Knowledge needs Jesus

Last updated on: May 16, 2014 at 5:15 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Knowledge needs Jesus 2014-05-16T17:15:16-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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.

“Wisdom comes from God, knowledge from school. Seek wisdom and knowledge.”

That is a jolly Christian bromide, but also cheerfully wrong. A twitter-able bromide is still toxic, even when decoupaged to a Christian plaque upon reading. Evil cannot be buried under any amount of glue.

What happens with such errors? First, we feel good and then we pay. Errors either manifest deeper errors or become deep mistakes. In this case, the slogan usually points to a view of learning antithetical to Christianity.

Instead, Christianity begins all thought in God: not ideas about God, not our experience of God, but God. Whatever we experience or think, whatever we say or do, we will fall short of the truth and glory of God, but His reality is what undergirds our journey to truth. He is, so we can mistakes about Him without sin. We can try and fail to describe God, making idols without intending to do so, if the moment we see how limited our ideas and experience must be we abandon the idol.

God gives those who fear God wisdom. It is wisdom that makes knowledge possible. Without wisdom, the scattered propositions or experiences, the data we collect living, can be organized usefully into systems, but always with a fatal flaw. It isn’t knowledge, because it is made false in the defective mental structure into which it is placed. God’s wisdom is not merely a worldview, getting new glasses, or even receiving new eyes, but being renewed in mind. The common, though broken, image of God in every human being means that even a flawed knowledge system can work, short term, but the flaw will always steal, kill, or destroy the joy of the believer.

The flaws in every Christian mean that though Christianity is truest and best, not all Christians live in the renewal of our minds. Too often, we are renewed, but continue to live in the old. As a result, our worldview is better, but we we fail to live in it.

What of orthodoxy? Orthodoxy is the truth, essential knowledge for salvation, revealed by God to the human community, His Church. Of course, we fail God’s Revelation, but the Revelation endures. This is great news. The mistake the “liberal” makes is to think Revelation becomes less than the Church has believed it to be. That is false: bad churchmen always tries to make love less and easier. God wants us to love even our enemies, the churchmen try to soften that demand. We pretend torture is acceptable or that hate can be good if we just hate the right target. Revelation moves us to chastity. Each generation of churchmen try to justify divorce for kings or fornication for the rich or polygamy or some broadening of marriage. We are offended by the virgins that are before the throne of God in the final Revelation pretending that desire must be fulfilled for happiness.

The mistake of the conservative is to worship the outer sign over the inner reality. We set up a shrine where God was and do not go where God is. We use Revelation as a command to repeat Revelation, instead of as a basis for further exploration of the Divine Mystery. The conservative churchman places external burdens on followers that he cannot do himself. He increases the external standard, because the internal Good is so impossible for anything but grace to achieve. He too mistakes desire for happiness, but focusses on the disordered desires of others or his own disordered desires to punish himself.

We believe the truth, we live the truth. We receive wisdom and so we know. True propositions are true whoever asserts them, but this is not knowledge that is useful. Instead, true knowledge would be the experiences and propositions we have had organized and interpreted by Wisdom for us. It is by grace we are knowledgable and this not by any intellectual work but by the grace of God.

God is the start, middle, and end not just of wisdom, but of true knowledge. Jesus is the God-Man who enables us to see dimly and find our way to God.

Education

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

May 15, 2014

Aspirations and the Problem of Purity

Next Post

May 20, 2014 E Pluribus Unum

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 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 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How old was Moses when he died?

Select your answer to see how you score.

90 years 100 years 110 years 120 years

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »