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How do we know God?

Before we answer that question, it may help us to take a step back to consider another question, “How do we know any thing?”

There is a big fancy word known as epistemology that describes the field of study where people talk about these things. Wikipedia states,

Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy which is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808-1864).

Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, and justification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. In other words, epistemology primarily addresses the following questions: “What is knowledge?”, “How is knowledge acquired?”, and “What do people know?”

But let’s simplify the discussion a bit. If you take Mathematics as an example, “How do we know math?” We learn the basics first, addition and subtraction, and then we build on that foundation. Typically we learn math from those who are experts in the field, teachers who not only understand the theories and principles but also how to teach them. But we know that a teacher of the basic foundations of math may not be an expert in the more complex issues that math can solve. Teaching addition is certainly different from teaching calculus. I don’t know if Mrs. Adams at Yealey Elementary could teach calculus, but I do know that if she hadn’t taught me multiplication in the third grade I would not have been able to pass calculus in the twelfth grade.

Since I don’t have any children I can only go on what those with children tell me. But I hear from my brother that they teach math differently know than they used to. I’m not sure what that means really. But I do know that when I was taking math classes, I learned the theories and then I learned how to apply those theories to many different applications. As the math theory got more complex, so did the applications.

Let’s return to our first question, ‘How do we know God?” The easy answer is to go to the Bible. However, the question is more complex than that.

If we go to the Bible with preconceived notions about who God is, we are going to gravitate toward things in the Bible that affirm those and tend to ignore or label confusing things that contradict our notions. A simple example is the story of the wise men or magi who visited Jesus after his birth. Most of us normally think of there being three of them, but the Bible doesn’t specify how many there were. The Bible says that the magi came from the east bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In this case, preconceived notions about the number of magi don’t really have that great of an impact on our knowledge of God, but it does illustrate how easy it is to approach scripture with preconceived perceptions.

It is more dangerous to our theology if we approach scripture with a preconceived perspective about who we are as men and women living in God’s creation. There are many humanistic theories underlying many ideas will have about the place of humanity in creation and relation to God. When we take these theories with us to scripture, they can cloud the truth of God’s revelation to us.

It is more appropriate and true to our calling as Christian men and women, to go to scripture without any preconceived ideas about who God is and how humankind relates to God and his creation.

One humanistic theory that is taking a hold on our culture is that there is no absolute right or wrong. This is one of the major teachings of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard. “Scientology states that there is no absolute right or wrong but that right and wrong are actually a gradient from right to wrong. An action must contain construction which outweighs the destruction it contains in order to be considered good (quoted from Wikipedia, cf. Hubbard, Introduction to Scientology Ethics, 2007 ed,; Gradient Scale of Right and Wrong, p. 15).” If we seek to know who God is, but start with this assumption as a foundation to our search, we will not learn about God has he has revealed himself to us. Instead, the one who begin with this foundation will assume that passages about judgment and sin are allegories about the gradient between right and wrong.

Another example of how a humanistic perspective on God can create a misconception of God is one that we all live within every day, the concept of time. Here on earth, day and night pass and we count the days, hours and minutes that mark their passing. Almost everything that we know and do is in the context of time. But God is outside of time, he is eternal. To assume that God experiences our world they way we do, limits God to a human-centered perspective. God does not know because he learns or observes things over time, he knows because he is omniscient. When God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus), he wasn’t surprised when he rounded a bend and the Red Sea was in his path. He knew where it was, he put it there and his plan for the rescue of Israel included the parting of the Red Sea.

An elementary student can’t go into math class believing that two plus two equals six and attempt to change the mathematical theories to accommodate the preconceived mistake. In seeking to know God, we must start without an ideology about who we want God to be or who we think God is. If we start only with the foundation that the Bible is God’s revelation about himself and humankind’s relationship with him, we will avoid creating humanistic idols based on who we think God is.
 

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