only see shadows of what is to come; they cannot see the realities of the truth that comes from knowing Jesus.
When the men in Plato’s cave are exposed to the light, they are then able to see the realities of the shadows they previously lived in, supporting another Christian idea. Plato says, “When one turns them [eyes] on those things illuminated by the sun, they see clearly and sight shows itself to be in these same eyes” (Rep. 508d). In Plato’s allegory, the sun represents the highest form of Good. The sun illuminates objects of sight and allows the eyes to see clearly. Plato used this part of his allegory to show that the Good illuminates objects of knowledge and allows the soul to think clearly, leading to enlightenment. For Christians, the sun can be seen to be Jesus. John 8:12 tells us that “[Jesus] said, ‘I am the light of the world’”. Ephesians 5:13 elaborates on this idea, saying, “everything exposed by the light becomes visible— and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.” This doctrine parallels the cave allegory. Jesus is the light of the world, and just as Plato’s sun dispels the darkness from one’s eyes, Jesus dispels the darkness of sin. He illuminates the reality of salvation, and His light leads us to Truth.
Plato’s cave was a philosophical thought experiment in which the only way to be released from the cave was by becoming enlightened and knowing the true Good. In general, Plato’s ideas and beliefs were not consistent with Christianity. Nevertheless, the apostle Paul writes, “[W]hat may be known about God is plain to them [the wicked and godless] because God has made it plain to them” (Rom. 1.19). Plato may not have believed in God or accepted the ideas of God’s people, but the ability to know God is in everyone. God has made it plain to all that He exists, and He created everyone in His own image. Therefore, even those who reject God and do not know Him will in some way reflect Him and His truth. Because the inherent knowledge of a Creator was within Plato, his cave, although a pagan idea, reflects truths about Christianity. Plato’s prisoners in chains, the shadows of reality, and the sun that illuminates the darkness can all be understood in a way that points to the Gospel. Jesus is the light, and through Him those who were previously in bonds and who were able to see only shadows of the truth that comes from Him can know the freedom of salvation.
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