What does it mean To Know?
How do we know anything?
What is necessary and sufficient for an
ignorant person to acquire knowledge?
How much knowledge can we acquire?
How reliable is that knowledge?
The investigation into The Nature of
Knowledge or the Nature of Knowing, is one of the fundamental disciplines in philosophy, and its technical name is Epistemology.
IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE NATURE OF
KNOWLEDGE HOW CAN YOU BE SURE THAT YOU KNOW ANYTHING?
****************
There are Four things we can know about knowing.
1- MEANS: How do we acquire knowledge?
2- SOURCES: Whence comes knowledge?
3- LIMITS: The quantity of our knowledge
4- RELIABILITY: The quality of our knowledge
ALL KNOWLEDGE IS ACQUIRED THRU FAITH.
(It cannot be shouted loud enough!)
That is, if we want to add information to that which we already have, we must exercise FAITH.
There are no exceptions to this rule.
If we want to know, we must first believe.
It does not matter how intelligent or educated one is, the only path to knowing is BELIEVING. The Theist and the atheist, the genius and the dull,
the wise and the fool, the young or the old, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, MUST FIRST BELIEVE, if he wants to know.
A BIBLICAL EPISTEMOLOGY
According to John 3:16, a sinner receives Everlasting Life when he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ…
But John 17:3 defines Everlasting Life as Knowledge of the only true God and Jesus Christ…
Which means that when we believe in Christ, we are receiving Knowledge…
BUT
every act of faith needs an
Object of Faith.
That is, when we believe, we must believe
in
something or someone.
When we believe, we are placing our trust
in
something or someone.
We can classify all Objects of Faith or the Sources of knowledge into Three groups:
FAITH IN THINGS-
All objects, living and non-living, other than people or God, we will call Things. Faith in Things helps us to learn about objects around us so that we
can deal with difficulties that we encounter and to live more productive and comfortable lives. A small portion of this type of information is collected
and classified as SCIENCE. It is the result of experiences, particularly experiences repeatable at will, which are called controlled experiments. The
controlled experiments that scientists really desire are unobtainable ideals, but we will humor them and pretend that there are such things.
Since SCIENCE has become the god of this age, we must deal with it as a separate category. In the past, Science had a much wider meaning, and simply
meant Knowledge. But since the scientific revolution and the advances in modern technology, its meaning has narrowed. Many people have come to
believe that knowledge acquired outside of the experimental method is unreliable information, when in fact just the opposite is the case. We have
been blinded by man-made tools that have made our lives so comfortable and productive and filled our lives with terror.
FAITH IN PEOPLE- Other people, whether living or dead, whether we know them personally or
not, are our objects of faith when we want to learn about experiences of other people. A small portion of this type of information that has been
recorded in reliable records is called HISTORY. This group of information includes records and reports of Unique, Unrepeatable events such as births, wars, deaths, etc.
FAITH IN GOD-If we believe that God is able to communicate with people, then the knowledge we acquire thru faith in God is called REVELATION.
The Limit of each source of knowledge is as follows:-
SCIENCE - The information that we can “obtain” from material objects is very limited. The substances with which we
interact are very few and even in a long lifetime, our experiences are extremely limited. Out of all the possible information that is potentially
available, Science is the most limited.
HISTORY- This method of obtaining information is much wider and can give us information about events and objects that we could
never experience on our own.
REVELATION- This path to knowledge is potentially the most compelling, because the Creator can give us knowledge about things and events and Himself, that we could never experience.
Each source of knowledge has varying degrees of Reliability
SCIENCE- The task of a scientist is to make careful observations of his natural
surroundings, and then to try and organize those experiences into manageable patterns. After what may be years of repeated experiences or experiments,
scientists try to devise “laws” which are usually mathematical representations of their measurements. These “laws” are likely to be revised
as their experiences widen.
Scientists have no choice but to form conclusions based upon Inductions, or generalizations from a necessarily LIMITED number of experiences. “Laws”
of science can never be considered true because scientists cannot have the infinite number of experiences necessary to know for sure. Furthermore,
their Object of Faith is a universe that is subject to decay, constant change and is extremely complex. In fact, Science is impotent to arrive at any Truth whatsoever.
It is a useful method to deal with objects around us, but we do not need final Truth about the world to deal with our problems. Just as a hammer or a
knife does not have to be perfect to be useful, the Science of the scientist is never perfect but can be very useful in organizing experiences.
Information that is acquired by using our fallible senses and by placing our faith on a universe condemned to destruction, can Never lead to
infallible knowledge.
HISTORY- Historical information is more reliable, because after many years of
observation and testing, we can eliminate errors that at first we believed to be valid information.
