Epistemology, a study
on how we receive knowledgeby Jack Kettler
In this study we will
focus on epistemology, or how we can know
things.
The branch
of philosophy that deals with the area of
knowledge, its source, criteria, kinds, and
the relationship between what is known and the
one who is knowing it. **
Epistemology
is the study of knowledge or how we can know
things.
Some quotes about
knowledge. Who is correct?
“All we can
know is that we know nothing. And that's the
height of human wisdom.” - Leo Tolstoy, War
and Peace
“The only
true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” -
Socrates
Are Tolstoy
and Socrates correct? Or would you agree with
the next two quotes?
“The
knowledge of all things is possible” -
Leonardo da Vinci
“Let us
tenderly and kindly cherish therefore, the
means of knowledge. Let us dare to read,
think, speak, and write.” - John Adams, The Works
Of John Adams, Second President Of The
United States
Approaches to
epistemology:
Empiricism is known as the theory
that knowledge comes through sensations.
Allegedly, the mind at birth is a blank tablet
(tabula
rasa) and then man’s mind assimilates
knowledge via sensations.
An example of
statement on empiricism:
If
therefore children and idiots have souls, have
minds, with those impressions upon them, they
must unavoidably perceive them, and
necessarily know and assent to these truths.
Which since they do not, it is evident that
there are no such impressions. For if they are
not notions naturally imprinted, how can they
be innate? And if they are notions imprinted,
how can they be unknown? To say a notion is
imprinted on the mind, and yet at the same
time to say, that the mind is ignorant of it,
and never yet took notice of it, is to make
this impression nothing. – John Lock, Essay,
1.2.12
Rationalism is the epistemological
view that in regards to reason or man’s
logical powers, would be source of knowledge.
An example of a
statement on rationalism:
“All our
knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds
then to the understanding, and ends with
reason. There is nothing higher than reason.”
- Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason
Scripturalism is the view that all
knowledge must be contained within a system
and deduced from its starting principles, in
the Christian case, the Bible.
An example of
statements on scripturalism:
“The
teaching of Colossians 2:3-8 is unambiguous.
ALL knowledge (note: not simply knowledge of
“religious” matters is to be found in Christ.”
- Greg L. Bahnsen, Presuppositional
Apologetics: Stated and Defended
Plus, it can be
added:
“And this I
pray, that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment.” - The
apostle Paul in Philippians 1:9
In this
study, we will be using the approach of
Scripturalism.
Gordon H. Clark’s
entry in the Encyclopedia of Christianity
will be helpful for a short text book
overview of epistemology:
EPISTEMOLOGY
is the study of how knowledge is possible. The
Greek philosophers from Thales (585 B.C.) to
Democritus (c. 400 B.C.) were unable to
complete their cosmological theories because
unsuspected problems of knowledge constantly
blocked them. The Sophists (425-375) concluded
that knowledge is impossible. Plato and
Aristotle opposed this skepticism, and ever
since epistemology has been the crucial part
of philosophy.
One type of
epistemology is Rationalism. Plato had a world
of Ideas as objects of knowledge because the
world of flux could not be grasped. St.
Augustine made extensive use of Plato.
Aristotle tried to derived knowledge from
sense data. Thomas Aquinas followed him in
this. In England John Locked tried his own
approach on this basis. But the outcome of
British empiricism in Hume reverted to
skepticism. Later, Kant, therefore, tried to
form a base for knowledge in a certain
combination of a priori (rationalistic) forms
of the mind and sensory experience. This
result in a “knowledge” of appearance, but
left “reality,” i.e. things-in-themselves,
unknowable. Then Hegel erected a grandiose
“System,” too complicated to characterize in a
few words.
From the
middle of the 19th century philosophy has
reacted increasingly against Hegel, either
violently empirical as in positivism or
violently skeptical and irrational as in
existentialism. (1)
Thus far:
The only
way we can know things truly if it is God
speaks in Scripture. In this study, we will
see a number of Scriptures that give examples
of God’s speaking through creational or
general revelation and directly through His
Word, i.e., special revelation.
Scriptural
epistemology will be looked under two
categories, general and special revelation.
General Revelation
General revelation
is:
“God’s
self-disclosure to all humanity found in the
external creation and internal human
experience.” *
In the
following passages, the reader will see God
speaking through His creation. We will look
further in depth at one passage in this
section.
“And let
them be for lights in the expanse of the
heavens to give light on the earth; and it was
so.” (Genesis 1:15)
“The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day
uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth
knowledge. There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm
19:1-3)
“And the
heavens shall declare his righteousness: for
God is judge himself. Selah.” (Psalm 50:6)
“And the
heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy
faithfulness also in the congregation of the
saints.” (Psalm 89:5)
“And one
called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy,
Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is
full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)
“And,
behold, the glory of the God of Israel came
from the way of the east: and his voice was
like a noise of many waters: and the earth
shined with his glory.” (Ezekiel 43:2)
“For the
invisible things of him from the creation of
the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
“And after
these things I saw another angel come down
from heaven, having great power; and the earth
was lightened with his glory.” (Revelation
18:1)
Digging deeper into
Psalm 19:1:
Psalms 19:1 from Barnes'
Notes on the Bible:
The heavens
declare the glory of God, etc.] By which we
are to understand not the heavens literally
taken, though these with the firmament are the
handiworks of God, and do declare the glory of
his perfections, especially his wisdom and
power; these show that there is a God, and
that he is a glorious one: but either Gospel
churches, often signified by the kingdom of
heaven, in the New Testament; the members of
them being heaven-born souls, and the
doctrines and ordinances ministered among them
being from heaven; and there being a very
great resemblance between them and heaven, in
the company and communion enjoyed in them; and
who declare the glory of the divine
perfections, which is very great in the
handiwork of their redemption; and who ascribe
the glory of their whole salvation to God: or
rather the apostles and first preachers of the
word, as appears from (<451018>Romans
10:18); who were set in the highest place in
the church; had their commission, doctrine,
and success from heaven; and who may be called
by this name, because of the purity and
solidity of their ministry, and their
constancy and steadfastness in it, and because
of their heavenly lives and conversations:
these declared the glory of the divine
perfections; such as those particularly of
grace, goodness, and mercy, which are not
discoverable by the light of nature or law of
Moses, as, they are displayed in the salvation
of men by Christ, in the forgiveness of their
sins, the justification of their persons, and
the gift of eternal life unto them: they
taught men to ascribe the glory of salvation
to God alone, Father, Son, and Spirit; they
set forth in their ministry the glory of
Christ, of his person, and of his offices and
grace; and they showed that redemption was his
handiwork, as follows: and the firmament
showeth his handiwork; for the same persons
may be called the firmament, since they that
are wise are said to shine as the brightness
of it, (<271203>Daniel 12:3). These were
like to stars in it, and were the light of the
world, and declared that redemption is the
work which Christ undertook, and came into
this world to perform, and which he has
finished; his hands have wrought it, and his
own arm has brought salvation to him. The
Targum interprets the heavens and the
firmament, of such persons as contemplate the
heavens, and look upon the firmament or air;
and so do some other Jewish writers f292. (2)
Special Revelation
Special revelation
is:
“God’s
self-disclosure in direct, supernatural
revelation, disclosing truths, including the
good news of salvation that could not be known
through general revelation.” *
Special
revelation comes exclusively through the
Scriptures. Like the previous section, we will
look further in depth at a particular passage.
In the
previous section, God in Scripture revealed
Himself through nature or the creation.
“And Moses
wrote all the words of the Lord... And he
[Moses] took the book of the covenant, and
read in the audience of the people.” (Exodus
24:4, 7)
“Only be
thou strong and very courageous, that thou
mayest observe to do according to all the law,
which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn
not from it to the right hand or to the left,
that thou mayest prosper whithersover thou
goest. This book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then thou have good success.”
(Joshua 1:7-8)
“So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:11)
“Take thee
a roll of a book, and write therein all the
words that I have spoken unto thee against
Israel, and against Judah, and against all the
nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from
the days of Josiah, even unto this day.”
(Jeremiah 36:2)
“And the
Lord answered me, and said, write the vision,
and make it plain upon tables, that he may run
that readeth it.” (Habakkuk 2:2)
“And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
“And he
said unto them, These are the words which I
spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled, which were
written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
(Luke 24:44)
“Search the
Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify
of me.” (John 5:39)
“These were
more noble minded than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word with all
readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures
daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts
17:11)
“For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning.” (Romans 15:4)
“For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures; And that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures.” (1
Corinthians 15:3-4)
“How that by revelation he made known
unto me the mystery; (as I wrote
afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye
may understand my knowledge in
the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of
men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”
(Ephesians 3:3-5)
“And this I
pray, that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment.”
(Philippians 1:9)
“For this
cause we also, since the day we heard it, do
not cease to pray for you, and to desire that
ye might be filled with the knowledge of his
will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding.” (Colossians 1:9)
“Therefore,
brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions
which ye have been taught, whether by word,
[teaching, preaching] or our epistle [written
letter].” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
“And that
from a child thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, [Paul most certainly is
including the New Testament writings here] and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
(2 Timothy 3:15-16)
“Saying, I
am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:
and, what thou seest, write in a book and send
it unto the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:11)
God speaks
to us through creation (general revelation)
and the Scriptures (special revelation), in
which He tells us the good news of the gospel.
Digging deeper into
Acts 17:11:
Acts 17:11 from the Matthew
Poole's Commentary:
The Jews of
Berea did excel those of Thessalonica, not so
much in birth as in disposition: they were not
so prejudiced and obstinate; they patiently
heard Paul; they seriously thought upon what
he had said, and compared it with the
Scriptures. And thus God gave them the
preparation of the heart; and they brought
their empty vessels. No wonder then that the
oil of grace ran into them, and filled them.
The Jews call their learned men, the sons of
nobles; and according to that expression,
these Bereans, that had acted so ingenuously
and wisely, were said to be more noble.
