Blind Men of Hindustan

Most are conversant with the famous poem concerning the blind men of Hindustan who went to “see” an elephant. Since each was sightless and stationed at a different vantage point surrounding the huge creature, the six men came away with vastly different concepts regarding the elephant. The first said, “An elephant is like a rope,” because he had felt the tail. Another, stationed at the ear, concluded it was like a fan. Another, feeling of its leg, said it was like a tree. Another thought an elephant was like a wall. A partial view of the Bible is like that. Prejudice blinds many a person to the whole truth. Sectarian dogma, shallow teaching, emphasis on tradition, parochial thinking, and emotional persuasion dogma, shallow teaching, emphasis on tradition, parochial thinking, and emotional persuasion contribute to spiritual blindness. As John Saxe said of the blind men in his striking poem: Each in…