# Christian Epistemology



## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 19, 2006)

How do we know anything?


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 19, 2006)

FYI . . .



> Epistemology is the branch of philosophy which studies the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge. The word "epistemology" originated from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech). Historically, it has been one of the most investigated and debated of all philosophical subjects. Much of this debate has focused on analyzing the nature and variety of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, and belief. Much of this discussion concerns justification. Specifically, epistemologists will analyze the standards of justification for knowledge claims, that is the grounds on which one can claim to know a particular fact.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology


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## Arch2k (Mar 19, 2006)

For the Bible tells me so....


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 19, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Jeff_Bartel_
> For the Bible tells me so....



So we can only "know" what the Bible says?


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## Arch2k (Mar 19, 2006)

Sure!

The Bible tells us that Christ is "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."


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## fivepointcalvinist (Mar 19, 2006)

we can know things because God has given us the ability to interpret information predicated on standards He has set which would include the law of identity which holds that all things exhibit certain characteristics which can be observed or perceived. By implication, how could you know that you know anything unless you were first aware that you had a brain through which to think and process information?


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## Me Died Blue (Mar 19, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Jeff_Bartel_
> Sure!
> 
> The Bible tells us that Christ is "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."



Indeed - and we also know that "his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Romans 1:20).

Drawing largely from that verse, the Confession speaks of "the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence" manifesting "the goodness, wisdom, and power of God" (which is knowledge), and _specifically contrasts that revelation and its scope with special revelation and its sufficiency_ - thus saying that the general revelation can in fact give _some_ knowledge completely without regard to special revelation.

Also, when the Confession speaks of God committing "the same wholly unto writing," it subsequently explains that by the "writing" it is referring to the Scriptures, and it previously explained that by "the same" it is referring to God's acts at "sundry times, and in divers manner, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church," through direct verbal speech, prophets and miraculous signs - thus clarifying that those various means of special revelation held the place before the canon that the Bible does now; unlike the Bible, which is God's complete revelation for His purposes with us for this age, pre-canon special revelation was made in gradual, unfolding stages, wherein people did not know much at all in comparison to what we have now. So after God spoke His first one or two words to Adam, before He finished the first sentence, did Adam know nothing? After all, God would not even have told him yet that he can in fact know things through creation.


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## fivepointcalvinist (Mar 19, 2006)

i believe aquinas stated that not all knowledge can come from natural revelation. Can we derive love or emotion thoughts and conceptions from the general revelation of nature? God has set a standard for all things and it is by this standard that we submit perceptions of interpreted information. now, granted we may not all agree on the same interpretation about every single entity on the earth, tangeable or metaphysical, but this by not imply or make knowledge subjective or relative.


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## no1special18 (Mar 19, 2006)

I believe that a theistic worldview is the only one that can account for the belief that humanity can know things with any certainty. Does not really answer the first question but it was my


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## JohnV (Mar 19, 2006)

> _Originally posted by no1special18_
> I believe that a theistic worldview is the only one that can account for the belief that humanity can know things with any certainty. Does not really answer the first question but it was my



I disagree. I don't think it is for men to account for what man may know with certainty. That is, it is not a theistic worldview, nor a Christian worldview, that accounts for it. It is God who accounts for it. And He has given us truth through His Word. If the Christian makes himself the standard, then he is no better than the non-believer, for even the Christian must bow to the truth of God's Word, and be corrected by it. That is a life-long process. 

How do I know anything with certainty? God has told me so. It is not just that the Bible tells me so, but that the Spirit witnesses in my heart that the truth revealed in that Word is God's Word to me. In return, I pray to that same God, by the help of that same Spirit, to seek all that I need from His beneficent hand. It is a relationship of being to being, of God to man, and man to God. And this actual witness of the Spirit in me establishes in me a trust and expectancy of the verity of what God has revealed. It isn't just propositions, but also the being behind the propositions. 

It is, therefore, the Bible's worldview, not the theistic worldview, that is convincing, not just to non-theists, but to me, a theist, a Christian. I am always casting aside my own worldview in order to adopt the Bible's, as it becomes clear to me.


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## BobVigneault (Mar 19, 2006)

If I may toot my own meager blog:

http://theheartbeatofheaven.blogspot.com/2006/03/how-do-we-know-what-we-know.html


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