Searched
the Scriptures daily, whether those things
were so: truth dares abide the test; only
false wares need a dark shop to put them off
in. The Scriptures only are our infallible
rule; for they come from God, 2 Timothy 3:16,
who cannot lie, Titus 1:2. (3)
Now for some
important insights from confessional sources
on the true source of knowledge:
The Belgic
Confession, Article 2: How God Makes Himself
Known to us:
We
know Him by two means: First, by the creation,
preservation, and government of the universe;
which is before our eyes as a most beautiful
book, 1 wherein all creatures, great and
small, are as so many letters leading us to
perceive clearly the invisible things of God,
namely, His eternal power and deity, as the
apostle Paul says (Rom 1:20). All these things
are sufficient to convict men and leave them
without excuse. Second, He makes Himself more
clearly and fully known to us by His holy and
divine Word2 as far as is necessary for us in
this life, to His glory and our salvation.
And likewise,
Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 1 of
the Holy Scripture:
6. The
whole counsel of God concerning all things
necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation,
faith and life, is either expressly set down
in Scripture, or by good and necessary
consequence may be deduced from Scripture:
unto which nothing at any time is to be added,
whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or
traditions of men. Nevertheless, we
acknowledge the inward illumination of the
Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving
understanding of such things as are revealed
in the Word: and that there are some
circumstances concerning the worship of God,
and government of the church, common to human
actions and societies, which are to be ordered
by the light of nature, and Christian
prudence, according to the general rules of
the Word, which are always to be observed.
7. All
things in Scripture are not alike plain in
themselves, nor alike clear unto all: yet
those things which are necessary to be known,
believed, and observed for salvation, are so
clearly propounded, and opened in some place
of Scripture or other, that not only the
learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of
the ordinary means, may attain unto a
sufficient understanding of them.
In closing, some food
for thought quotes:
“A
theologian’s epistemology controls his
interpretation of the Bible. If his
epistemology is not Christian, his exegesis
will be systematically distorted. If he has no
epistemology at all, his exegesis will be
unsystematically distorted.” - Gordon H.
Clark, The
Incarnation
“To reject
revelational epistemology is to commit
yourself to defending the truth of autonomous
epistemology.” - Greg L. Bahnsen,
Presuppositional Apologetics: Stated and
Defended
“The
foundation of knowledge is God’s revelation.”
- Greg L. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions
for Defending the Faith
“There is
no environment where man can flee to escape
the revelational presence of God (Ps. 139:8).”
- Greg L. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions
for Defending the Faith
“According
to the principle of Protestantism, man’s
consciousness of self and of objects
presuppose for their intelligibility the
self-consciousness of God. In asserting this
we are not thinking of psychological and
temporal priority. We are thinking only of the
question as to what is the final reference
point in interpretation. The Protestant
principle finds this in the self-contained
ontological trinity. By his counsel the triune
God controls whatsoever comes to pass. If then
the human consciousness must, in the nature of
the case, always be the proximate
starting-point, it remains true that God is
always the most basic and therefore the
ultimate or final reference point in human
interpretation” - Cornelius Van Til: (DOF 94).
This study
did not delve into the critical philosophical
problems involving empiricism and rationalism.
For a scriptural and philosophical defense of
how man’s mind can know things, the reader
should consult the next three books.
The reader
should consult Ronald H. Nash's The Word
of God and the Mind of Man (3)
and his The light of the mind: St.
Augustine's theory of knowledge. (4)
These two books explain and develop for the
modern reader elements of Augustine's
philosophy in the area of epistemology that is
found in his De
Magistro. (5)
These works deal with the mechanic s of how
the Christian receives knowledge into his
mind.
The goal of
this study is to help us magnify the Lord God
for his marvelous grace that made us children
of God through no merit of our own. It is my
prayer that this goal has been attained.
“But God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8)
Nothing in
us caused or merited this supreme act of love
on God’s part!
“Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes:
1.Edwin A. Palmer, Ed., Encyclopedia
of Christianity, (Wilmington, Delaware:
National Foundation for Christian Education,
1968, out of print, typed),
http://gordonhclark.reformed.info/files/2015/06/Encyclopedia-13.-Epistemology-typed.pdf
2.Albert Barnes, THE AGES
DIGITAL LIBRARYCOMMENTARY, Barnes’
Notes on the Bible, Psalms, pp. 210-211.
3.Matthew Poole, Matthew
Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible,
Vol. 3, (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson
Publishers, 1985), p. 441.
4.Ronald H. Nash, The Word
of God and the Mind of Man, (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: The Zondervan Corporation,
1982).
5.Ronald H. Nash, The Light
of the Mind: St. Augustine's Theory of
Knowledge, (Lexington, Kentucky: The
University Press of Kentucky, 1969).
6.Augustine, De
Magistro in Augustine: Earlier Writings,
Editor, John H. S. Burleigh, (Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, MCMLIII).
“Not
by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5)
“To God
only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ
forever. Amen.” (Romans 16:27) and “heirs
according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28,
29)
Mr. Kettler
has previously published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is
the author of the book defending the Reformed
Faith against attacks, titled: The
Religion That Started in a Hat.
Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com
For more study:
* For a great source of
theological definitions go to Rebecca writes
at Rebecca Writes:
http://www.rebecca-writes.com/theological-terms-in-ao/