Knowledge Alone is Never EnoughKnowledge alone is never enough for human life, of course. That is itself one part of genuine Christian knowledge. And by itself, apart from some adequate moral teaching and discipline (based, of course, upon knowledge), it always "puffs one up"—as the apostle Paul in his profound knowledge of knowledge pointed out (1 Cor. 8:1). Knowledge alone sets us up for a fall. It gives a sense of substance and fulfillment to the self and to society that is an illusion. Under this illusion of substance and sufficiency, it forgets, as that wise man Paul also pointed out, that we only know "in part" (1 Cor. 8:1–3; 13:8–12) and that, as the poet Alexander Pope said, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Christians know that our knowledge is always little. We rarely even have any idea of how much it leaves out. (It is this knowledge of knowledge that, along with genuine love of neighbor, enables one to avoid intolerance.) In applying what we know or think we know, the "law of unintended effects" comes into play. When we act with even the best of available knowledge, we really don't know what the consequences will be. From Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge. Copyright © 2009 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
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