Sermon Illustrations on Knowledge — page 2

Useless Knowledge

The prompt action of a young woman had saved the life of a man whose arm had been almost severed from his body. When the others were praising her for what she had done, she replied modestly that she deserved no special praise, as her teacher at school had taught her what to do under such circumstances.

"Oh, I knew that, too," exclaimed another young lady, "and if anyone had asked how to stop the flow of blood from a wound, I could have given the answer just as it is in the book; but I never thought of applying it to this case."

The young woman is a typical character. In cases of spiritual peril, a good many of us, who could give the answer "just as it is in the Book," never think of applying our knowledge for the benefit of those who are in danger. Too many, who know the great Physician for themselves, never seem to think of sending their friends to him.

Has Any People Heard the Voice of God Speaking ... and Survived? (part 1)

1 Kings 18

Deuteronomy chapter four is one of the great touchstone passages in all of Scripture. As we come to this passage, my heart and soul are absolutely struck by the question -- a rhetorical question, but a very real question -- asked in verse 33: “Has any people heard the voice of the Lord, the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, and survived?”

What brings us here? What brings us to this institution, to this campus, to this hour, ready for learning and study? Something summons us here. There is some mandate, some basis, some foundation. This is a theological seminary and college. We dare to speak of God. We even dare to define what we do here as Christian education. What an audacious claim! We actually say that here we teach what God has taught.

This would be a baseless and foundationless claim, an incredible claim, if God had not spoken from the midst of the fire and allowed us to hear. On what authority are we here? To dare to speak of these things, we must speak invoking the authority of God, who alone could speak these things, reveal Himself, and tell us what we must know. This is the answer to the question that haunts the postmodern mind -- on what basis can we claim to know anything?

The great philosophical crisis of our day is an epistemological crisis. It is a crisis of knowing, a crisis of knowledge. In particular, it is a challenge for Christianity and for the Christian thinker, the Christian theologian, the Christian minister, the Christian preacher, and the Christian institution. How do we know what we claim to know? How dare we teach what we dare to teach? As Francis Schaeffer understood well, and he took the answer as the title of his most significant contribution: We speak because HE IS THERE AND HE IS NOT SILENT.

I first read that book as a sixteen-year-old, and to be honest, I think the greatest assurance I got from it is that some smart person believed in God. Even at that age, however, and lacking the vocabulary to understand what I was experiencing, I understood the epistemological crisis. How do we know anything? How can we speak of anything? And furthermore, how do we jump from the empirical knowledge of what we can observe to speaking of God whom we cannot see? To claim knowledge in terms of empirical and scientific observation and study and phenomenology is audacious enough. But to speak of the immortal invisible God only wise -- that is a new leap of audacity altogether. Dr. Schaeffer understood the epistemological problem of silence, the claim and the implication that we can know nothing. And he understood that there is only one epistemological answer -- revelation. Thus Christianity depends upon a Christian epistemology or a Christian theory of knowledge that is based in revelation alone.

There is no greater challenge than this -- to make certain that we know on what authority we speak, and that we know on what authority we know. In Deuteronomy chapter four, Israel is reminded of the authority by which they live. They are reminded that they heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire and survived.

This great sermon, of course, comes at the conclusion of the introductory section to Deuteronomy. It begins and ends with a parallel structure, and in the middle is a large section reflecting the form of a suzerainty treaty, an Ancient Near Eastern convention whereby a conqueror sets down the terms of surrender. In this case, of course, the conqueror is none other than the Lord God Jehovah, the conquered is none other than His own chosen nation, Israel. God sets down the terms, and they are very easy to understand. It comes down to a very simple formula: hear and obey and live. Refuse to hear, disobey, and bear the wrath of God.

In this tremendous sermon, God speaks through His servant and prophet Moses. Looking back to the covenant at Horeb, obedience equals blessing, and disobedience equals cursing. This generation ought to know that. For this is the generation that survived, that was kept alive, through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. They had witnessed the death of their own parents because they disobeyed and did not trust the Lord. And now as the children of Israel are being prepared for the conquest of the Holy Land, they are reminded that they heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire and survived. As the Lord is preparing this new generation, we find in this sermon exhortation and memory mixed together -- the memory of God’s great saving work in bringing Israel out of captivity to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the great work of God in keeping the children of Israel alive through the forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

We call this book Deuteronomy -- DEUTERO NOMOS -- the second giving of the law, because in the very next chapter we will confront again the Ten Commandments. The theme is very clear. Israel, in terms of its elect status, is the chosen nation of God, and that special status is represented in Torah, in this word, this law, even in these Ten Words. The central truth is that the Lord God spoke to His people, and they heard, and they survived. Moses says, “Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.”

The giving of the Ten Commandments cannot be separated from the narrative context in which it comes. The propositional truth which is in the law comes in the midst of a history of a people and God’s dealing with that people. It is a relational revelation, and it is a dramatic revelation. Israel is reminded not only of what they heard, but of the context in which they heard it. “The mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens, darkness, cloud and thick gloom. Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form -- only a voice. So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.” The Lord God spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you saw no form, only a voice. A voice!

Israel, heard the Lord, but they did not see Him. This is not a God who is seen, but a God who is heard. The contrast with the idols is very clear. The idols are seen, but they do not speak. The one true and living God is not seen, but He is heard. The contrast is intentional, it is graphic, and it is clear. We speak because we have heard.

The theme of these verses, especially in verses ten through thirteen, is the sheer gift of this. The revelation of God is sheer mercy. We have no right to hear God speak. We have no claim upon His voice. We have no right to demand that He would speak. We are accustomed to pointing to the cross of Christ and saying, there is mercy! But at Horeb, too, there was mercy. There is mercy whenever God speaks. There is the danger that contemporary evangelicals think of the doctrine of revelation primarily as an epistemological problem. Even those who hold to a high doctrine of Scripture -- affirming the inerrancy of Scripture, verbal inspiration, propositional truth -- are in danger of thinking of revelation primarily in epistemological terms. To be sure, there is an epistemological question, and there is an epistemological authority. But the reality is, this is mercy. It is a gift. Professor Eugene Merrill has said that while it is quite remarkable that no other nation had ever heard God speak out of the fire and lived to tell about it, the fact is, there are not even any other peoples that heard the voice of the Lord speak out of the fire and DIDN’T live to tell about it. The Lord God spoke uniquely and particularly to Israel and allowed them to survive.

The background to all this, of course, is the paganism of that day. The idols were many in those days, and all of them were silent. In fact, the silence of the idols is a pervasive biblical theme. Think of 1 Kings 18, and the battle of the gods and Elijah. Think of Elijah as he waits and watches the prophets of the Ashteroth and the Baal jumping around the altar and lacerating their bodies so that the blood flows down into the ground -- all this to get Baal’s attention. But as we are told in 1 Kings 18, there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. With the God of Israel, however, everything is different. The idols do not speak. The Lord God of Israel does. The idols are seen but not heard. God is heard but not seen.

But what if God had not spoken? What if we had not received this word? If God had not spoken, we might have a religion school. It might be that human beings, just in the blindness of trying to figure things out, would come to some sense of transcendence, and perhaps even be able to make some kind of argument from design. And certainly, human beings, possessing some ingenuity and intelligence, would be pondering these things. Of course, we need not speak hypothetically about this. We see it. All you have to do is listen to the cultural chatter, and you hear the kind of conversation that would take place if God had not spoken. Go to some divinity schools, some theological seminaries, some universities in the academic world, and you will see the kind of discourse and the kind of teaching and the kind of philosophy and worldview that would emerge if God had not spoken.

What if this really is a game that we are playing, each using whatever language game is convenient and handy in terms of our social and cultural and linguistic system? What if this really is something of a smorgasbord of worldviews in which we can just kind of put it all together as we see fit? If God has not spoken, then there is no end to that game. If God has not spoken, no one is right and no one is wrong. If God has not spoken, what you end up with is the end game of postmodernism -- nihilism, no knowledge whatsoever.

But if God has spoken, everything is changed. If God has spoken, then the highest human aspiration must be to hear what the Creator has said. And though the revelation of God is not merely propositions, it is never less than that. It is personal. Hearing the voice of the Lord God is not merely to receive information, but to meet the living God. We are accustomed to speaking and singing of grace and mercy of God, and our redemption in the cross of Christ. But we must also speak of the mercy of God in revelation.

In the book of Deuteronomy, we meet the speaking God. “Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, and survived?” Mercy and grace meet here. This is, in its own way, a proto-gospel. Christopher Wright makes this comment concerning what happened at Sinai, saying what really mattered there was not that there had been a theophonic manifestation of God, but that there had been a verbal revelation of God’s mind and will. Sinai was a cosmic audiovisual experience, but it was the audio that mattered. It is the audio that matters, for God has spoken.

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This is the first of a three-part edited transcript of the Convocation message given at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on August 24, 2006. It is also the beginning of a series of messages on the Ten Commandments that Dr. Mohler will preach throughout the academic year.

The Nature of Truth

The demise of truth began at the fall of our first parents. Adam was given a task that would require the development of knowledge -- zoology and horticulture, no less! He was required to classify all of the creatures and vegetation God had created. In going about this task, Adam did not question his sense perceptions, nor did he question that he was a creature of God himself. He began with God at the foundation of his knowledge and worked accordingly.

But then the epistemological temptation came along in the form of the serpent. He essentially asked, “Why have you accepted the validity of God’s word to you as real knowledge? Surely you will not die LIKE GOD SAID. Why accept that God governs all reality and history? Why accept that God is the interpreter of everything? Why not define your own truth and morality independent of God and know the facts for yourself? You can govern reality as a competing interpreter to God, and you may even be right and surpass Him, becoming ‘as god’ yourself.”

By rejecting a God-centered epistemology (reality is what God says it is) our first parents could not accept God’s words about reality. They instead had to take the position of all humanistic philosophy: “Doubt everything, especially that which is claimed by God. Though there may appear to be a law to be governing reality, this must be my projection onto it. If I can’t prove it by my methods of reasoning and science, then it isn’t so.” In the assertion of their autonomy, Adam and Eve initiated the philosophy that all human opinions are equally valid.

The question that must follow is an epistemological one. If every interpretation is valid, how can we know anything? Some modern philosophers have said we can do no more than define meaningless words. But why, then, are their own definitions valid? Why should their language hold any meaning for the listener? Others say that truth is what corresponds to reality, but this begs the question. To state that something corresponds to reality pre-supposes that we know what reality is.

Still others say coherence defines truth. While coherence is necessary for intelligible communication, forming propositions that logically cohere with each other is no guarantee of truth. One could form a logically valid argument for the insanity of the entire world except yourself, but the argument is only sound if your premises are true. In other words, logic does not supply premises, it just works on them. And finally, there are those who say that truth is found by what works in practice. Certainly we expect truth to work, but who, then, is to determine what “works” and what doesn’t “work,” and what should our desired end be?

In fact, we must first know SOMETHING in order to gain knowledge. If we try to begin the knowing process without God, with just the self and only what the autonomous mind can prove, we can have no knowledge at all. Knowledge comes from knowledge, which is the nature of knowing truth. If you tell a girl who has never tasted a banana that your boiled sweet is banana flavor, she has no frame of reference to know what you mean until she has tasted the banana. Or using the language of empirical science, to establish the reliability of the eye, one needs to use the eye and trust its reliability!

Saint Paul tells us that we all inherently know something within us and within the created order. We have some sense of certain attributes of God, certain moral requirements -- and so much so that we are without excuse for not coming to God in faith. We suppress the truth we know in unrighteousness, but we cannot escape its pull because we are God’s creatures and even death cannot destroy this.

God is the starting point for knowledge. With Him, we reason from the top down, not the bottom up, concerning truth. The way of truth involves combining two elements of God’s revelation to us. First, the illuminating Word of the incarnate Son revealed in the scriptures, and second, the internal light of the Word quickening and enlightening our understanding. Christ is the source of truth in our search for meaning. And as such, the effort of humanistic thought to remove revelation from the field of truth does not seem from the Christian perspective to constitute true philosophy (love of wisdom) at all.

As Christ taught, we cannot know God, who is truth, unless we love him. Thus, ethics and truth cannot be separated, nor can belief, reasoning, and conclusions. They are all involved in each other, and they begin with God Himself. Christ is at the very foundation of truth. To pretend that we can put him aside and reason in a neutral fashion is to abandon the very basis of our claim: that without him there is no light for men and no truth to know. This is the nature of truth!

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A Humble Opinion of Self

Philippians 2:3

In humility consider others better than yourselves. –Philippians 2:3

As a student, have you ever wondered about the value of books and education? The writer of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament did (Ecclesiastes 12:12). And so have many saints through the ages. Thomas á Kempis (1380-1471), a literary monk, compiled a book of thoughts about what is really most important in life: living like Christ. The Timeless Classics this month are selections from Kempis’ book The Imitation of Christ, which vies with Pilgrim’s Progress as the second most-read book in Western history. See the following Web page for this version of the book: http://www.ccel.org/ –DO

Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic [farmer] who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is not happy when praised by men.

If I knew all things in the world and had not charity, what would it profit me before God who will judge me by my deeds? Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise. Many words do not satisfy the soul; but a good life eases the mind and a clean conscience inspires great trust in God.

The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you. If you think you know many things and understand them well enough, realize at the same time that there is much you do not know. Hence, do not affect wisdom, but admit your ignorance. Why prefer yourself to anyone else when many are more learned, more cultured than you? –Thomas á Kempis

REFLECTION

• In my quest for knowledge, am I keeping my priorities straight?

• In the final analysis, what is the most important knowledge God wants me to obtain?

A “know-it-all” never does.

The Knowledge of the Self-Revealing God: Starting Point For the Christian Worldview

Job 21:22

The Christian worldview is structured, first of all, by the revealed knowledge of God. There is no other starting point for an authentic Christian worldview — and there is no substitute.

________

One of the most important principles of Christian thinking is the recognition that there is no stance of intellectual neutrality. No human being is capable of achieving a process of thought that requires no presuppositions, assumptions, or inherited intellectual components. All human thinking requires some presupposed framework that defines reality and explains, in the first place, how it is possible that we can know anything at all.

The process of human cogitation and intellectual activity has been, in itself, the focus of intense intellectual concern. In philosophy, the field of study that is directed toward the possibility of human knowledge is epistemology. The ancient philosophers were concerned with the problem of knowledge, but this problem becomes all the more complex and acute in a world of intellectual diversity. In the aftermath of the Enlightenment, the problem of epistemology moved to the very center of philosophical thought.

Are we capable of knowing truth? Is truth, in any objective sense, accessible to us? How is it that different people, different cultures, and different faiths hold to such different understandings and affirm such irreconcilable claims to truth? Does truth even exist at all? If so, can we really know it?

As the modern age gave way to the postmodern, the problem of knowledge became only more complex. Many postmodern thinkers reject the possibility of objective truth and suggest that all truth is nothing more than social construction and the application of political power. Among some, relativism is the reigning understanding of truth. Among others, the recognition of intellectual pluralism leads to an affirmation that all truth claims are trapped within cultural assumptions and can be known only through the lenses of distorted perspective.

In other words, the problem of knowledge is front and center as we think about the responsibility of forming a Christian worldview and loving God with our minds. The good news is this — just as we are saved by grace alone, we find that the starting point for all Christian thinking in the grace of God is demonstrated to us by means of his self-revelation.

The Self-Revealing God of the Bible

The starting point for all genuinely Christian thinking is the existence of the self-revealing God of the Bible. The foundation of the Christian worldview is the knowledge of the one true and living God. The fact of God’s existence sets the Christian worldview apart from all others — and, from the very beginning, we must affirm that our knowledge of God is entirely dependent upon the gift of divine revelation.

