Where the Truth Lies

Theology
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I understand that KP can speak for themselves, but I think you missed the point.

You address KPuff’s third point as if KPuff were advocating for anti-intellectualism or spiritual passivity. However, KPuff’s argument is primarily epistemological and relational. Truth is a person (Jesus) rather than a collection of data. Therefore, raw human intellect, high education, or advanced research tools are neither prerequisites nor guarantees for knowing Truth. KPuff emphasizes that God frequently reveals Himself through the humble and weak to dismantle human pride (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).

You seem to reframe KPuff’s warning as a rejection of rigorous thought. You respond by showing that Scripture repeatedly commands believers to seek wisdom, apply the mind, and test claims (Proverbs 4:7, Acts 17:11). Where I think you guys talk past each other is that KPuff is arguing that intellect is insufficient as a means of reaching a relational God. You are arguing that intellect is necessary as a God-given tool to study divine revelation.

Both of you have laid out essential aspects of how a believer interacts with God’s Truth, and I don’t think your positions are as opposed as they might first appear.

KPuff is rightly warning us against intellectual self-sufficiency. If Truth is ultimately a Person—Jesus Christ (John 14:6)—then no degree of high IQ, advanced degrees, or search engines can force open spiritual sight. God explicitly hides His mystery from the self-proclaimed “wise” and reveals it to infants (Matthew 11:25) so that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). The posture must always be humility, surrender, and weakness.

On the other hand, Johann is rightly warning us against spiritual laziness or anti-intellectualism. Once the Lord opens our eyes, He doesn’t call us to turn off our brains. He commands us to love Him with all our mind (Matthew 22:37) and commends those who daily search the Scriptures to verify what they hear (Acts 17:11).

Scripture unites both ideas seamlessly. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

Intellect without humility leads to arrogance (1 Corinthians 8:1), but humility without study leads to deception (Hosea 4:6). We use the mind not as a master to discover God on our own terms, but as a redeemed instrument to steward the truth He has graciously revealed.

Be blessed, be a blessing,

Peter

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Very well said PeterC.

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Lots of painful truth here @KPuff

Romans 8 - “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.**2 **Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. **3 **But whoever loves God is known by God.”

Walking in wisdom entails us to make loving application of knowledge. And love is fundamentally sacrificial - and let’s all agree, sacrifice hurts. Keeping our eyes on Jesus as the beginning and end of our faith is the only means of uniting us under the blood.

Otherwise, we are quite prone to biting and tearing at each other. Striving to be heard, struggling to come out on top, flashing our indignations as a badge. These are not glorifying God.

Knowledge might win an argument. Wisdom uses knowledge to glorify God, edify a brother/sister, and win a friend.

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I agree with @PeterC, here you seem to be talking past each other a bit. You emphasize get knowledge, add wisdom, apply humbly in Love. All necessary to please God. @KPuff acknowledges just how difficult it is to accomplish the threshold essential of dying to self in order to find real Truth which is the person of Christ. Dying to self might be the most painful thing we do. And scary.

Keep going brothers. Keep on trampling the enemy and glorifying our Lord!

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Thanks, @Pater15, I fully concur with KP’s post. I certainly acknowledge that the Messiah is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and that true epignōsis is found in Him and through the Holy Spirit.

My point was specifically regarding his third point. If knowledge obtained “in the sphere of the flesh” is described merely as an accumulation of data, then I think the question is whether Scripture itself permits us to draw such a sharp distinction between knowledge acquired through ordinary means and true knowledge. Can knowledge gained through study, observation, reasoning and Scripture simply be dismissed as “data,” or can it also serve as part of the means by which we come to a deeper epignōsis of the truth?

That was the narrow point I was addressing. I was not denying that true knowledge of God is ultimately found in the Messiah and through the Holy Spirit.

Shalom.

J.

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Wisdom and knowledge, both recurring themes in the Bible, are related but not synonymous. The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.” Knowledge, on the other hand, is “information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance.” Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but not the other way around. One can be knowledgeable without being wise. Knowledge is knowing how to use a gun; wisdom is knowing when to use it and when to keep it holstered.

