KNOWING AND NOT KNOWING:

A steadfast foundation of faith, no matter what accusations fly: Differing biblical interpretations have been used as weapons, but the key to Christianity remains intact (John Woodhouse, June 1, 2004, Sydney Morning Herald)

Christian people make a remarkable claim: to know God. The claim rests on the conviction that God has made himself known in the historical person Jesus Christ (who was "God in the flesh") and the message about him in the Bible (which is God's word to humanity).

That from the beginning there have been disagreements among Christians about what they know of God is neither surprising nor alarming.

In every field of knowledge there are disagreements. Mathematics, history, linguistics, for instance, contain conflicting ideas and vigorous debate. It is a function of the incompleteness and imperfection of all human knowledge. Such disagreements do not mean that there is no genuine mathematical or historical knowledge. The debates themselves clarify issues and expose erroneous ideas.

The same is true of our knowledge of God. To know God is not only a remarkable claim, it is a revolutionary experience. To know that God is there and to know something of what he is like changes everything.

This means that those who take into account a knowledge of God will think differently from those who do not, about human sexuality, abortion, euthanasia, mandatory detention of asylum seekers, truth-telling, stem cell research, national reconciliation, the Iraq war, and the mistreatment of prisoners of war. Much that is taken for granted in the cultures that have been historically influenced by Christianity (like Australia) has been profoundly affected by this knowledge of God.

This does not mean that Christians claim to "have all the answers" to complex issues. But knowing God does illuminate every aspect of life.

Nothing seems to infuriate atheists more than the claim of the faithful that the only knowledge that matters leaves us pretty dang ignorant.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 6, 2004 7:47 AM