--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It takes the whole church to know the…" description: "\"It takes the whole church to know the whole truth.\" — Rowan Williams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/rowan-williams-8580_church_it-takes-the-whole-church-to-know-the-wh_2666786.jpg" --- # It takes the whole church to know the whole truth. ![“It takes the whole church to know the whole truth.” quote by Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/rowan-williams-8580_church_it-takes-the-whole-church-to-know-the-wh_2666786.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/rowan-williams-8580_church_it-takes-the-whole-church-to-know-the-wh_2666786.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/rowan-williams-8580_church_it-takes-the-whole-church-to-know-the-wh_2666786.jpg) > “It takes the whole church to know the whole truth.” [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests that collective insight is needed to grasp comprehensive truth **In simple terms:** Whole community needed for full understanding Key Takeaway Seek diverse perspectives for truth Themes community truth collective wisdom Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - religious study - team projects - public policy - media analysis Key Concepts epistemology social cognition Questions to Reflect On - Can a single voice ever capture whole truth? - How do you balance individual and collective knowledge? A Different Perspective Individual insight can also be valuable ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Whole truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-truth/) ## Related quotes > [Once again, Kirk Franklin takes the church beyond the traditional, transitioning his life's experiences into life lessons. Clearly there is more to this man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-d-jakes/once-again-kirk-franklin-takes-the-church-beyond-the-traditional/) [T. D. 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His duty lies in living up to the truth as he sees it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-not-given-to-man-to-know-the-whole-truth-his-duty-lies-in/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [At the outset do not be worried about this big question-Truth. It is a very simple matter if each one of you starts with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/at-the-outset-do-not-be-worried-about-this-big-question-truth-it-is-a/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [I don't tell everything. I want the reader to have the feeling that maybe they know the whole truth, but they don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/i-don-t-tell-everything-i-want-the-reader-to-have-the-feeling-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. 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If there is any gold, truth makes it shine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adela-rogers-st-johns/the-truth-the-whole-truth-nothing-but-the-truth-little-men-are/) [Adela Rogers St. Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adela-rogers-st-johns/) > [Raise your hands in the air, pump your fists, and solemnly swear to rock the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kool-moe-dee/raise-your-hands-in-the-air-pump-your-fists-and-solemnly-swear-to/) [Kool Moe Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kool-moe-dee/) > [It is worth remembering (though there is nothing that we can do about it) that the world as it really is may easily be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-broad/it-is-worth-remembering-though-there-is-nothing-that-we-can-do-about/) [C. D. Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-broad/) ## More by Rowan Williams > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Religion has always been a matter of community building; a matter of building precisely those relations of compassion, fellow feeling and - I dare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/religion-has-always-been-a-matter-of-community-building-a-matter-of/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [“By affirming that all 'meaning,' every assertion about the significance of life and reality, must be judged by reference to a brief succession of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/by-affirming-that-all-meaning-every-assertion-about-the-significance/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [I have, by God’s grace, learned as a member of the Christian community what is the nature of God’s mercy, which does not leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/i-have-by-god-s-grace-learned-as-a-member-of-the-christian-community/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We can at least see that the question is asked, and asked on the basis of a clear recognition that there is no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/we-can-at-least-see-that-the-question-is-asked-and-asked-on-the-basis/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [In sharp contrast to the idea that this stage of life is enviable, we hear high levels of anxiety about getting old, anxieties about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/in-sharp-contrast-to-the-idea-that-this-stage-of-life-is-enviable-we/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Loneliness has little to do with what we do or where we do it, whether we're married or unmarried, optimists or pessimists, heterosexual or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/loneliness-has-little-to-do-with-what-we-do-or-where-we-do-it-whether/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [At the end of the Middle Ages, nobody would ever have expected the monasteries to vanish from the scene within a generation - yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/at-the-end-of-the-middle-ages-nobody-would-ever-have-expected-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We discover too late that we have turned a blind eye to the extinction of a species that is essential to the balance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/we-discover-too-late-that-we-have-turned-a-blind-eye-to-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Serving democracy and nourishing the common good is, for the media, something that requires not only attacking corrupt secrecies in a society, but also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/serving-democracy-and-nourishing-the-common-good-is-for-the-media/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [I do feel that federation, loose parallel processes, are less than we've got, less than we could have and, in the very long run,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/i-do-feel-that-federation-loose-parallel-processes-are-less-than-we/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Quite a lot of our contemporary culture is actually shot through with a resentment of limits and the passage of time, anger at what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/quite-a-lot-of-our-contemporary-culture-is-actually-shot-through-with/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Whether something is old-fashioned or not doesn't resolve the question of whether it's true or not. I can see the temptation of simply thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/whether-something-is-old-fashioned-or-not-doesn-t-resolve-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [“Two hermits lived together for many years without a quarrel. 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It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. 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