4th century BC
Plato
- Idealism — forms over particulars
- The Republic ethic: “God is not the author of evil”
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
The preacher had the books and he had every page,
He had the doctrines down and he had the stage.
He named the wolves and he kept the gate held tight,
He pronounced the verdicts every Sunday night.
He had the most light and he had the smallest love,
He stacked the proof texts and he barred the dove.
He spent forty years declaring who was in,
And every sermon was a filmstrip he was rendering.
[Pre-chorus]
And the more light a man held, the more the books will show,
And the more contempt he poured, the more the throne will know.
Tyre got the lesser sentence than Bethsaida did,
Sodom got the lesser than the gatekeeper's kid.
[Chorus]
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
What you knew is the fuel of the night!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
The most you held - is the most you'll fight!
The pastor with the pulpit and the proof and the page,
Carries the heaviest filmstrip to the stage!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
The light he held becomes the bite!
[Verse 2]
The theologian Holloway quoted in his prime
Bears a sorer weight at the rendering time.
The seminary head who taught the gate the move
Stands with a longer scroll than any he could prove.
The watchman with the binoculars who never planted bread,
Carries the contempt the unchurched widow shed.
The light was given to walk the wounded sheep -
The light withheld is the light that will not sleep.
[Pre-chorus]
And the more light a man held, the more the books will show,
And the more contempt he poured, the more the throne will know.
Tyre got the lesser sentence than Bethsaida did,
Sodom got the lesser than the gatekeeper's kid.
[Chorus]
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
What you knew is the fuel of the night!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
The most you held - is the most you'll fight!
The pastor with the pulpit and the proof and the page,
Carries the heaviest filmstrip to the stage!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
The light he held becomes the bite!
[Final Chorus]
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
What you knew is the fuel of the night!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
The most you held - is the most you'll fight!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
Forty years of pulpit becomes the bite!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
The contempt you poured is the contempt you'll write!
BURN WITH THE LIGHT!
And the gate you kept - is the gate that bit!
Commentary