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'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction' (Proverbs 1:7).
'Whatever knowledge is attainable, must be attained by scientific methods; and what science cannot discover, mankind cannot know.' (Bertrand Russell)
'The existence of a limit to science is, however, made clear by its inability to answer childlike elementary questions having to do with first and last things - questions such as "How did everything begin?"; "What are we all here for?"; What is the point of living?"' (Sir Peter Medawar)
'I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world around me is very deficient. It gives us a lot of factual information, puts all of our experience in a magnificently consistent order, but it is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously.' (Erwin Schrodinger)
Knowledge and its Sources
When you browse a site like this one, it's likely that you are interested in spiritual things or truth and are searching for answers. There are many opinions about spiritual matters so it's appropriate to ask, Can we have certain knowledge about spiritual things?
It's a question that we do not need to ask about some about physical things. For example, we possess a great deal of certain knowledge about our bodies, the universe, the earth, about technology and other matters. As a starting point in answering the question, let's consider knowledge and where it comes from.
Definition
Broadly, there are three types of knowledge. Propositional knowledge or descriptive knowledge is knowledge of facts. Personal knowledge is knowledge by acquaintance, the knowledge of someone's or something's existence. Procedural knowledge or "know-how", is the knowledge of how to perform some task.
Sources
Where does such knowledge come from? Let's accept that there are probably at least three ways to gain knowledge:
- From experience.
- From reason.
- From authority.
From experience
Experience gives knowledge of or skill in some thing gained through involvement in it. The word is closely aligned with the concept of experiment, and refers to know-how or procedural knowledge, rather than propositional knowledge. Knowledge based on experience is "empirical knowledge". A person with considerable experience in a certain field can gain a reputation as an expert.
Empiricists hold that all of our knowledge is ultimately derived from our senses or our experiences. Indeed, they claim that it is our only way of acquiring such knowledge. We are, after all, physical beings who rely on five senses, and what we receive this way is knowledge of the world and the universe we inhabit.
Empiricism fits well with the scientific world-view that places an emphasis on experimentation and observation. It struggles, however, to account for certain types of knowledge, e.g. knowledge of pure mathematics or ethics.
From reason
Reason is the mental processes by which we collect facts, generalise from specific to wider contexts, establish cause and effect, bridge from premises to conclusions, from propositions to proofs. It concludes, decides and comes to final judgment.
Rationalists hold that at least some of our knowledge is derived from reason alone. Also for them, reason plays an important role in the acquisition of all of our knowledge, because it has a role in observation, and so that the mind is more fundamental than the senses in the process of knowledge acquisition.
From authority
If I go to my doctor, I accept that he/she is an authority on my body and medical matters. If I need advice about my car, I accept the authority of a trained mechanic. So, people do not have difficulty with the concept of authoritative knowledge. When you examine this website, you will find that we accept the authority of the Bible, the word of God on all matters that it addresses. Primarily, the Bible is a book of theology about God and His relationship to man, so we should not expect exhaustive treatment of science, history, or any other discipline.
The Bible teaches that some knowledge is only available from a nonphysical source. For example, Paul of Tarsus, who authored the majority of the books of the New Testament, was well educated, familiar with Greek philosophy and an expert in the Jewish religion. In a letter to the Corinthians, he taught that human things can only be understood by the human spirit. Similarly, spiritual matters can only be understood by the Spirit of God; “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
This means that the natural human mind has an inbuilt impediment to understanding God's things. We cannot know them through the five senses, but with the help of God’s Spirit at work with the human spirit, it is possible to understand spiritual matters.
That is, neither experience nor reason can provide exhaustive knowledge of the things of God. They certainly can provide some. The Bible recognises that from applying reason to our experiences of the world we gain a knowledge of God's power and glory (Romans 1:20). But there is much about God and ourselves we can only know by God revealing these things to us in His word, the Bible. Such authoritative revelation is a source of knowledge that falls outside the scientific method.
Which brings us full circle to the quotations above; which one best describes your position? At MCC, we are firmly in the Medawar-Schrodinger camp.
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