From David Windham Denton TX 10/12/2006
Don, the following is the story I told you about at lunch.
"There was a story taken from Platos Republic, written about 200 to 150 B.C. in ancient Greece. In the allegory, mankind is described as being inside a dark cave, strapped to a rigid chair or bench, and lined up with some means to limit one's ability to look only straight ahead at the distant wall of the cave in front of them. On this wall, the group representing society sees dark moving shapes as shadows that are their reality of life. What humanity can see and experience is limited to the appearances on the cave wall.
On occasion, by chance or struggle, one person is freed of the restraining bonds and once free, they are then able to look behind the group. This individual will see that on the opposite side of the cave is a fire that generates a true light of reality. Placed between the fire and the backs of the bound group is a stage on which actual shapes and characters are moved by forces unseen and unknown to the seated observers of the human drama that is projected as shadows on the wall. Seeing this, the free person will attempt to inform their peers that they cannot see reality. They see only the shadows of ultimate truth and therefore they must act to release themselves so that they can know and take action based on the real truth of their existence.
The reader of Plato's allegory is informed that the response of the peer group will be to reject and condemn the now free man. He will be banned from association with the majority group that is content and comfortable with their view of life and the world."
It obviously can apply to God's truth and reality or can be applied to any subject.