Skyscraper Ministries/Lectures/Annual Baptisms/The Other Seventy Training Academy
Through the Lens of Solomon: Biblical Epistemology
Proverbs
1:1-7---“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David,
king of Israel; 2To know wisdom and instruction; to
perceive the words of understanding; 3To receive the
instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4To
give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man
of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6To
understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their
dark sayings. 7The fear of the LORD is the beginning
of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
“Epistemology pertains to where we "take our stand" on what we
believe. Christianity is not simply taking a stand on what we believe about
Jesus Christ, but is the ontological presence and activity of the living Lord
Jesus within and through the Christian.”
Through the simple
scheme of man, he is so close to understanding God, he is blinded by his own
intellect and willingness to share and give back to God, what God has given
him. Thus, the developed enigma (problem), is rooted in the reality that all
such concepts as ontology, epistemology, axiology, cosmology, metaphysics,
philosophy, rhetoric, mathematics, and linguistics, were pre-existent to man.
Today humanity has an understanding of the things that already existed in the
mind of God, but because of the belief that they were developed by men, they
refuse to acknowledge and partner with God in the discovery. People now know
what they know, but fail to give credence to the All-Knowing God of Heaven. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The world knows God, but acts like it does
not. In terms of schema, it is about using what we know, to know more!
Philosophy is the discipline concerned with the
questions of:
·
How one
should live (ethics)
·
What sorts
of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics)
·
What counts
as genuine knowledge (epistemology)
·
What are the
correct principles of reasoning (logic).[1]
Epistamai/Epistemology (Understanding/Word) The science, study, or theory of knowledge:
Epistemology asks what do
you know and how do you know it? Epistemology seeks
to find the true assumptions that account for reality. Biblical epistemology
acknowledges that apart from God's personal self-revelation in His word and by
His Spirit, no man can make right judgments about God, himself, or any of God's
creation. In the philosophical world of rhetoric, for something to count as knowledge, it must
actually be true.
Ontology: Ontology is
the science, theory, or study of being. In essence it is the study of
conceptions of reality. It asks, "What
are the knowable things or what is knowable?" The Faith Factor: Romans 10:17
Text Exegesis: Matthew 12:42
The queen of the south shall rise
up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came
from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and,
behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of (insight)
understanding (Yada/know—perceive
& understand; Chokmah/wisdom—
knowledge, experience, intelligence; Musar/instruction—punishment, correction, discipline). To perceive experiences and
correction/discipline.
3To receive the instruction (correction/discipline) of
wisdom (that which comes from skill), justice (that which is
right nationally, morally, and legally), and
judgment (the verdict, regardless of favor), and equity (Straightness); 4To
give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge (The contemplative perception of a wise man) and discretion.
5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a
man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: (The hearing/listening principle with followed praxis and
application)
6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the
words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but
fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Applications to the
Text
Proverbs 1:8-9 “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of
thy mother: 9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto
thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
Proverbs 10-19 “My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not. 11If they say, Come with us, let us
lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as
those that go down into the pit: 13We shall find all
precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14Cast
in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:15My son,
walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for
their own lives. 19So are the ways of every one that is
greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.”