Knowledge that has been accumulated over many lifetimes can help us to discard information that has not withstood “the test of time.”
REVELATION- Revelation is the most reliable source of knowledge, because the Object of Faith is God Himself. He is the
sole source of Truth, omniscient and completely trustworthy. We are at His mercy for revealed knowledge, and must admit that we are utterly incapable
of probing into His acts or His thoughts.
**************************************
There are many incorrect epistemologies. They are too numerous to mention.
They have misled people for centuries and continue to do so.
MEANS- ALL KNOWLEDGE IS ACQUIRED THRU FAITH
SCIENCE
- FAITH IN THINGS
HISTORY
- FAITH IN PEOPLE
REVELATION
- FAITH IN GOD
SOURCES- WHENCE COMES KNOWLEDGE
SCIENCE
- EXPERIENCES WHICH ARE REPEATABLE AT WILL
HISTORY
- EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS
REVELATION
- KNOWLEDGE GIVEN BY GOD
LIMITS- THE QUANTITY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
SCIENCE
- EVENTS WHICH ARE REPEATABLE AT WILL
HISTORY
- EVENTS WITNESSED & RECORDED BY OTHER PEOPLE
REVELATION
- EVERY EVENT THAT HAS EVER TAKEN PLACE AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GOD HIMSELF
RELIABILITY- THE QUALITY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
SCIENCE
- LEAST RELIABLE
HISTORY
- MORE RELIABLE
REVELATION
- MOST RELIABLE- THE ONLY SOURCE OF TRUTH
If anyone claims that they know mathematical and geometrical truths without having to exercise faith, we must remind them that
numbers and geometric shapes are purely imaginary ideas
about non-existent impossibilities, and thus cannot be considered knowledge.
All men live by beliefs.
Travelers believe that they will go back home; patients believe that their physician will heal them; the philosophers who think that all is water believe that Thales was right; others believe what has been said by Plato, Aristotle, Chrysippus, Zeno or Epicurus. Even those who think that man knows nothing, believe Carneades on this point. You believe in Plato, Arnobius says, or in Numenius, or in somebody else; we believe in Christ.
Etienne Gilson;
History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages; p48
[…] in the doctrine of Augustine, sense cognition is not perfectly safe.
First, its proper function is to warn the soul of some changes that take place in the body rather than to represent to it the nature of things.
Secondly, this nature of material things is itself a changeable one.
For these two reasons, no pure truth can be expected from sensations.
Etienne Gilson;
History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages; p75
IMAGINATION IN SCRIPTURE
Scripture says much about imagination – i.e. thinking apart from or
contrary to God’s propositional revelation – and none of it good. Consider
the following passages:
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(Genesis 6:5)
[F]or the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. (Genesis 8:21)
These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto
him.... An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations.... (Proverbs 6:16, 18)
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither
were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish
heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21)
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to
the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. (2 Corinthians
10:4, 5)
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? (Psalm 2:1)
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my
hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. (Psalm
38:12)
Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
Which imagine mischiefs in their heart.... (Psalm 140:1, 2)
Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of
peace is joy. (Proverbs 12:20)
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine
mischief against me. (Hosea 7:15)
What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction
shall not rise up the second time. (Nahum 1:9)
And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor;
and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
(Zechariah 7:10)
And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour....
(Zechariah 8:17)
Scripture clearly condemns imagination. It is vain. It is foolish. It is
contrary to God. But if we are not commanded to imagine, what exactly are
Christians supposed to do? The answer is simple. The principle verb of Christianity is not imagine, but
believe.
Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established: believe his
prophets, so shall ye prosper. (2 Chronicles 20:20)
If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. (Isaiah 7:9)
Therefore I say unto you, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh
away the word out of their hears, lest they should believe and be saved.
(Luke 8:12)
Then he said unto them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken.” (Luke 24:25)
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men
through him might believe. (John 1:7)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. (John 1:12)
If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe
if I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3:12)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16)
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe
not that I am he, ye shall dies in your sins. (John 8:24)
But these things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his
name. (John 20:31)
And Philip said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” And
he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts
8:37)
And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house.” (Acts 16:31)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
(Romans 10:9)
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (Galatians 3:22)
Many more examples could be given, but by now the reader likely gets the
point. The Bible has nothing good to say about the imagination; it is belief
in Jesus Christ alone that saves us. Not imagination. Not intuition. Not
hallucination or any other such thing.
THE TRINITY REVIEW
Numbers 319, 320
July, August 2014
Steven T. Matthews
[10/2/26]
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Packer, James I. >
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The Belief in Sensations
