Biblical Knowing: A Scriptural Epistemology of Error

by Dru Johnson

Publisher:

Cascade

, 2013

Overview

With major themes like "the knowledge of good and evil,” “knowing that YHWH is your God,” knowing that Jesus is the Christ, and the goal of developing Israel into a “wise and discerning people,” Scripture clearly stresses human knowledge and the consequences of error. We too long for confidence in our understanding, the assurance that our most basic knowledge is not ultimately incorrect. Biblical Knowing assesses what Israel knew, but more importantly, how she was meant to know—introducing a comprehensive Scriptural epistemology, firmly rooted in the Scripture’s own presentation of important epistemological events in the story of Israel. Because modern philosophy has also made authoritative claims about knowledge, Biblical Knowing engages contemporary academic views of knowledge (e.g., Reformed Epistemology, scientific epistemology, Virtue Epistemology, etc.) and recent philosophical method (e.g., Analytic Theology), assessing them for points of fittedness with or departure from Scripture's own epistemology. Additionally, Biblical Knowing explores what proper knowing looks like in the task of theology itself, in the teaching and preaching of the church, and in the context of counseling.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“Again, the problem is precisely this: the Scriptures tend to focus exclusively on knowing in relationship, in contractum, rather than knowledge as an object.” (Page xix)

“The Christian Scriptures Could be theologically described as beginning and ending with an epistemological outlook. The first episode of humanity’s activity centers on the knowledge of good and evil. The final stage of humanity is pictured by Jeremiah as a universally prophetic and knowing society: ‘And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord’ (Jer 31:34).” (Page xv)

“If I could reword 1 Corinthians 5:12 in light of a broader biblical connotation of faith: ‘We walk by trusting authentic authority and not merely by sight.’ Faith and sight are not opposed to one another. Trusting the correct guides, docents, or prophets is the first step that enables our eyes to see.⁴ Listening to the right voice determines, at least in part, what we can see and therefore what we can know.” (Page 3)

“man must commit to know in fiduciary relationship with an authenticated prophetic guide” (Page 36)

“Getting it (whatever it might be) connotes a process that ends in an intuition, insight, or even a knack for seeing something; as in, ‘He gets it.’¹¹ To get it is to understand. To get it wrong does not merely mean that we are existentially wrong, but that we have done something wrong in the process that ends in our misunderstanding, miscalculation, or misconstrual of a situation. In short, we either get it wrong or we are on the path to getting it.” (Page 7)

Product Details

• Title: Biblical Knowing: A Scriptural Epistemology of Error
• Author: Dru Johnson
• Publisher: Cascade
• Print Publication Date: 2013
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 264
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: God › Knowableness--Biblical teaching; Bible › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Polanyi, Michael, 1891–1976; Knowledge, Theory of, in the Bible; Knowledge, Theory of (Religion)
• ISBNs: 9781610977265, 9780227902301, 9781498214582, 9781630878924, 1610977262, 0227902300, 1498214584, 1630878928
• Resource ID: LLS:BBLCLKNWNGSCRPT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:05:07Z

About Dru Johnson

About Dru Johnson

Dru Johnson (Ph.D. University of Saint Andrews–Scotland) is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at The King’s College in New York City. He is currently a research fellow in the Logos Institute at the University of St Andrews (Scotland) and formerly the co-chair for the Hebrew Bible and Philosophy program unit in the Society of Biblical Literature. He has taught in Western Kenya, Guatemala, and Brazil. He is currently ordained in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and worships at Comunidade Cristã Presbiteriana in Newark, NJ.