Christian thinking is not reducible to mere theism — belief in the existence of a personal God. To the contrary, authentic Christian thinking begins with the knowledge that the only true God is the God who has revealed himself to us in the Bible.

As the late Carl F. H. Henry reminded us, “Divine revelation is the source of all truth, the truth of Christianity included; reason is the instrument for recognizing it; Scripture is its verifying principle; logical consistency is a negative test for truth and coherence a subordinate test. The task of Christian theology is to exhibit the content of biblical revelation as an orderly whole.”

That same affirmation is true for all Christian thinking. Christianity affirms reason, but divine revelation is the source of all truth. We are given the capacity to know, but we are first known by our Creator before we come to know him by means of his gift of self-revelation.

The Total Truthfulness of the Bible

Once our dependence upon the Bible is made clear, the importance of affirming the total inspiration and truthfulness of the Bible is apparent. Affirming the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible is not merely a matter of articulating a high view of Scripture. The affirmation of the Bible’s total truthfulness is essential for believers to have an adequate confidence that we can know what God would have us to know. Furthermore, our affirmation of the inerrancy of Scripture is based, not only in Scripture’s internal claims, but also in the very character of God. The God who knew us and loved us long before we came to know him is the God we can trust to give us a completely trustworthy revelation of himself.

Even so, ignorance of basic biblical truth is rampant. Remarkably, this is a problem inside, as well as outside, the church. Many church members seem as ignorant of the true and living God as the general public. Too many pulpits are silent and compromised. The “ordinary god” of popular belief is the only god known by many.

As Christian Smith and his fellow researchers have documented, the faith of many Americans can be described as “moralistic therapeutic deism” — a system of belief that provides the image of a comfortable, non-threatening deity who is not terribly concerned with our behavior but does want us to be happy.

The accuracy of the Christian worldview in the modern age can be traced directly to a significant shift in the doctrine of God. The God worshiped by millions of modern persons is a deity cut down to postmodern size.

The One True God

The one true God, the God who reveals himself in the Bible, is a God who defines his own existence, sets his own terms, and rules over his own creation. The sheer shallowness of much modern “spirituality” stands as a monument to the human attempt to rob God of his glory. The Christian worldview cannot be recovered without a profound rediscovery of the knowledge of God.

Inevitably, our concept of God determines our worldview. The question of the existence or non-existence of God is primary, but so is the question of God’s power and character. Theologians speak of the “attributes” of God, meaning the particulars about God’s revealed nature. If we begin with the right concept of God, our worldview will be properly aligned. If our concept of God is sub-biblical, our worldview will be sub-biblical, as well.

God’s attributes reveal his power and his character. The God of the Bible is omniscient and omnipotent, and he is also faithful, good, patient, loving, merciful, gracious, majestic, and just.

At the foundation of all the attributes ascribed to God in Scripture are two great truths which form central pillars for all Christian thinking. The first of these is God’s total, final, and undiluted sovereignty. God’s sovereignty is the exercise of his rightful authority. His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence are the instruments of his sovereignty.

The second of these great pillars is God’s holiness. Just as sovereignty is the great term that includes all of God’s attributes of power, holiness includes all of the moral attributes ascribed to God in the Bible. At the first level, holiness defines God as the source of all that is good, true, beautiful, loving, just, righteous, and merciful. In other words, holiness establishes that God is not merely the possessor of these moral distinctives — he is the ultimate source of them, as well. In the end, God is not so much defined by these moral attributes as much as he defines them by the display of his character in the Bible.

In other words, to say that God is righteous is not to say that he passes muster when tested against our own understandings of righteousness. To the contrary, we gain any adequate understanding of righteousness only by coming to know the self-revealing God who is himself righteous. One of the central problems of modern thought is the attempt by human beings to judge God by our own categories of moral perfection. Our proper responsibility is to bring our categories into submission to the reality and revelation of God.

The question of the existence or non-existence of God is primary, but so is the question of God’s power and character. The Christian worldview is structured, first of all, by the revealed knowledge of God. And this means the comprehensive knowledge of the self-revealing God who defines himself and will accept no rivals. There is no other starting point for an authentic Christian worldview — and there is no substitute.

Sermon: Saved From Stupid

Luke 11:31

Sermon on the mental mistakes Christians often make. Ephesians 5:15-17

SAVED FROM STUPID

=================

I. Stupid people are everywhere.

A. Actual crimes committed by actual criminals:

B. Stupidity isn't limited to criminals.

II. Don't believe stupid things.

A. Religious people are prone to this.

B. Uncritical acceptance of "proof."

III. Misguided approaches to faith.

A. Seeing too much good.

B. Seeing too many coincidences.

C. Seeing too many enemies.

D. Magical thinking.

IV. Don't believe the right things in a stupid way.

A. Be careful of speaking above your level of knowledge.

B. Don't say stupid things.

V. We are all stupid sometimes. Eccl 7:20

Raise the Neanderthals: Scientism and Playing God

In 1856, workers at a German quarry found some bones in a cave. They took the bones to a local teacher, Johan Karl Fuhlrott.

To Fuhlrott, while the bones appeared human, they were unlike those of any living European. Eventually, scientists concluded that the bones belong to an extinct species of hominid which they named after the place where the bones were found: the Neander River Valley, or Neanderthal in German.

Paleontologists estimate that Homo neanderthalensis were extinct no later than 25,000 years ago. Yet if one scientist has his way, Neanderthals could make a comeback.

George Church is a molecular geneticist who teaches at both Harvard and MIT. He recently made headlines when he told the German magazine Der Spiegel that it’s possible that he could see the birth of a Neanderthal baby within his lifetime.

After all, we’ve already sequenced an entire Neanderthal genome. Advances in the field of synthetic biology have made it possible to “read gene sequences into computers ... alter them and then print a modified gene into living cells.”

All that’s missing is an “extremely adventurous female human” and perfecting human cloning, which Church views as “very likely,” technologically-speaking.

This begs the question of why we would want to bring back the Neanderthals in the first place. After all, to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum’s character in “Jurassic Park,” Neanderthals had their shot, and they blew it.

Church’s argument for reversing their extinction is that “Neanderthals might think differently than we do.” This difference, coupled with their larger cranial size, might make them handy to have around “when the time comes to deal with an epidemic or getting off the planet or whatever.”

If that sounds less than persuasive, it’s because those aren’t reasons, but rationalizations. Resurrecting the Neanderthal is a small part of a larger project that includes changing the human genome, and in the process, changing what we mean by the word “species.”

Reading the interview in Der Spiegel, what came to mind was a cross between Jurassic Park and the Island of Doctor Moreau. And like the protagonists of Crichton’s and Wells’ novels, Church seems fairly certain about the rightness of what he is proposing, and his and other scientists’ ability to pull it off.

Thus the German interviewer was on the mark when he told Church, “First you propose to change the 3-billion-year-old genetic code. Then you explain how you want to create a new and better man. Is it any wonder to you when people accuse you of playing God?”

Speaking of God, when asked about his religious beliefs, the ironically-named Church replied “I have faith that science is a good thing.”

Of course, science can be a good thing — the issue is whether science alone can decide what ought and ought not to be done. Not even the best-intentioned scientists know what constitutes “a new and better man.”

What’s on display here, folks, is scientism, which posits that science alone can “yield true knowledge about man and society.” If Neanderthals make a comeback — Church understates the difficulty of such an endeavor — it will happen because we can, not because we should. It will be the result of “extremely adventurous” scientists deciding that they know what’s best. After all, science is a good thing and they are scientists, right?

________

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[Original illustration at this number was moved to HolwickID #28387]

Wrestling With Questions

Job 21:29

Most Christians look to the Bible for answers but it may be that questions are even more important. Of the 187 questions Jesus was asked, he answered between eight to 12 of them. Additionally, in the biblical narratives, Jesus asks 307 questions.[1]

What if the Bible is much more effective at modeling for us how to ask questions than at providing answers?

________

1. Dan White, “Love Over Fear” (Moody Publishers, 2019).

Could You Pass Edison's Test?

John 6:6

Although Thomas Edison was awarded 2,332 worldwide patents as an inventor, one of his lasting contributions to modern society was not proprietary: the job interview. Edison was not just a prolific inventor — he was also a businessman in charge of an industrial empire. His corporation, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., employed more than 10,000 workers at dozens of companies. Edison wanted employees who could memorize large quantities of information and also make efficient business decisions. To find them, he devised an extensive questionnaire to assess job candidates’ knowledge and personality.

Edison began using tests that were very specific for open positions he needed to fill but over time he expanded on the idea, including questions that were not directly related to the job. While interviewing research assistants, for example, Edison served them soup to see if interviewees would season the soup before they tasted it; those who did were automatically disqualified as it suggested they were prone to operate on assumptions.

In 1921, Edison debuted the Edison Test, a knowledge test with more than 140 questions. All interviewees were asked questions about their specific position but also about information outside of their areas of expertise. The queries ranged from agricultural in nature (“Where do we get prunes from?”) to commercial (“In what cities are hats and shoes made?”) to the macabre (“Name three powerful poisons”).

A score of 90% was required to pass, and out of the 718 people who had taken the test as of October 1921, only 32 (just 2%!) succeeded. The test was difficult, to say the least. Edison’s own son Theodore failed it while a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). More famously, Albert Einstein failed the exam because he forgot the speed of sound.

Edison’s strategy of questioning candidates to assess their personality and aptitude was innovative at the time, and is still standard practice today — though employers are more likely to ask about someone’s greatest accomplishment than the origins of prunes.

From Faith To Love

2 Peter 1:5

2 Peter 1:5–7 — Faith to Love — « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. Exercise Diligence: 2 Peter 1:5a

1. what precedes:

a. we have just been told in verses 3 and 4 that God has given to Christians all they need for life and godliness, including

(A) the promises of sharing God’s nature

(B) their escaping worldly corruption;

b. now we are encouraged in our sanctification «

(A) Romans 6:11-12. Philippians 2:12-13

(B) work of God in which believers co-operate; (L. Berkhof) »

2. various translations of the this part of the verse …

a. AV – And beside this, giving all diligence, …

b. NAS – Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, …

c. NIV – For this very reason, make every effort …

d. J. B. Phillips – For this very reason you must do your utmost from your side, …

e. NLT – So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. …

3. “and beside this” « – the “beside” is part of the following verb »

a. what follows (being man’s responsibility) must rest firmly on what precedes (God’s work of salvation)

b. God’s gifts have as their purpose « — to build up His child »

4. “giving” – literally “to bring or to carry in beside or with” «

a. bringing something along with one, quietly and without ostentatious display –Lange »

b. this is describes the fashion in which we are to carry out these second part of this verse (2 Peter 1:5b)

5. “all diligence” – a very inclusive term: speed, haste, urgency

a. God has done His work thoroughly, we are to do our part by earnestly using the faith, etc., we have been given

B. Faith to Virtue: 2 Peter 1:5b

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … add to your faith virtue; …

b. NAS – … in your faith supply moral excellence, …

c. NIV – … to add to your faith goodness; …

d. J. B. Phillips – … and see that your faith carries with it real goodness of life. …

e. NLT – … Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. …

2. “add” – « Greek: subscribing to cost and equipping of the chorus at the direction of the state, good citizenship required this be done in a generous fashion; from this came the idea of furnishing »

a. the furnishing on our part corresponds to the furnishing {already done} on God’s part « –Lange »

b. this word, as with “diligence,” tells us our response should be « — willingly, generously, beyond the letter the law »

3. “in” or “to” – the Greek word is “in;” we usually say “add to;” in what context do we say “add in” « – following a cooking recipe; this would seem to be a recipe for Christian living! »

a. each item listed in this progression assumes we have taken possession of that which precedes it «

b. Bengel: each of these several steps begets and facilitates the next; each next tempers and perfects the preceding –Lange »

4. “faith” « – so-called practical Christianity must have a spiritual foundation — without this it is incomplete and unintelligent ~EGT »

5. “virtue” – this is the same word as in verse 3, where we are called by or to Christ’s glory and virtue.

a. what are the other renderings of this word? « – real goodness of life, moral excellence … that is, a manifestation of moral power EGT »

b. how should such “virtue” be evident?

(A) 1 John 2:3–4 « – following God’s commandments »

(B) 1 John 5:18 « – not continuing in sin »

C. Virtue to Knowledge: 2 Peter 1:5c

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … and to virtue knowledge;

b. NAS – … and in your moral excellence, knowledge;

c. NIV – … and to goodness, knowledge;

d. J. B. Phillips – … Your goodness must be accompanied by knowledge,

e. NLT – … A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better.

2. “knowledge” – the less emphatic word for knowledge

a. the NLT limits the meaning of this word too specifically to the personal relationship with God; it is spiritual knowledge which includes: « — understanding, … insight, discretion, discernment EGT … an advance into the will of God EBC … ability to distinguish between good and evil BM »

b. knowing God’s will brings with it (Luke 12:48)

(A) « less risk of inadvertently transgressing it »

(B) « more responsibility to follow it »

D. Knowledge to Temperance: 2 Peter 1:6a

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – And to knowledge temperance; …

b. NAS – and in your knowledge, self-control, …

c. NIV – and to knowledge, self-control; …

d. J. B. Phillips – your knowledge by self-control, …

e. NLT – Knowing God leads to self-control. …

2. “temperance” – en-krateiav – ruled within (Galatians 5:23)

a. « self-control, with and from knowledge ~EGT … it abstains from the evil it knows to identify, and in Christian liberty steadily bridles its desires Richter in –Lange »

b. this is not the Stoic idea of self-control espoused by the Greek philosophers, but is related to walking in the Spirit. It is the opposite of the greed of false teachers (2:3, 14) and the sensuality of the pagan world (Acts 24:25) « EBC »

E. Temperance to Patience: 2 Peter 1:6b

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … and to temperance patience; …

b. NAS – … and in your self-control, perseverance, …

c. NIV – … and to self-control, perseverance; …

d. J. B. Phillips – … your self-control by the ability to endure. …

e. NLT – … Self control leads to patient endurance, …

2. “patience” – perseverance under abuse, want, troubles, dangers … « –Lange » steadfastness; not turned aside from the faith by trial and suffering « (Luke 8:15, Romans 5:3–5) EGT »

a. what do you learn about “patience” in 2 Thessalonians 1:4? « — that it exist’s in persecution and is a cause for praise »

F. Patience to Godliness: 2 Peter 1:6c

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … and to patience godliness;

b. NAS – … and in your perseverance, godliness;

c. NIV – … and to perseverance, godliness;

d. J. B. Phillips – … Your endurance too must always be accompanied by devotion to God;

e. NLT – … and patient endurance leads to godliness.

2. “godliness” – same word as in verse 3 where God has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness – there we discovered the word has a root idea of W « orship »

a. that part of our Christian walk marked by devotion to God – « the disposition in which the consideration of God controls the whole life, in which He is held in supreme honour, and the doing of which things constitutes its own happiness –Lange »

b. its “mystery” « — something once concealed, now revealed — » is explained in 1 Timothy 3:16 « — Jesus Christ »

G. Godliness to Brotherly Kindness: 2 Peter 1:7a

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – And to godliness brotherly kindness; …

b. NAS – and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, …

c. NIV – and to godliness, brotherly kindness; …

d. J. B. Phillips – that in turn must have in it the quality of brotherliness, …

e. NLT – Godliness leads to love for other Christians, …

2. “brotherly kindness” – this is the philadelphia kind of love

a. affection to the brethren; within the church « ~EGT » see Romans 12:10; it is marked by « — giving others preference »

H. Brotherly Kindness to Love: 2 Peter 1:7b

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … and to brotherly kindness charity.

b. NAS – … and in your brotherly kindness, love.

c. NIV – … and to brotherly kindness, love.

d. J. B. Phillips – … and your brotherliness must lead on to Christian love.

e. NLT – … and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.

