Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Loving God with Your Mind, part 5 with JP Moreland

Loving God with Your Mind, part 5 with JP Moreland

Last updated on: July 23, 2014 at 1:08 pm by Christian Podcast Central

Loving God with Your Mind, part 5 with JP Moreland 2014-07-23T13:08:31-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

To purchase the entire Summit Lecture Series, Vol. 1 on DVD, go to: summit.org

If I were to go home and my wife says, “You’re angry.” To which I reply, “No, I’m not angry.” And we go back and forth – I need to take a second and decide whether or not what my wife is saying is true.

I introspect.

And, on this particular situation, I realize that I actually do have a seething rage down deep inside of me that my wife picked up on.

Now, I have my thought: “I am angry”; I also encounter anger through introspection. And, when I compare the two, I say to myself, “There’s that thing again – the matching between my thought and what is real… also known as TRUTH.”

You see, we need to have reality and a belief about the subject in question in order to derive truth.

So, what is a belief?

A belief is a thought that you take to be true with somewhere between 51% – 100% certainty. If you are only 52% certain about something, you believe it… but weakly. On the other hand, if you believe something with 80% certainty, you have a pretty strong belief in it.

So, if I have a true thought (which matches reality) that I believe with some degree of certainty, I still don’t have knowledge – I simply have what’s known as true belief.

To prove that this is not knowledge, consider this story:

In Newport Beach, CA, there’s a public restroom. Nearby, there is a resident drunk who has formed the habit of believing everything that gets written inside the second stall of the men’s room at Newport Beach. His idea is: “If the stall says it, he believes it, that settles it.”

So, one day, he walks into the men’s room and sees on the second stall the words, “George Washington was the first president of the United States.”

Prior to this, he had never heard of George Washington. He doesn’t have a clue. But, the stall says it, so therefore (to him) it must be true. And he believes that George Washington was the first president of the United States.

Now, compare and contrast this guy to an historian who has congressional records, personal letters and newspaper clippings from the time when George Washington was made president.

These two gentlemen have two things in common: they both have the same belief; and they both have the truth that Washington was our first president. Both of their beliefs match reality. BUT, the historian has knowledge, but the Newport Beach drunk is just lucky.

What’s the difference?

The historian’s true belief is based on good, adequate reasons, whereas the Newport Beach guy doesn’t really have any good, adequate reasons supporting his belief.

So, knowledge is a true belief that’s based on adequate reasons.

If I claim to have propositional knowledge that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, which I do, I claim that I have a true belief that Jesus rose from the dead based on good, solid, adequate reasons – in this case, historical reasons.

The same applies if I claim that God is real.

Now, there’s something very important here that I don’t want you to miss: Propositional knowledge does not require certainty.

JP will continue his discussion of Loving God with Your Mind in next week’s video podcast.

And for more engaging and encouraging videos and podcasts, visit the E-Squared Media Network at www.e2medianetwork.com

christian bible study podcast

christian culture podcast

christianity

discipleship

is the bible reliable

propositional knowledge

Previous Post

July 23, 2014

Ouxano 58: 1 Samuel, part 5 (chapter 3)

Next Post

July 23, 2014 Blending Your StepFamily 41: Parenting 6-8 year-olds During A Divorce or Separation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz