Knowledge and Trust I. Prayer II. Introduction A. Acquiring, discerning, maintaining, and applying knowledge remains one of the most basic and fundamental processes of human life B. We do this all the time, primarily subconsciously; the process itself often remains opaque to us C. We do not think about it or notice anything about it until we perceive the difference between our knowledge and understanding and the knowledge and understanding of others D. Thus it is very easy to begin wondering: how do we come to know what we know? How should we go about ascertaining what is true from what is false? E. Let us consider these questions today III. Epistemological Challenges A. What would be your initial response to our questions? 1. Many might think back to what they learned in science and the importance of establishing some kind of hypothesis, testing evidence, and seeing if the hypothesis is validated; at that point there would be proof for what one believes 2. Others might think about it according to a legal framework: gathering evidence, attempting to establish what is true from what is false by rendering a verdict on the quality of the evidence B. These kinds of answers, and most of the ways people approach these answers, have a long heritage in the philosophical tradition going all the way back to ancient Greeks; the fancy word for the endeavor is epistemology, the study of knowledge 1. Epistemologists have been attempting to understand how we know things for over 2400 years 2. As in all such disciplines, many schools of thought exist, and all have their strengths and weaknesses made evident in engagement with one another: foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism, whether internalist or externalist, etc. 3. It is not at all our purpose today to explore the wide range of epistemological theories, their strengths, and their weaknesses; for our purposes we do well to know they exist 4. Works by Alvin Plantinga along with W. Jay Wood's Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous provide greater depth in exploring a lot of epistemological theories and argumentation and effective Christian responses to them; the latter in particular will guide some of our discussion today C. In general, however, most epistemological systems suffer from challenges regarding foundations, assumptions, and common frameworks D. Foundational Challenges 1. A major challenge in epistemology comes from what must be taken for granted: that which represents the fundamental level of knowledge or understanding on which everything else can be based 2. In our common examples already considered, we would ask what evidence we have that gathering evidence, testing it in a given way, and coming to a conclusion based on that would provide accurate knowledge; we might be able to then again question the evidence we would have to justify the evidence about the evidence, etc. 3. Such was Rene Descartes' epistemic challenge: he perceived many different people in different groups believing different things to be true, and all of them coherent in their portrayal; thus he thought if he could just begin with what was fundamentally true on which all else could be built he could develop a theory of knowledge; this led him to the cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore, I exist") foundational paradigm 4. Yet what evidence can be marshaled to justify such a foundationalist enterprise? Foundationalism cannot find sufficient justification and warrant for its own premise! 5. Time and time again epistemological theories will end up becoming circular or will reach a point where one must assume the matrix on which everything else will stand; something very precarious when it comes to the quest to understand how we can maintain true and effective knowledge! E. Assumptive Challenges 1. This then leads us to the challenge of what is assumed to be taken for granted in terms of what and how we know: what happens when the assumptions get questioned? 2. In the common examples already considered, we can see this in the "scientific" mode of thinking: we might be able to give sufficient warrant to believe a given hypothesis is true based on all available evidence, but every hypothesis is drawn up with many foundational assumptions involved, and if any of those assumptions end up being questioned, the value of the proof is undermined 3. We might think a given piece of evidence is crucial, but what if we find out the evidence is actually compromised? 4. Descartes himself really put the cart before the horse in terms of the cogito: he assumed a coherent, independent "I" who could think and reason; we are now realizing just how the "I" of each individual human is made up of all kinds of components and microorganisms that can profoundly affect the thought process 5. We have not yet fully come to terms with the unsettling realities of the quantum realm, including how observation of the quantum realm demonstrably changes the result, potentially shattering one of the fundamental pillars of the exploration of knowledge, the belief that observation does not change phenomena 6. A good number of the major scientific changes over time have involved challenges to commonly accepted assumptions, from quantum physics to plate tectonics 7. Thus even the assumptions that we maintain in order to create a kind of foundation for what we know are easily questioned, and come with difficulties F. Framework Challenges 1. Another major difficulty in epistemology is how we know: the framework we use to establish what is true 2. Much of what gets discussed in epistemology, if true, would mean that only a few epistemologists would ever reach the threshold of being able to have any confidence in knowing what is true; this seems suspicious at best, and also cannot account for how people actually work in trying to know things 3. A lot of the modern framework about knowledge, as can be seen in our common examples, presumes a purely objective posture using pure reason to dispassionately assess the evidence given for a proposition on all sides, and then coming to a reasoned conclusion independent of any other influence 4. Yet no one actually does this! 5. How much do you know that you could never actually prove or provide compelling evidence for its existence? a. When we think of things we know, we easily gravitate to things that can be taught in a school, and particularly in the sciences b. And yet we all think we know that at least someone loves us, right? How could we prove this according to the frameworks already described? c. If we maintain a certain feeling, and express it, how could we prove we felt that emotion, or that another is feeling one? d. What confidence can we have that the earth will continue rotating around the sun? e. How could we demonstrate to anyone's satisfaction how it is that a thing is beautiful, wonderful, or on the other side of that equation, perverse or warped? f. And yet even though we cannot "prove" these things, we yet believe, and think we believe with confidence, that they remain true 6. Knowledge is not just about the intellect; it also involves the passions, often described as the affections a. So many over time have been highly critical of the passions since they often lead to irrational behavior and ideas b. And yet our ability to make any kind of value judgment, be it whether a piece of information or idea is greater than another, or ought to lead to change, etc., is all driven by love, anger, etc. c. As an example, many autistic people may have great intelligence and know many things but may not ascertain the affective power of things they can know: they can perceive that something is aesthetically pleasing, for instance, but not be able to be awestruck by it d. How much do you know that is related to how you relate to other people, the "rules" of societal conduct? How many of those are ascertained in a given circumstance by detection of nonverbal, often emotive, cues? e. Emotions and sensation remains inseparable from the intellect when it comes to what we can know and what we can accept as true 7. For that matter, who among us can be truly "objective"? a. Universal Objective Man is a myth, a Platonic Form; as with all Platonic forms, we're better off not imagining their existence b. We are all creatures of our time and place; we come with a framework developed over time c. By reason of development and exercise of rational powers we might be able to transcend our context and imagine a different context operating under a different framework, yet we will still remain ourselves in our own context d. We cannot escape our own subjectivity; all we can do is try to mitigate it through an honest consideration of other perspectives 8. Likewise, it would be unwise to disassociate the study of knowledge and truth from virtue a. All too often we are asked to disassociate a person's life from a person's skills: a person might be a complete jerk of a person, but they also might be the most brilliant authority in their field of study b. And yet how much pain and suffering come from disconnecting knowing from virtue? c. We should desire wisdom with knowledge, no (cf. Proverbs 1:1-4)? d. We should want to manifest humility in our quest for knowledge and truth, recognizing our limitations, weaknesses, and failures; knowledge too easily puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1) e. Is not honesty all important in the quest for knowledge and truth? Self-deception, motivated reasoning, confirmation bias all plague the endeavor to ascertain what is true and real f. What about charity? Should we not look at other perspectives and ideas with charity, seeking to give the benefit of the doubt? And to express patience throughout the quest? g. If we cannot trust a person in terms of how they present themselves and act in other aspects of their lives, how can we have confidence that such would not spill over into their study and discipline? h. How much distortion, disinformation, misinformation, manipulation, and sophistry are due to the disconnection between virtue and knowledge? G. Thus we see the challenges inherent in any quest to understand how we know and what is true IV. How We Know A. We do well to consider, on a practical level, how it is we have come to know things B. We all have developed a framework, some kind of matrix of information into which we incorporate new data C. From where has that framework/matrix come? D. Our senses 1. We use our five senses to ascertain realities about our environment 2. We acknowledge our senses may sometimes be distorted or confused based on different factors, but generally we give our senses the benefit of the doubt, and only challenge them when other evidence is given E. Our Sources 1. We grew up and learned things from our parents that we trusted 2. We went to school and learned things from teachers and have trusted them 3. We may have received religious instruction and trusted in it 4. As we grew older, our sources may have waxed and waned, and we have likely been given reasons to dispute at least some of what we learned from sources we trusted, but again, we will hold firm to what we have been taught until we have been given some competing evidence or information by which to challenge it F. Thus, we have gained a whole framework/matrix of knowledge from trusted sources; we maintain confidence in what we have gained from those sources until we have experiences or gain other information which would challenge what we have learned; then we go through an investigation to ascertain what we should accept as true and what we should reject as false G. Does this strike you as a more accurate way of looking at how we know? H. What seems to be the common denominator of this assessment? Trust: a concept not sufficiently addressed in many quarters of epistemology! V. Knowledge and Trust in God in Christ A. Notice that we have gone through this whole exploration into what we can know and how without much regard to what God has made known in Christ and in Scripture; we have done so on the basis of the common reasoning we all use B. And where have we arrived in this meandering journey? To the place where theologians have been sitting the whole time: trust! C. Note well how throughout Scripture the expectation is for man to seek God and put his or her trust in Him, because He has proven trustworthy D. Acts 17:27-29: God has made mankind to seek Him; man as God's offspring 1. Humans are able to know things and to think because they are made in God's image, not merely with intellect, but also the affections and the virtues 2. Humans yearn for relational unity with God, one another, to truly know one another: not mere acquisition of intellectual facts (John 17:20-23, 1 John 2:3-6, etc.) 3. And yet even in perfection humanity not able to understand all things: plenty remains above his or her understanding (Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 11:33-36) 4. To this end man must still trust in God's existence, goodness, fullness, and strength E. Genesis 3:15-22, Romans 5:12-21, 8:18-23: The corruption of the creation 1. Humans were made with faculties for receiving truth and accepting it 2. And yet we have sinned and live in a world corrupted by sin and death 3. Thus, our faculties for ascertaining truth have been compromised; beyond our finite nature as created beings, error, deception, and delusion run amok, and we are highly motivated to accept lies rather than the truth 4. From the beginning temptation came in the form of questioning God's goodness and motivations: distancing man from his trust in his or her God (Genesis 3:1-8) F. Hebrews 1:1-3, Psalm 105:1-45, Romans 1:18-32, 8:31-39, 1 John 4:7-21: God has communicated through the prophets and in His Son; God has demonstrated covenant faithfulness towards His people 1. God's communication is trustworthy because God is true to His covenant and His word 2. Before He expected Israel to trust in Him, He displayed His trustworthiness in blessing Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and delivering Israel from the hand of Egypt with power 3. His prophetic word to Israel was always anchored in His demonstrations of covenant loyalty: Israel had every reason to trust in YHWH 4. Likewise we can have full confidence in God and His love toward us because He has displayed His faithfulness in sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sins and to be raised from the dead; if God has given of His Son, how will He not give us all things in Him? G. And so John 14:6, Colossians 1:15-22, 2:1-3, 8-10: Jesus is God in the flesh, the embodiment of God's essence and character, the Source of all knowledge and wisdom; Jesus is the truth 1. If Jesus is the Son of God, having died and is risen, then He speaks the truth as He is the truth 2. If He is the truth, then all that is true is grounded in Him 3. Thus, to seek the truth is to seek Jesus 4. Yet Jesus is not a disembodied set of universal propositions; Jesus is a first century Palestinian Jew who died and is risen from the dead, and who experienced life in its fullness, manifesting righteousness in deed as well as in word H. Thus, we can develop a coherent epistemology entirely founded on what God has made known to the fathers in the prophets and in His Son! VI. Knowledge and Trust A. What do we know? How do we know it? B. We have centers of trust: our senses, our family, our educators, our environment, our faith C. We maintain our trust in what we gain from these unless and until we are given reason to question or challenge them with additional contradictory information D. And what is true of us in our time, place, and context is true of everyone in theirs as well E. When these are in disagreement, someone's trust is not fully justified or warranted F. No earthly source of knowledge is worthy of full confidence: all disappoint, all are limited G. Yet God in Christ has proven completely faithful: He has demonstrated Himself worthy of all confidence H. Thus, Matthew 7:24-27 is warranted: whatever is founded on Jesus the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge is true and reliable; whatever is not founded on Jesus is not consistent with truth and will collapse I. Thus, as Christians, we must prove willing to challenge any assumption or conception of truth we have been given to see if it aligns with what God has made known in Christ J. Likewise, in God in Christ knowledge and truth can be made comprehensible and fully founded in God the Creator, faithful to covenant K. May we ground our knowledge in God according to His revelation in Christ, mind, body, and soul/spirit, in affection and virtue as well as intellect, and trust in Him! L. Invitation Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: "That they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27). Mankind desires to know but also to have confidence in what he knows. Man is able to understand things because God has made him to be able to know. Man yearns to understand more of his environment and its ultimate Source. God, man's Creator, knows all; it is for man to trust in his God. May we seek God in Christ! 2: For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope (Romans 8:20). Mankind was made to be able to know and understand. Yet mankind now is subject to corruption in the creation. His capacity to know has also been corrupted. We may trust in lies and deception and not what is actually true. In temptation we are invited to challenge God's goodness and faithfulness toward us. May we recognize our limitations and seek to know God in Christ! 3: Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Jesus is the truth; all that is true rests in Him. Thus, we are to trust in Jesus, and in Jesus ascertain what is true. Jesus is not a universalized, disembodied series of propositions; Jesus came in the flesh in a time, place, and context, and displayed the affections, passions, and virtues. All of these help inform our pursuit of truth in God in Christ. May we perceive the truth of God in Christ and uphold it in Him! 4: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32) When the dust has settled in all epistemological disputations, what remains is trust: we intrinsically trust in certain sources. We only challenge those sources when differing information comes in from other sources. From the beginning God has worked diligently to demonstrate Himself worthy of our trust. We do well to hold firm to all things which prove true in God in Christ and dispense with all that is inconsistent with what God has made known in Christ!