2. “love” – this is the agape kind of love (as used in 1 Corinthians 13)

a. what is it? « – probably love toward all, even enemies; not directed by sense or emotion EGT … Mayor: Love to God manifesting itself in love to man and to the whole creation, animate and inanimate EGT »

b. what marks this kind of love? « — see also 1 John 4:7–8 »

Isaac Newton's Humility

Job 21:22

In spite of his many discoveries and honors, including being the first person knighted for scientific achievements, Isaac Newton remained a humble man. He once wrote his nephew:

“To myself I seem to have been only a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

~~~~~~~~~~

[Holwick: some would argue Newton could be humble in regard to Ultimate Truth but not in regard to any other human being. His ego was brittle and legendary.]

Sketch of George Washington Carver

Short biographical sketch of George Washington Carver, world-renowned agricultural chemist and botanist. Judging from his early life, few would have guessed that Carver would achieve such greatness. He was the youngest son of slave parents. His father died in an accident and his mother was lost after the family was kidnapped by slave raiders. But Carver became a Christian as a child, and he never lost faith that God was at his side.

He struggled to gain an education and taught himself by gathering plants in the forest. Eventually he earned enough from odd jobs to graduate from college. At Tuskegee Institute he set up a laboratory he called "God's Little Workshop."

His personal trademark was his humility. He publicly and consistently attributed his ideas and his success to the Lord. God spoke to him clearly, Carver insisted, telling him what to do step by step. Though many considered him naive, he remained adamant that the Creator took pleasure in revealing his glory though the lowly peanut, sweet potato, and cow pea. In keeping with that view, the professor left unpatented all but one of his numerous discoveries, though they could have made him wealthy. Because he saw them as a gift from God, he believed they should be available for the widest possible use.

His wisdom was perhaps best summed up one day when he received an array of new lab instruments for his workshop at Tuskegee. One of his colleagues surveyed the shiny equipment with admiration. "Now," he declared, "you'll perform miracles!" Carver shook his head. "Only God performs miracles. Here, I'll only listen for his voice, and try to carry out his instructions."

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God's Wisdom Is Like Driving A Car

Acts 10:35

J. I. Packer and wisdom from God:

Imagine that you are in a New York City subway station. You will see trains come in and go out. But you'll only get a general view of what's going on.

However, if you step inside the control room you'll see a large display with tiny lights representing each train in the entire system. In a glance you will be able to survey the entire situation through the eyes of those in control. You will see why one engine is signaled to a stop, why another has been diverted, and why another sits on a sidetrack.

Packer comments:

The mistake that is commonly made is to suppose that this is an illustration of what God does when He bestows wisdom. God gives a person insight into the meaning and purpose of events going on around us. We then have the ability to see why God has done what He has done in a particular case, and what He is going to do next.

People who think this is what wisdom is, imagine that if they walk close enough to God, they will be in God's command center and will understand everything that happens. But God's wisdom doesn't work this way. God's wisdom is more like learning to drive a car. When you drive a car it is important to make the right responses to the constantly changing scene. You have to judge how fast to go, how much distance to keep between you and the next car, when to put on the brakes. Drivers simply try to see and do the right thing in the actual situation that presents itself.

Having wisdom from God does not mean we understand everything that is going on because of our superior knowledge... It means we do the right thing as life comes along.

________

J. I. Packer, "Knowing God," page 92

God Is More Than Useful

Short biographical sketch of A.W. Tozer, one of the most respected evangelical authors of the 20th century. He emphasized reading Christian classics. He complained that our "concept of religious experience had shifted from the transcendental to the utilitarian. God is valued as being useful and Christ appreciated because of the predicaments he gets us out of.... The all-consuming love that burns in the writings of an Augustine, a Bernard, or a Rolle is foreign to the modern religious spirit...."

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Words of Wisdom From Children

Words of wisdom from children...

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

- Patrick, age 10

When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" don't answer him.

- Michael, 14

Never tell your mom her diet's not working.

- Michael, 14

Stay away from prunes.

- Randy, 9

Never allow your three-year old brother in the same room as your school assignment.

- Traci, 14

Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a Tic-Tac.

- Andrew, 9

Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time.

- Kyoyo, 9

You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

- Armir, 9

If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.

-Naomi, 15

Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.

- Lauren, 9

Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat.

- Joel, 10

Never try to baptize a cat.

- Eileen, 8

Family Albums

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GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE

That Little Children Have Learned

--No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

--When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.

--If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

--Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.

--You can't trust dogs to watch your food.

--Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.

--Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

--Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a Tic-Tac.

--Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time.

--School lunches stick to the wall.

--You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

--Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

--The best place to be when you are sad is in Grandpa's lap.

Collected from John Kerr, Puxatawney, Pa, bulletin.

Copernicus & Kepler

Joshua 10:13

