HOW MUCH DO WE REALLY KNOW?

[tomdurst]

HOW MUCH DO WE REALLY KNOW?

By Thomas E. Durst

And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 1 Corinthians 8:2 (New King James Version)

These words really say it all. When it comes to an understanding of such things as the essence of life, the nature of God, the immensity of the universe, human nature and behavior, relationships, the details of life after death, etc.... what we know of the full truth of the matter probably could be compared to the size of a grain of sand on a beach or a drop of water in the ocean.

With respect to our belief systems, we each should seek to understand and follow truth to the best of our understanding. However, our perception of truth is always incomplete and often distorted and if we are too dogmatic we will find ourselves often judging others and/or in conflict with them about beliefs. I think it is very helpful to have dialogue and to compare our beliefs so that we can understand one another better and relate to one another in a more helpful way but humility always produces better results than does arrogance. If we are overly zealous and defensive about our beliefs and feel that we should convince everyone else to accept them, perhaps we should take this as an opportunity to do some honest heart searching. We could take some time to examine our motives very carefully for having these feelings. Many times our egos and our beliefs are inextricably joined.

In Romans 14 Paul is dealing with some of the disputes that existed in the early Christian church between Jewish and Gentile believers concerning food laws and the keeping of sacred days. The bottom line for him to settle the arguments was simply, "Let each be fully convinced in his own mind" (Romans 14:6, NKJV). I think this advice is good for all of us to remember when we have different convictions among equally sincere people. Also in verse 17 of the same chapter Paul admonishes us that righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost are more important than matters of eating and drinking. Perhaps we could extend that thought a bit and say that righteousness, peace, and joy are more important than being so obsessive/compulsive about what we think we know when actually we know very little.

The more we think we know the less we actually do know and the more we search to find answers to life's biggest questions the more we realize how little we know and how much there is yet to learn. Learning, loving, and living all go together and the more we practice them with an attitude of humility the further ahead we all will be.

I seriously doubt that any of us will fall short of where we need to be in this life if we focus primarily on living in love and respect for others at all times and under all circumstances. I think it would be a very good thing for all of us to frequently review 1 Corinthians 13 in various translations and especially notice the conclusion of the whole matter in the last two verses of this beautiful chapter:

12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as a in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God].

13 And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love. (Amplified Bible)

[Kathleen]

We may not know anything, but at the same time we do have access to all the wisdom of the universe. And God has promised to give "generously" to all who ask. However, we must be patient and wait for God to reveal it to us in his own good time. That's the hard part, the waiting.

[Sheryl Mixey]

Hi Tom,

The question that sometimes really sends my imagination churning is not, "How much do we really know?", but "How much does God know?" Let me explain. Probably everyone who believes in God believes that He is all knowing -- that He knows what we are going to do tomorrow. The problem that I run into is this. If He knows what I am going to do, how can I be free to do otherwise? Where does my freedom of choice come in?

I used to think that God being omnipotent knew every possible choice that we could ever make at any and all points in time and all the senarios that those choices would bring about with every possible ramification as a result. Then we were still free to make a choice at every crossroad.

Now I have another idea. God is timeless; He is not progressing along a time-line like we are. He is outside and above the timeline. All "days" are "now" for Him. He does not "remember" us doing things yesterday; He simply sees us doing them, because even though we have lost yesterday, He hasn't. He doesn't "forsee" us doing things tomorrow. He simply sees us doing them, because tomorrow is not here for us, but it is for Him. He is already in tomorrow because to Him it is now. So, in a sense, He does not know our actions until we have done them. The moment we do them is already "now" for Him.

What do you think of those ideas? Just more of what we don't know!!!

"Talk" to you later,
Sheryl

[tomdurst]

Sheryl:

The questions you raise are those that the world's greatest thinkers have conjectured about for thousands of years. From scripture we know that God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipresent (all-present). "A day with the Lord is as a thousand years" would indicate that time as we measure it is unknown to God.

We can only think in terms of where we are in our present Adam dream state. Remember that when Adam fell into a deep sleep there is nothing to indicate that he ever woke up. So we currently see everything through extremely limited vision and it makes good sense to realize that so that we are humble with respect to all of our theological viewpoints.

I think the very questions you raise are merely another indication that while we seek for the very best possible answers that we can find there is a HUGE gap between us and an Infinite God who is beyond all time and space as we know it.

I'm deeply grateful for people like you who are THINKING!! Please keep grappling with these great existential questions of life that I talk about in my article to which you are responding. Find answers that make the most sense to you at any given time but at the same time recognize that those solutions always have to be somewhat tentative and open to change whenever change seems like a good way to go.

I salute you for your diligence in the spiritual path and rest assured that your life is indeed a bright and shining light for everyone with whom you have to do. Tom

[Brother Punkin]

Amen to that , Thanks Tom

[Art]

I only know i do not know any thing, and that ONLY GOD "IS"... We mortals are all vanish and lies... Only God lives! The life is the TRUTH! (ETERNAL LIFE).

[Divine light]

Amen Brother Tom .

[tomdurst]

“The sense of peace that comes to you—the peace that passes understanding—is the healer. When you attain that, healing takes place. It is the awareness of God that does the healing.”—Joel S Goldsmith, The Art of Healing, p. 81