The Knowledge Paradox

As the saying goes, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.

I don’t know what that has to do with the two trees in the Garden of Eden (the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life) but I wanted to work the quote into one of my entries. It’s a sort of silent shout out to my teacher homies on Denali – if they ever find this site.

According to the account in Genesis mankind fell from immortality and purity into death and decay when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Recently I’ve been reading (some call it research but that makes it sound like work) about Evolution, Creation and Intelligent Design. I’ve been doing this after the recent Dover school board stuff hit the fan in November (link to article).

It is amazing how many of the intelligent people in the “know” have forsaken God in their quest for knowledge. And I’m not just speaking of scientists, this group includes many of the intelligentsia and most unfortunately a large chunk of seminary graduates.

At my undergraduate alma mater the President would often announce that ORU was a great place to “get your learning and keep your burning.” Sadly many well intentioned Christians have lost their passion for God while attempting to learn more about Him.

Why do those two things (passion for God / Christ and knowledge) tend to clash so much? Maybe it goes back to Eden.

“The Knowledge Paradox” referred to in the title is that “the more you know, the less you know.” Knowledge is deceptive. As I mature and learn more I realize just how little I really know. When I was a teenager I knew everything and ever since then the more I learn shows me just how ignorant I really am. I should’ve stopped when I was all knowing.

There are a number of sayings in the Bible that may help develop this paradox. Jesus said that it is “easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle then for a rich man to enter heaven.” I’ve thought that this saying might apply both to people rich in resources AND people rich in knowledge. The prophets proclaimed that the “wisdom of God is foolishness to man” and in other places that God laughs at man’s wisdom. Jesus tells his disciples that unless they have the faith of a little child they cannot enter in the Kingdom of heaven. And David wrote that we should “Lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”

I’m not going into depth on the above examples (there are many truths that can be drawn from them if one has the inclination) but the pattern is clear. Knowledge can be deadly. It can prevent people from belief in Christ. It puffs up. It can seduce and give one the false sense that they don’t need God.

I was just checking out some quotes on God and came across this one from Isaac Assimov “I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.” To refer to Paschal’s wager, it is far safer to bet that there is a God then it is to bet that there isn’t a God. For such a smart man, Isaac wasn’t a good gambler.

Of course when it comes to my belief in God I’m not hedging my bets. Nor do I believe in God DESPITE all the evidence. My belief enlightens my search for knowledge, it does not squelch it. But herein is the key, I believe in God and from this sure foundation I seek knowledge and understanding. I don’t envy those who do the opposite; they don’t believe in God and then seek to placate their fear that they’re wrong with only the knowledge that supports their disbelief.

The point that I’m building to is not the Knowledge is anathema to a belief in God, only that it should be handled with care. The Bible is not a book only simpletons believe (though I often wish that I could be one such simpleton), for many wise and knowledgeable men and women throughout the ages have tested, tried and dissected it only to return to embrace it with more affection.

Going back to the Garden. Many believe that had Adam and Eve partaken of the Tree of Life and continued their relationship with God, then God would have eventually given them of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil when they were able to properly digest it.

Ironically, exactly what would have happened had we not come into the know, we shall never know.