{Fundamental Points of View [continued (7)]}[14th March 1988]

[Redbook5:57][19880314:1115g]{Fundamental Points of View [continued (7)]}[14th March 1988]

19880314.1115

[continued]

I would sum up this particular man,* personally, as typical of a particular kind of man who has a considerable ability to acquire new academic knowledge – perhaps through not having used up his memory capacity in previous academic work, but this is speculation – but not a highly developed ability to manipulate that knowledge.** From things he has said, I would say that he is just past forty; considers himself to be of working class origins, and was once proud of it; was probably a builder,*** most likely of craftsman status; and was made redundant relatively recently. All these things, and his relatively 'specialised' and single-minded approach to the matter, suggest a man whose natural or starting position was perhaps around U~. (However, something was said suggesting a birthday relatively recently.) Knowledge is the gift [sic] of the Spirit at U~.****

The three examples he referred to of temptations, in the context of those who had been born again (who would be highly unlikely to give way [to them,] as well as [in the context] of those who had not [been born again] (and who would not),# involved, respectively:#* lechery; avarice; and pride. These are at U~, M~ and S~: in other words, in reverse order, the three most likely to carry a Man from Attraction, round the Outer Circle. In this context, I should have thought that taking a Degree of a theological kind would involve dangers of precisely this nature: especially Pride (at Ordination, although he does not intend to be actually ordained); and especially for a man with a closed mind.

*[See last 6 previous entries, [Redbook5:51-61][19880314:1115]{Fundamental Points of View}[14th March 1988] ff.]

**{He has recently deferred his first year course – due to difficulties with the academic approach to comparative religion, I gather.)

***{Painter and Decorator, in fact.}

****[See e.g. [Redbook4:45][19870712:1840d]{The Gifts of the Spirit (2)}[12^th July 1987].]

#[be highly unlikely to give way, presumably – all this in brackets ( ) of course is the perceived opinion of the man in question, not of the writer.]

#*[Unclear respectively to what; perhaps intended to be respectively to U~, M~ and S~ in the next sentence (which placing is as in [Redbook4:13-14][19870707:1000]{Virtues and Vices (2)}[7^th July 1987] (“This hierarchy of vices comes from E[ncylopaedia] B[ritannica] XVII.382 (instead of Dante)”).]

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