What Do You Know About Knowledge?

As I am wont to do (I am especially wont to use the word wont a lot!), I referred to a Bible verse when making a Facebook comment a few weeks ago.  Apparently, that is about the only unacceptable thing left to do.  My "friend" was upset that I "went there."  Another commentator thought my verse deserved another, so he offered what is probably his standard "in your face" Bible verse to make the point that he is more ignorant and rude even than I was purported to be.  I tried to query about the proper use of comments among friends, to discover whether a Facebook friend is only allowed to say what the other person thinks, or if friends might be expected to represent themselves.  I got my answer, so now I don't even bother reading my friend's many posts because I know now that whatever my reactions might be, they don't matter.

Enough venting already?  This all is mentioned because as part of the dialogue described above, one person who went and read the verses from Genesis that I had referenced made the outrageous claim that the story of the fall of man teaches us that God does not want us to have KNOWLEDGE!

From Genesis 2
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

It is this kind of ridiculously sloppy interpretation that bothers me.  If I said to the man: "Please do not drive the car of death and destruction to the store," would he be likely to claim that I told him "do not drive any car"?  I hope not.  If he is living his life without considering the impact of any adjectives, adverbs, modifiers, qualifiers, nor even the relevance of the nearest prepositional phrase , I imagine that he gets a lot of funny looks from people.  But no.  Regular communicative people who get along with language and logic and normal rational processes, sometimes seem to turn these off when the Bible is the subject.  

This is so sad because, when considered carefully (or with at least normal language skills) the Bible makes perfect sense.  A little deeper look into the verse above for example, tells a lot.

When I was much much younger, and first heard from Genesis 4:4 that "Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain," this King James understanding of the word "know" became a silly game with me and my friends.  We could actually talk about "sex" in public without anybody (under the age of 1 1/2) knowing (ooops! I just said sex again!) what we were giggling about.

But the understanding is important.  Adam KNEW his wife.  It means that the two of them had become intimate partners.  There was actually a permanent bonding of their spirits that could never be undone.  And this is the relationship with evil that God was hoping the first two people would never...know.  

Since God had declared His creative work to be "good," a couple of times during the creation week (until Eve had been fashioned; then God said His work was "very good"!), the nature of "good"  was already well known to Adam and Eve.  But evil is only the absence of good.  When good is covered, or ignored, or dismissed, evil appears.  It is this complete awareness of evil's corrupting influence that came to Adam and Eve when they decided to disobey God.

The Bible does not teach that "knowledge is bad."  To the contrary, many verses encourage the gathering of knowledge.  Check out a few of these encouraging words about knowledge, if you like.  But here in 2 Peter chapter one we see knowledge in its proper place as a tool, or stepping stone to something even better:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The next time you hear or read some simplistic statement that would belittle the Bible, I hope you will pause long enough to consider the intrinsic value of any such claim.

PS  For more about the value and import of KNOWLEDGE, come back on April 22nd when S is for Science!

  


By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting March 24th on Proverbs 24:5-9

                                      March 24th?     Read Proverbs 24!

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers. My amateur comments are offered below each of today's verses from Proverbs.]

Have you ever noticed that, as most months have 31 days, so the Book of Proverbs has 31 chapters? Fascinating right? Well, it is at least interesting, and coincidentally beneficial to those who would like to read a portion of thought provoking scripture every day of the month. You might like to read the calendar coordinated chapter from Proverbs every day this month (I've included the whole chapter below!) and then see if my comments on a few of those verses line up with your own observations. My plan is to go through the year, writing my response to about one seventh of each chapter's verses every day, during each of the 7 months that have 31 days.  Clear as mud? That's what I thought.

I hope you check in, and leave a comment. Especially if I say something really off base and need to be corrected, because, as we will learn this month on the 27th, Proverbs 27:5 says

                                "Better is open rebuke than hidden love." 

                                          Today's inspired verses, 5-9, are highlighted in red

                                                (and my questionable comments are in blue).

Proverbs 24

Saying 20

1 Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
2 for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.

Saying 21

3 By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
4 through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.

So yesterday we looked at Sayings 9 and 10 and today we are at 22-24.  Are we having fun yet?  I hope you are reading the whole chapter each day.  After all; don't you watch the WHOLE of even the dumbest TV shows?  I know I do.  I hate to miss any aspect of whatever I'm doing.

Saying 22

5 The wise prevail through great power,
and those who have knowledge muster their strength.

5) Is he saying that wisdom itself IS a great power?  That gaining knowledge is gaining strength?  Sounds like a public service announcement from the '70s;  Knowledge is Power--Don't drop out Knucklehead!

Or is he saying that a wise people are careful to have a strong national defense?  That they will study war and develop scientifically advanced weapons?

I don't know, but both ideas are true, so we'll go with the all inclusive answer: Both.

6 Surely you need guidance to wage war,
and victory is won through many advisers.

6) I was right!  Both suggestions are supported here.

Saying 23

7 Wisdom is too high for fools;
in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.

7) Mark Twain turned this bit of sober counsel into a fun idiom:  It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.-- Mark Twain

Saying 24

8 Whoever plots evil
will be known as a schemer.

8)  Pity the poor victim who had to suffer while the reputation of the schemer was being established!  

9 The schemes of folly are sin,
and people detest a mocker.

9) I am invariably impressed, when I read the Bible, with the fact that people have always been, and will always be, the same.  Easy truisms like vs 9 are so easily recognized by us, even here in 21st century America, and they ring equally true in every culture everywhere.  Skin colors vary, ethnic habits differ crazily, and even where widely oriented religions exist...people detest a mocker!


Saying 25

10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
how small is your strength!
11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Saying 26

13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 27

15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
do not plunder their dwelling place;
16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Saying 28

17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the LORD will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from them.

Saying 29

19 Do not fret because of evildoers
or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evildoer has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Saying 30

21 Fear the LORD and the king, my son,
and do not join with rebellious officials,
22 for those two will send sudden destruction on them,
and who knows what calamities they can bring?
Further Sayings of the Wise 23 These also are sayings of the wise:

To show partiality in judging is not good:
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.
25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and rich blessing will come on them.

26 An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.

27 Put your outdoor work in order
and get your fields ready;
after that, build your house.

28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause—
would you use your lips to mislead?
29 Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me;
I’ll pay them back for what they did.”

30 I went past the field of a sluggard,
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.