God wants us to have knowledge of Him and what He expects of us. In order to obey Him, we have to have knowledge of the commands. But as equally important as having knowledge is having wisdom.

Knowing facts about God and the Bible is not all there is to wisdom. Wisdom is a gift from God. James 1:5 states, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” God blesses us with wisdom in order for us to glorify Him and use the knowledge we have of Him.

The book of Proverbs is perhaps the best place in the Bible to learn of biblical wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 speaks of both biblical knowledge and wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, / but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” To fear the Lord is to start on the path to knowledge, and God can then begin to provide us with wisdom through Christ, who the Bible says is wisdom itself: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Knowledge is what is gathered over time through study of the Scriptures. It can be said that wisdom, in turn, acts properly upon that knowledge. Wisdom is the fitting application of knowledge. Knowledge understands the light has turned red; wisdom applies the brakes. Knowledge sees the quicksand; wisdom walks around it. Knowledge memorizes the Ten Commandments; wisdom obeys them. Knowledge learns of God; wisdom loves Him.

Ecc 1:12 I the ProclaimerN5 have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecc 1:13 And I set my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. It is a miserable task that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.
Ecc 1:14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and look, everything is futile and a striving after wind.
Ecc 1:15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
Ecc 1:16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”
Ecc 1:17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much frustration, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

J.

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Brother @Pater15

You said:

This is a beautiful warning. Thanks for the contribution.

This is a beautiful reminder. Let me elaborate.

Whatever is in our (His disciples) control is there by grace, and is a sanctified article of stewardship, placed in our purview with the stated intention to be employed to (a) glorify God and (b) edify The Body of Christ (just as you said). We may contribute to both (a) and (b) ONLY God’s way, and not our own way.

We are made in the image of our Creator, and as such are designed to be intelligent. One aspect of our creation makes us little knowledge sponges from our first breath (Glory to God). Like a lush garden of Eden, God gives us access to more knowledge than we can apprehend and often more than we have learned to control by His Grace, and in His service. There is a forbidden tree. In a way similar to how God gives us physical strength and God gives us wealth for the same reasons, still we do not rely on them to find truth. In-fact, (as many cautionary tales in Scripture consistently teach) knowledge, strength, and wealth all have the proclivity to lead us away from truth when not properly managed in humility. It’s not that any of them are evil, but the dependence on them is detrimental to our pursuit of The Truth. They are all dispensable, meaning, we can relinquish them and not lose an ounce of The Truth.

My point is not that increasing in intelligence (learning, knowledge, academics, etc.) is wrong in the same way building physical strength and accumulating wealth are not wrong. All three are tools of The Master, and should be welcomed into service of their Giver. But The Giver does NOT need them to be in us; He has no difficulty leading us into The Truth without them.

A disciple finds all his contentment in Jesus, and not in his stewardship tools; these tools are not essentials. Like the Apostle testifies that he finds contentment both with AND without any of them (Phil. 4:10-13). He testifies that “godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Therefore, having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

I am not ignorant, although in the world I am. I am not advocating for weakness, poverty, and ignorance. The pursuit of any of those has its own traps. I know the difficulty of maintaining a spiritually healthy grasp on all that God has placed in our stewardship. I struggle with you. I know that the acquisition of more strength, wealth, and knowledge promises more status (recognition), comfort (ease), and power; I know they come with a dopamine rush that is addictive. But, the gift of The Truth promises AND provides unencumbered contentment wrapped in simplicity. We know that the world (peer pressure) promotes strength, wealth, and knowledge, and repudiates simplicity and contentment. The Truth supplies them.

Any saint who wants to justify his vast knowledge must remember, wisdom and understanding are not anchored in knowledge, but in faith, and a full measure of faith is provided even to the least knowledgeable saint.

Thanks again for your WISE contribution, brother.

KP

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That was my contribution for the day @Pater15 and there is potential in this here, your thread.

And without the sealing of the Holy Spirit, none belongs to the Truth, Yeshua HaMashiach.

