October 23, 2014 | Epistemology

2 Peter 1 is one of the great passages ever penned about epistemology. The Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy defines Epistemology this way:

Defined narrowly, epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified belief. Understood more broadly, epistemology is about issues having to do with the creation and dissemination of knowledge. – Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy

It’s the study of how you know what you know. And this is the big deal when I speak to people – especially those outside of churches. College students in particular want to know how it is that I know what I know. Atheists who study the Bible with me online [and there are quite a few] always ask about epistemology.

This issue has become increasingly important to people because of the rise of sophistry in our world. I guess that’s a second big word for today, sophistry. You see, what we call “post-modern” is actually a failed “pre-modern” way of thinking rooted in sophistry.

Here’s my simple way of exposing the bottom line in sophist/post-modern thinking [if one can call it thinking]:

Premise: There is no such thing as absolute truth.

Corollary: There is no such thing as virtue.

Result: We should scoff at anything that claims to be virtuous or absolutely true.

As you can see, sophistry – which is the dominant worldview in much of our culture – believes that there is no such thing as truth or virtue. Epistemology thus becomes a worthless practice of chasing after the wind because there is no knowable, reasonable truth that can lead to goodness.

Of course, many people have an inkling that this isn’t correct. They understand that the very concept of no absolute truth is itself an absolute, making the whole concept of post-modernism laughably illogical. And in 10^th grade world history classes across America every student pretends to read a few lines written by Plato about a guy named Socrates. 2500 years ago Socrates was the one who put a stake in the heart of sophistry, proving that it is nonsense.

In his book The Consequences of Ideas, R.C. Sproul summarizes Socrates’ arguments:

Socrates realized that the death of truth would mean the death of virtue, and that the death of virtue would spell the death of civilization. Without truth and virtue the only possible outcome is barbarianism…[Socrates proved] that knowledge and virtue are inseparable – so much so that virtue could be defined as right knowledge. Right thinking and right doing can be distinguished from each other, but they can never be separated. – R.C. Sproul, The Consequences of Ideas

Socrates exposed how every person in every discussion in every situation in every time & place actually believes in absolutes. Everyone believes in absolutes. A few well-placed questions always expose bedrock of belief in some particular absolutes and virtues.

Knowing this, Peter calls us to a reasonable and trustworthy epistemology – one based on the words of God. He calls us to the only really sound repository of virtue, reminding people that, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” [2 Peter 1:19 ESV]