Thought: Faith and Knowledge

There is a strange dichotomy among Christians between faith and knowledge that is both arbitrary and unhelpful. While the tolerance for the number of questions or the tolerance for which kinds of questions may vary from person to person, there seems to be a point where you will be accused of, “Trying to understand too much.” Strangely, there will often at some point have also been the push to, “Ask questions, because God will answer.” It is the former accusation that bothers me. Especially since it is biblical. 

Proverbs is rife with exhortation to seek knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The Holy Spirit tells us through Solomon to know things, to understand what they mean, and to act on them in the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 18:15, “The heart of the understanding acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” There is nothing wrong with seeking knowledge and I do not believe there is any debate on that point. 

However, where people seem to have a problem is when you start asking for answers that they do not believe have been provided to us. In principle, I think this is a fine sentiment and standard. However, in practice, and individual’s basis for what answers have and have not been provided is generally based upon their own personal understanding of Scripture and reality. The alternative to this is the claim that they believe to have the correct answer themselves. That is an issue I am working on in a separate essay. 

Here, we are addressing the problematic response to asking for answers to questions that are not only reasonable but regard the correct and expected practice for life by God Himself. 

There is knowledge that we have definitely been given and there is knowledge that we have not been given. I know for an absolute fact that adultery is a grievous and damnable sin. It has been made clear that is the case because God expects me to live accordingly or suffer the consequences. 

This is not only the case in matters of moral law, but anything related to the Christian faith that we are expected to practice as well. Meaning, ceremony, worship, prayer, and more. Why is this the case? 

24 Now it happened at the lodging place on the way that Yahweh encountered him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched his feet with it, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” with reference to the circumcision. - Exodus 4:24-26

In Genesis 17, God commanded that this be done on the eighth day or the violator would be cut off from His people for having broken the covenant. God did not leave the expectation ambiguous, he was explicit about how He wanted His people to practice this command. When God made this command, was it written down and passed on as a book? No, when Moses received this command, it would either have been from his birth family or through the teaching passed down among the Midianites, descendants of Abraham. They did not refer to Genesis 17, they were expected to keep the spoken word of God as passed down generationally. Later, this was written down by Moses, but not until after the Exodus. 

Another example can be found in Leviticus 10 with Nadab and Abihu. They chose to worship God not in a way He had commanded not to, but in a way the God had not commanded to. Moses’ response is that God responded according to His own holiness. That is to say, we do not have the right to approach God on our own terms or as we see fit. Even if our terms are well-informed by Scriptural principles and with a desire to worship. 

They were wrong to approach God drunk, they were wrong to worship Him in a way He had not commanded. Both acts by themselves were wrong.

If God then sent forth fire from His face because they worshipped Him in a way He had not commanded, are we to assume He has grown more lax in His standards? If He was going to kill Moses for not carrying out His covenantal command, since we have Christ now we get a pass? As for the things He has commanded, we are just expected to do our best and hope He likes it? Reductive, yes, but I’m tired of this view.

First, God does not not care how we practice. Second, He has not left us ignorant of how to practice. Third, it does not come down to a matter of conscience. Fourth, He did not intend Scripture to be our reference as the teaching of the Apostles is clearly not fully laid out in writing as is obvious by several implicative statements (this in no way denies the sufficiency of Scripture, rather how we often view it). 

If God expects me to act a certain way, I can be certain what that way is without leaning on my own understanding or conscience to come to the conclusion. This is not forbidden knowledge, this is just basic life.