I agree that faith is not measured by intellectual attainment. But where does Scripture say that wisdom and understanding are not anchored in knowledge? Proverbs 2:6 connects wisdom with knowledge and understanding, Proverbs 9:10 connects wisdom with the knowledge of the Holy One, and Paul actually prays that believers would be filled with ‘the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding’ (Col. 1:9).

Wouldn’t Scripture suggest integration rather than separation?

Keep up the great work here brother.

J.

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As here @TheologyNerd and it would seem Dr. Luther was also of the belief that predestination unto salvation is biblical, correct?

9 Nor is this eternal election or ordination of God to eternal life to be considered in God’s secret, inscrutable counsel in such a bare manner as though it comprised nothing further, or as though nothing more belonged to it, and nothing more were to be considered in it, than that God foresaw who and how many were to be saved, who and how many were to be damned, or that He only held a [sort of military] muster, thus: “This one shall be saved, that one shall be damned; this one shall remain steadfast [in faith to the end], that one shall not remain steadfast.”

10 For from this [notion] many derive and conceive strange, dangerous, and pernicious thoughts, which occasion and strengthen either security and impenitence or despondency and despair, so that they fall into troublesome thoughts and [for thus some think, with peril to themselves, nay, even sometimes] say: Since, before the foundation of the world was laid, Eph. 1:4, God has foreknown [predestinated] His elect to salvation, and God’s foreknowledge [election] cannot fail nor be hindered or changed by any one, Is. 14:27; Rom. 9:19, therefore, if I am foreknown [elected] to salvation, nothing can injure me with respect to it, even though I practise all sorts of sin and shame without repentance, have no regard for the Word and Sacraments, concern myself neither with repentance, faith, prayer, nor godliness; but I shall and must be saved nevertheless, because God’s foreknowledge [election] must come to pass. If, however, I am not foreknown [predestinated], it helps me nothing anyway, even though I would occupy myself with the Word, repent, believe, etc.; for I cannot hinder or change God’s foreknowledge [predestination].

11 And indeed also to godly hearts, even when, by God’s grace they have repentance, faith, and a good purpose [of living in a godly manner], such thoughts occur as these: If you are not foreknown [predestinated or elected] from eternity to salvation, everything [your every effort and entire labor] is of no avail. This occurs especially when they view their weakness and the examples of those who have not persevered [in faith to the end], but have fallen away again [from true godliness to ungodliness, and have become apostates].

And did you read this?

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/

Shalom brother.

J.

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Thanx Pastor @PeterC

I appreciate your compassionate understanding.

You are correct that I would never advocate for “spiritual laziness”, or “anti-intellectualism”, nor would I ever reject a rigorous approach to study. I consider myself rigorous in my study too, even though study to me is nutritional and enjoyable.

You, and others wisely point to Holy scripture to show how diligence is expected of us; our assiduous application of all the faculties God has created in us laser-focused on obedience to live testimonial lives. These references are not unnoticed. Thank you.

You and Johann both offer, as example, Jesus’s instructive words to the Pharisee Lawyer:

“'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:37-40).

… a very familar phrase which Our Lord quotes from "The Shema”, Moses’s famous “Hear O Israel” found in Deut. 6 (et al):

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Here the author of God’s word substitutes the Greek word for mind for the Hebrew word for strength, (or might) in The Shema. His authoritative handling of His own word should be instructive for us here. The Pharisee Lawyer surely automatically replayed the familiar text that immediately follows The Shema in his own mind…

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Jesus expects God’s Word to reside in our heart; Jesus places His truth into our innermost being. “Where lies The Truth?” Jesus supplies His answer; in our heart! We are to “Love” with all our “heart”, AND we are to store “God’s Word (The Truth, Jesus)” in our “heart”. We are to bathe in it, clothe ourselves in it, reside in it, daily live in it, and diligently teach it to our children. This is not anti-intellectualism; this is divine wisdom.

I sincerely appreciate that you took the time, and made the effort to understand your brother. Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. I appreciate you.

In The Truth with you.

KP

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