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On Knowledge 4

October 22, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

How we acquire knowledge is a mystery in itself. So often, we think of knowledge as being in the realm of the brain, but Ephesians 1:15-23 gives us some hints that knowledge of the things of God is much deeper. Here, Paul refers to the heart saying, “…I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” and the implication is that the normal state of things may be closed eyes… closed heart. We cannot absorb knowledge with the eyes of our hearts closed.

As I sat here contemplating this idea, I saw a picture of an onion and how, when you cut into it, your eyes naturally tear… but only after going down into the deeper layers and the eyes must be open. Sometimes, we block out knowledge because we are afraid of being convicted or afraid of experiencing pain. But really, it may be just a new experience. Sometimes, when the eyes of the heart open, we see in a new way… we feel new feelings… we experience God in a way we have never experienced Him before. Can you see how this would help sustain our faith and virtue?

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On Knowledge 3

October 21, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

Pastor uses Colossians 2:1-3 as his companion scripture for today’s meditation and I have to say, it’s quite powerful. I have it underlined in my Bible, but I haven’t revisited this in awhile.

The first phrase that jumped out at me was, “the mystery of God” and then, how that mystery (which is Christ and what it meant to be Christ – i.e. the work of the Christ for humankind) is available to us. It’s God’s desire that we “get it!” … that we understand it. God wants us to understand the mystery. God wants us to “know.” And, as we understand the depth of that work for us and in us, then wisdom and knowledge are discovered.

I still maintain that wisdom is a discovery process. Sometimes, it takes time to understand how something works. Someone can give you a gift and you only understand some of its working parts. Think about something complex like a computer or software. There’s a process to learning how it works. The longer you work with it, the better you get… if you are persistent … if you are willing to learn… if you get help when you get stumped… if you read the manual! And then there’s the “aha!” moment.

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On Knowledge 2

October 20, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

One of my favorite discussions of wisdom is actually on a website that has nothing to do at all with scripture, but is, instead, about knowledge management and systems thinking. The particular article is called Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom by Gene Belliner, Durval Castro, & Anthony Mills.

They divide the mind’s capabilities to handle “content” into five areas: Data, Information, Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom. They say the first four categories have to do with the “past,” that is, how the mind deals with what has been or what is known. Wisdom, on the other hand, deals with the future and interprets what has gone before in order to move ahead.

They actually chart out the five content areas:

  • Data: symbols
  • Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when” questions
  • Knowledge: application of data and information; answers “how” questions
  • Understanding: appreciation of “why”
  • Wisdom: evaluated understanding.

I find this a useful chart in thinking about II Peter 1:5-6. If these verses are talking about knowledge in this sense, it means working through the “how” of being or doing good… it’s the application of what it means to be a person of faith. However, if it is wisdom, then it’s more contemplative, comprehensive, and evaluative. It means we are taking the next step in choice. We have understanding to with the faith & virtue. It is a type of “revelation knowledge.”

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On Knowledge 1

October 19, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

Well, after Saturday night’s service and Pastor Craig’s sermon, I was a bit surprised to hear him say the Greek word for “knowledge” used in II Peter 1:5-6 is gnosis (practical knowledge) vs. sophia (philosophical knowledge). I had always thought of the word sophia as meaning wisdom … and yet, as the message continued, Craig ended up wrapping wisdom into the ultimate meaning of the text. That was a little confusing.

I think we have a different view of wisdom in the all together anyway. When I first started doing bible studies in my home last year, I called the group “Wisdom Seekers” and blogged our meetings (a practice I have continued although the meetings have moved to the church). In any event, for some weeks we did a free-form study of wisdom as it is discussed in Proverbs, the early chapters.

In that study, I made some discoveries about the differences between the terms knowledge, understanding & wisdom. I don’t believe they are quite the same and I’d like to revisit some of these topics this week while pursuing knowledge. For a little preview, visit one of these earlier blog postings: Wisdom Promises and Wisdom Calling.

In essence, I believe wisdom is a gift, yes, but given in response to knowledge & understanding. Oh, there may be times when people are supernaturally gifted wisdom, but I don’t believe that’s the norm. There are other foundations that must be there … among them, knowledge & understanding, but also faith (which we have already discussed) and virtue (which we discussed last week but is also touched upon in Proverbs as prudence).

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On Virtue 6

October 17, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

I think we know all this stuff about “doing good.” I mean, I think we know we are supposed to “do good” … we know we are supposed to act virtuously. We know we are supposed to take the “high road.” But we often don’t. Why not?

If it’s true that doing good helps us to “… never fall…” and “… receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” (II Peter 1: 10-11), then the converse is true… not doing good or just not choosing to do good, will lead us down a different path. I think, particularly in our culture, that we have become complacent. Many of us go about our every day … not necessarily doing “bad things” but also, not choosing good things either. We are dull. We are lukewarm. We are a bit lazy.

There is some energy required to move toward moral excellence. It takes effort to choose the better way. It’s a conscious choice. John Sandford speaks often of the “slumbering spirit” and I think this condition applies here as well. We must be wakeful and alert to the Holy Spirit. We must be wakeful and alert to opportunities in our daily walk. Look! Today, I expect to be challenged. I expect you will too.

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On Virtue 5

October 16, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

This idea of recognizing good in order to “do it” is discussed in the Pastor’s blog today. Since we may fail in identifying good from within, another way may to model our behavior based on observation of another.

Certainly, our greatest model is Christ. In II Timothy 1:13, Paul tells Timothy to model his behavior after him, “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.” During on of our bible study discussions, we talked about the people who were our first or stand-out examples of someone who walked out in authenticity as a Christian. These were people we can model after even today.

In acting school, we were taught many different kinds of acting styles, but generally, they all fall into two basic types, one is discovery of truth from within and the other is to create the outer appearance and behaviors and by doing so, discover truth. These two concepts can hold true here.

If you’re inner life and connection to Christ is not strong enough yet to guide you, then model your behaviors and choices on those whose journey reflects “moral excellence.”

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On Virtue 4

October 15, 2008 by Irmgarde Brown

In order to “do good” or choose good over evil, one must first “recognize” what is good. That may seem obvious but I’m not so sure in today’s world that it is done so easily. The world has become quite complex and the “knowing” of what is good requires thoughtful and prayerful attention.

Certainly, the Word gives us a strong foundation for choosing good, but this element seems to fall under “knowledge” which is our 3rd step noted in our anchor verses, II Peter 1:3-10. Choosing the virtuous or excellently moral way comes first. So, if it is not based on our own knowledge, it must be rooted within and then tempered and fine-tuned with knowledge.

Let’s remember, the foundation was faith. If we have grounded ourselves in faith and communion and intimacy with the Lord, our ability to recognize “good” begins there. A key element then is hearing the Lord within our spirits. It is important to nurture that sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, our Teacher and Counselor, who is always speaking, whispering, and encouraging, “go this way, not that way.”

Touch the Spirit in prayer and the ability to identify and “choose good” grows from that seed of faith.

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