In 1543, the idea that the Earth was only one of several planets which orbit the Sun was first widely proposed, in Copernicus's landmark book De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium. The Copernican view was proven by Kepler - a protestant, who was born 100 years - using the data of Tacho Brahe. The reaction from conservative religious quarters was slow in coming, but devastating when it finally gathered its force. In 1616, Copernicus's book and all other books which affirmed the motion of the Earth were placed on the Index of Prohibited Books promulgated by the Catholic Church. Not until 1822 -- almost 300 years after the idea had first been suggested in Europe -- did the Church allow its members to read books which state that the Earth moves. The Protestants, although they had a less effective mechanism for enforcement of orthodoxy than the Catholics, were no less vehement in their objection to Copernicus, but for a slightly different reason. They believed, much more forcefully than the Catholics, that the Bible was the source of literal truth about the world, and the Bible contains passages such as \reference{Joshua 10:13}{Joshua 10:13}, which proves that the Sun moves, and not the Earth. Of course, by the nineteenth century, only the most dogmatically fundamentalist sects could still maintain faith in the immobility of the Earth. As Thomas Kuhn says in The Copernican Revolution : "During the century and a half following Galileo's death in 1642, a belief in the earth-centered universe was gradually transformed from an essential sign of sanity to an index, first, of inflexible conservatism, then of excessive parochialism, and finally of complete fanaticism."

Quotes On Wisdom

Job 11:6

"Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late."

-- Felix Frankfurter

"True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance."

-- Akhenaton, Egyptian Pharaoh

"To act and act wisely when the time for action comes, to wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose, put man in accord with the rising and falling tides (of affairs), so that with nature and law at his back, and truth and beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish wonders. Ignorance of this law results in periods of unreasoning enthusiasm on the one hand, and depression on the other. Man thus becomes the victim of the tides when he should be their master."

-- Helena Petrova Blavatsky

"Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as in knowing what to do next."

-- Herbert Hoover

"At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment."

-- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), statesman, B&P 10/18/02

"Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences."

-- Norman Cousins

"There are only two truly infinite things, the universe and stupidity. And I am unsure about the universe."

-- Albert Einstein

"Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time."

-- Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th U.S. President, B&P 3/5/03

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

-- Carl Sagan (1934-1996), astronomer, B&P 3/7/03

"Wisdom is the quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you need it."

-- Doug Larson, QFTM 3/15/03

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

-- John Wooden, QFTM 3/15/03

"The time for extracting a lesson from history is ever at hand for those who are wise."

-- Demosthenes, QFTM 3/15/03

"The latter part of a wise person's life is occupied with curing the follies, prejudices and false opinions they contracted earlier."

-- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), satirist, B&P 6/30/03

“Experience comes from what we have done. Wisdom comes from what we have done badly.”

-- Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School, eSermons.com 8/26/03

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

-- Confucius, QFTM

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The Incomparable Worth of Wisdom

John 1:1

All fathers desire wisdom for their children and Solomon was no exception. This Scripture is from the king to his son. “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee” (Proverbs 2:1). He wants his son to prosper, and find fulfillment, so he advises, “Son, if you will only listen to your dad, I will show you how.”

These are also words for sons and daughters of the King. If you are a child of the King, you believe this counsel is not merely the words of Solomon, but the words of God speaking His wisdom through Solomon. These are wise words to all the “King’s kids.”

Wisdom Is The Product Of The Spirit

“To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom...” (Proverbs 1:2-3a). There is a teacher and in the case of true wisdom, that instructor is the Holy Spirit of God, Whom the Bible calls “the Spirit of wisdom.” Genuine wisdom is supernatural.

Yet it is important to understand the difference between wisdom and common sense. Common sense is natural. Wisdom is uncommon sense. It originated with God, resides in God, emanates from God, and is given as a gift from God. The difference between wisdom and knowledge is this: Knowledge is needed to pass the test in school, but wisdom is needed to pass the test in life. Knowledge is learned; wisdom is given. Knowledge comes by looking around; wisdom comes by looking up. Knowledge comes by study; wisdom comes by meditation with God. Wisdom teaches one how to apply his knowledge.

Wisdom is not synonymous with knowledge nor is it a substitute for knowledge. Rather, it is the product of the Spirit. Some things in life cannot be learned - those must be given. I would never minimize a proper formal education, but there are certain matters no school can teach you. And in a greater sense there are issues about life that can only be learned from God.

Wisdom Is The Presence Of The Savior

To know wisdom ... (Proverbs 1:2a) - To know wisdom is to know Jesus Christ. And therefore, if you do not have Jesus, you cannot have wisdom. Paul well expressed this inescapable truth: “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Christ is the wisdom of God. This was the idea John the apostle conveyed when he wrote his Gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth (John 1:1,14).

The Greek word translated “Word” was logos. Logos means a thought or a concept or the expression or utterance of that thought. Jesus, the living Word, is God and is therefore the perfect expression and extension of the divine wisdom. Real wisdom is discovered only in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - the wisdom of God, the Word of God, God Himself.

The Bible notes that the great are not necessarily the wise. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness...” (1 Corinthians 1:18a). “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom [worldly wisdom apart from God] knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching [the thing preached] to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

God is so good and so wise that you will never be able to know Him by human wisdom, human perception, or human understanding. No one has a head start on God. All of the philosophers, theologians, and scientists of history could never discover Him through human wisdom. And one can never know the wisdom of God until Christ, the living wisdom of God, is in their heart. Even the Old Testament saints were wise only because the Spirit of the Lord Jesus dwelt in them. Jesus pointed out, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).

Apart from Christ there is no wisdom. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Wisdom commences at conversion, but deepens by discipleship. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10a). The moment a person is converted to Christ, the wisdom of God comes into him, and the indwelling Spirit of God begins to teach him the truths of the Lord. No wonder wisdom is of such infinite worth!