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Following are the Oxford American Dictionary definitions of epistemology and science:
epistemology
noun Philosophy
the theory of knowledge, esp. with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
science
noun
the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment : the world of science and technology.
• a particular area of this
• a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject
• (archaic) knowledge of any kind.
The Bible has a lot to say about knowledge and what and how we can know truth. Paul warned Timothy about a false "knowledge."
1 Timothy 6:20 KJV – O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called (της ψευδωνυμου γνωσεως – tes pseudonymou gnoseos): 21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
- NIV – Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,
- CEV – Timothy, guard what God has placed in your care! Don't pay any attention to that godless and stupid talk that sounds smart but really isn't.
- HCSB – Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent, empty speech and contradictions from the "knowledge" that falsely bears that name.
- Vulgate (Latin) – ... falsi nominis scientiae
- Reina-Valera 1960 (Spanish) – ... falsamente llamada ciencia
The King James Version uses the word science in the archaic sense above— as knowledge. However, this word it is not inappropriate in contemporary use as science, in the modern sense, has become the unquestioned arbiter of truth in public debate. Any point of view that is overtly theistic is dismissed as not scientific. The dismissal of a point of view as not scientific is a subtle form of argumentum ad hominem as it is intended to shut down the discussion— it is not a point made in an ongoing dialogue. I suspect that Paul has something specific in mind in his use of science (or knowledge) in this text, but the more general use of the word that I am making can reasonably be drawn from it.
Those of us on the theistic side of the discussion do not help ourselves by allowing the other side to determine the rules and the vocabulary. We have allowed ourselves to be bullied into accepting the assumption that we can acquire knowledge of truth through the scientific method. I don't deny the practical value that we get from science, but I believe that science, rather than bringing us ever closer to complete knowledge and understanding, is uncovering ever larger uncharted territories. Through our discoveries, we are not converging on a theory of everything (complete truth), rather, we are discovering new ways in which we do not understand— new fields of ignorance.
The Bible is very clear about our state— we are "without knowledge" and do "not know nor understand." We "cannot understand" and "we cannot comprehend." The Biblical world view is that we are ignorant. We should not be timid about this point— we should be boldly declaring our ignorance as the foundation of any discussion where we are defending religion against an attack from "science." We are ignorant! Not only is this point of view Biblical, but it is logically defensible; an honest appraisal of the facts compels us to accept that this is a true statement. We are no better than our ancestors— we live and die just like they did. Through our own understanding, we are no closer to explaining our existence, or to alter it, than our ancestors were.
This series of studies will cover some Biblical texts that comment on what we know, the limits of what we can know, and how we can come to know the truth.
Biblical Texts that Declare Our Ignorance
Job 42:3 KJV – Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge (בלי דעת – b'li da'at)? therefore have I uttered that I understood not (לא אבין – lo avin); things too wonderful for me, which I knew not (לא אדע – lo eda).
- NLT – You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.
- CEV – You asked why I talk so much when I know so little. I have talked about things that are far beyond my understanding.
- NIRV – You asked me, 'Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans? You do not know what you are talking about.' I spoke about things I didn't completely understand. I talked about things that were too wonderful for me to know.
Psalm 92:5 KJV – O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6 A brutish man knoweth not (לא ידע – lo yeda); neither doth a fool understand (לא־יבין – lo yavin) this.
- CEV – You do great things, LORD. Your thoughts are too deep for an ignorant fool to know or understand.
- NCV – Lord, you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts! Stupid people don't know these things, and fools don't understand.
Job 37:5 KJV – God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend (לא נדע – lo neda).
- NCV – God's voice thunders in wonderful ways; he does great things we cannot understand.
- NLT – God's voice is glorious in the thunder. We can't even imagine the greatness of his power.
- BBE – He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge.
Psalms 82:5 KJV – They know not (לא ידעו – lo yadu), neither will they understand (לא יבינו – lo yavinu); they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
- God's Word Translation – Wicked people do not know or understand anything. As they walk around in the dark, all the foundations of the earth shake.
Isaiah 40:28 KJV – Hast thou not known (הלוא ידעת – halo yadata)? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding (אין חקר לתבונתו – ein heqer litvunato).
- NIV – Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
- NLT – Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
- God's Word Translation – Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The eternal God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach.
Isaiah 44:18 KJV – They have not known (לא ידעו – lo yadu) nor understood (לא יבינו – lo yavinu): for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand (עיניהם מהשׂכיל לבתם – eineihem mehaskil libotam).
- NIV – They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
- NLT – Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
Micah 4:12 KJV – But they know not (לא ידעו – lo yadu) the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand (לא הבינו – lo hevinu) they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
- God's Word Translation – They don't know the thoughts of the LORD or understand his plan. He will bring them together like cut grain on the threshing floor.
- NCV – But they don't know what the Lord is thinking; they don't understand his plan. He has gathered them like bundles of grain to the threshing floor.
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