Ontology n : the metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence
Epistemology n : the philosophical theory of knowledge
Two big words that I never heard of before until recent times. But it can be said that the field of Philosophy, beginning right back in about 650BC with the Pre-Socratics right up till this generation of Philosophers like Foucault and Derrida, is concerned chiefly about these two fields of study.
"Who am I?"
"How and what can I know about anything?"
"How and what can I know about anything?"
These are the two overarching questions, not just for the Philosopher, but also for the person on the street in his or her reflective moments.
The answers to these two questions over the past 2.5 Millennia have been wierd, wonderful and some downright wacky and worrying. A quick search in www.wikipedia.org on 'philosophers' will give you an idea as to the sheer variance of answers they have come up with.
So, who am I? Who are you?
How can we know anything? More importantly, maybe, how can we know God?
It's funny how we know that the Bible can be quite counter-intuitive at times, yet when we are exposed to its counter-intuition afresh, we are taken aback. Well, I am!
The Bible highlights two things for me in response to the two questions posed.
Firstly, let us consider the ontological question. In Exodus 3:14, the God who had created the heavens and the earth reveals His personal name to Moses at the famous (never) burning bush: His name is 'I am who I am' or as some recent translators have argued, 'I will be who I will be'. What does this mean? His name tells us that who He is will be determined by what He will do. And what did He go on to do? He went on to rescue the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt, He went on to show His faithfulness to the promises He had made to Abraham, Moses, David and ultimately to all of humanity though His Son's death on the cross, securing our redemption by His blood. And so we see this somewhat counter-intuitive answer to our question, for ultimately what is important is not so much 'who am I?', but 'who is God?'. And the Holy Scriptures tell us this: God will be who God will be and we've been given the privilege to know what God has done in history, what God is doing in us in the present and what God will do in the age to come.
Secondly, let us consider the epistemological question. There is a tiny part of a verse in 1 Corinthians 13:12 (part 'c' if you had to quote it) that you'd missed if you blinked: "...Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." The passage that this verse is found is about love, particular in this section, about the supremacy of love because it never ends, even after the 'perfect' comes, love abides. And so, this talk about 'knowledge' is not even the main point, but it sheds an amazing perspective on our question of knowledge. You see, the reason why there will be a day when "I shall know fully" is because of what the Apostle Paul adds at the end there in 12:3c: it is because God has known us fully first. This isn't the only place we'll find this idea, but the only place we find it put so succinctly, so powerfully, so reassuringly. Counter-intuitively, once again, God turns the tables on our pursuits for knowledge. Thankfully, and maybe surprisingly, the starting and end point is in God's sure knowledge of us. It is only because of this that we can and do know Him.
Who said Philosophy was boring and useless? Well, I thought so once, maybe I've come to think again.
The answers to these two questions over the past 2.5 Millennia have been wierd, wonderful and some downright wacky and worrying. A quick search in www.wikipedia.org on 'philosophers' will give you an idea as to the sheer variance of answers they have come up with.
So, who am I? Who are you?
How can we know anything? More importantly, maybe, how can we know God?
It's funny how we know that the Bible can be quite counter-intuitive at times, yet when we are exposed to its counter-intuition afresh, we are taken aback. Well, I am!
The Bible highlights two things for me in response to the two questions posed.
Firstly, let us consider the ontological question. In Exodus 3:14, the God who had created the heavens and the earth reveals His personal name to Moses at the famous (never) burning bush: His name is 'I am who I am' or as some recent translators have argued, 'I will be who I will be'. What does this mean? His name tells us that who He is will be determined by what He will do. And what did He go on to do? He went on to rescue the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt, He went on to show His faithfulness to the promises He had made to Abraham, Moses, David and ultimately to all of humanity though His Son's death on the cross, securing our redemption by His blood. And so we see this somewhat counter-intuitive answer to our question, for ultimately what is important is not so much 'who am I?', but 'who is God?'. And the Holy Scriptures tell us this: God will be who God will be and we've been given the privilege to know what God has done in history, what God is doing in us in the present and what God will do in the age to come.
Secondly, let us consider the epistemological question. There is a tiny part of a verse in 1 Corinthians 13:12 (part 'c' if you had to quote it) that you'd missed if you blinked: "...Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." The passage that this verse is found is about love, particular in this section, about the supremacy of love because it never ends, even after the 'perfect' comes, love abides. And so, this talk about 'knowledge' is not even the main point, but it sheds an amazing perspective on our question of knowledge. You see, the reason why there will be a day when "I shall know fully" is because of what the Apostle Paul adds at the end there in 12:3c: it is because God has known us fully first. This isn't the only place we'll find this idea, but the only place we find it put so succinctly, so powerfully, so reassuringly. Counter-intuitively, once again, God turns the tables on our pursuits for knowledge. Thankfully, and maybe surprisingly, the starting and end point is in God's sure knowledge of us. It is only because of this that we can and do know Him.
Who said Philosophy was boring and useless? Well, I thought so once, maybe I've come to think again.
5 comments:
To add more confusion to the already confused... Cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am ;)
Hehehe... sorry for confusion! I was walking home from Philosophy exam and started thinking about this... had to come home and download my thoughts. Even Faith didn't fully get it when she read it... ah well...
Eh, I think therefore...iMac? =)
Hey guys, did you know that this says that the blog was posted by "Ben anf Fath"?
thanks for the download of thoughts... 'm sure it'll be interesting when i figure out what you are saying... :)
Oopps... hehe, had mispelled Faith's name in the profile... thanks for bringing that up! I didn't even notice... sorry it's such a wacky post. It's what a Philosophy exam does to you!
Post a Comment