How Do We Know?

Phil Johnson over at Pyromaniacs has done it again ... another outstanding perspective. The question he tackles is that of epistemology. Epistemology is that area of philosophy that asks the question, "How do we know what we know?" Coming to any conclusions, of course, seems circular, but let's leave that alone.

The two most recent answers to "How do we know what we know?" are Modernism and Post-Modernism. Modernism is held primarily as "Classical Foundationalism". It was seen clearly in Descartes's "I think, therefore I am." The argument of Modernism is that we can know certain self-evident things from which we can then argue rationally to other things. Descartes argued from "if I think, I must be" to "God exists" and "Christianity is true." Nice ... but "Classical Foundationalism". In other words, in the simplest of terms, you can know things by figuring them out. Post-modernism's answer to "How do we know what we know?" is ... "You can't." Post-modernism is first and foremost an enemy of certainty. It views uncertainty as humility and wisdom, a fundamental virtue. Anyone who is certain is foolish and arrogant. What's the matter with you guys? What makes you think you're so smart?

When a reader asked Phil Johnson, "Are you a Classical Foundationalist?", Phil answered, "No!" "Oh," one might be tempted to think, "then you're a post-modernist!" To which Phil would not merely answer, but shout, "No!!" Coming from Phil, it sounds odd, but Phil answers the basic epistemological question, "How can man know what he knows?" first with a denial. "I reject every worldview and/or epistemology that begins with man as a starting point."

Read the post. It's quite good. Phil's position is that man's knowledge comes not from rational thinking or even uncertainty, but from God. He quotes the Bible, of all things, where the wisest man in history writes, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7). Funny ... I would guess that most of us were quite aware that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Psa. 111:10; Prov. 9:10), but many of us didn't quite catch that it was also the beginning of knowledge. Paul writes that God makes certain truths are innate to human beings (Rom. 1:19-20). More importantly, since God created this universe and God created it for His own purposes to His own glory, it only makes sense that knowledge -- epistemology -- must start with Him.

Phil's post is quite good. It serves also as a reminder that we need to constantly check ourselves for false thinking. Are we going to buy into the lie that uncertainty is humility when the Bible says that God provides both knowledge and wisdom? Are we going to buy into the lie that anything of any value originates with Man? We are so often caught up by this oh so prevalent line of thinking that starts with "I" and it is most often wrong. You almost can't go wrong if you start your thinking with "God" and work from there.