One of the things that prompted me to start this blog was a conversation with a friend — we were asking ourselves whether we thought there had been a decline with respect to values and morals in our life-time, and if so, how would one make such a judgement?

Enter Dallas Willard, Chapter 2, “How We Perish For Lack Of Knowledge.”

DW opens chapter 2 with a verse from Hosea — 4:6 which says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.  And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

As I continued to read DW’s commentary on this passage (p40/41),  I couldn’t help but recall a couple of  inscriptions from leaders who helped lead our country through some challenging times as we struggled to align our actions with the precepts on which our country was formed; one  found in the Jefferson Memorial, and another in the Lincoln Memorial.

Jefferson Memorial

God who gave us life gave us liberty.  Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?

Lincoln Memorial

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

Knowledge of God and His truths are clearly woven into the fabric of the guiding principles that made our nation great.  Now we see great pressure to remove the direct influence of the God of Judeo/Christian ethic from guiding our public life — the pledge of allegiance “one nation under God”, emblems in public buildings that announce “In God We Trust,” public prayer in school — all of these are challenged.

In chapter 2, DW explores the concept of Worldview through a series of four questions:

1. What is real/reality?

2. Who is well-off, or blessed?

3. Who is truly a good person?

4. How does one become a truly good person?

This brings us full circle back to the questions my friend and I found ourselves asking; “has there been a decline with respect to values and morals in our life-time, and if so, how does one make such a judgement?”

I believe answering the four worldview questions above posed by DW will be informative.  In fact, answering them twice, from two different perspectives would be interesting; once assuming a reality that includes God, and again based on a reality that does not include God.

I look forward to hearing from you!

2 Corinthians 4:6 – For it is the God who said, “let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Questions, questions, questions; DW asks a lot of questions … really good questions … questions about important stuff. Most importantly, he makes me ask a lot of questions of myself and I love that!

• What is knowledge?
• What is faith?
• What is belief?
• What is the relationship between knowledge, faith and belief?
• Faith vs. belief – how are they different?
• What are some of the main differences between belief and knowledge?
• Does knowledge strengthen faith? Or does it eliminate faith?
• Does knowledge make people intolerant? Must one not know in order to be tolerant? Is tolerance, as a moral virtue, to be based on ignorance?

Knowledge
Dallas Willard (p15.) – We have knowledge of something when we are representing it as it actually is, on an appropriate basis of thought and experience. Knowledge always involves truth. Truth secured by experience, method, and evidence that is generally available. There is a body of uniquely Christian knowledge.

Faith
Dallas Willard (p.20) – Faith is a commitment to action, often beyond our natural abilities, based upon knowledge of God and God’s ways. An act of faith in the biblical tradition is always undertaken in an environment of knowledge and inseparable from it.

Contrast this with contemporary definitions of faith:

• Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing
• Firm belief in something for which there is no proof
• Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence
(note absence/exclusion of knowledge from definition of 2nd and 3rd bullets)

Belief
Beliefs are mental constructs, conclusions about reality that condition our actions and reactions; however “beliefs have no necessary tie to truth, good method, or evidence. We can believe what is false and often do (kids often believe in tooth fairies, and Santa Clause; and adults are not exempt either. They often place beliefs in things that are false — the world is flat, the second coming of Christ was imminent in the early 1900’s, and numerous times prior to that). To believe something, involves a readiness to act, in appropriate circumstances, as if what is believed were so (p.16).

I invite you to share your comments/reactions on what I have shared about Knowledge, Faith, and Belief above, as well as your perspective and insights on the remaining questions:

• What is the relationship between knowledge, faith and belief?
• Faith vs. belief – how are they different?
• What are some of the main differences between belief and knowledge?
• Does knowledge strengthen faith? Or does it eliminate faith?
• Does knowledge make people intolerant? Must one not know in order to be tolerant? Is tolerance, as a moral virtue, to be based on ignorance?

by Dallas Willard

A must read for anyone (Christian or non-Christian, religious or non-religious) who values personal growth and the pursuit of knowledge and truth.  Whether you agree with everything Dallas Willard (DW) has to say in this book is not important.  In “Knowing Christ Today,” DW surfaces numerous observations, thoughts and questions that are certain to stimulate significant, meaningful reflection and growth.

So you say, “that’s great Doug, glad you enjoyed the book.  Why a blog?”

DW says it best in the introduction of the book — “Knowledge and the will to know, by their very nature, place one in the common arena of human life, in the “public square,” as is now said.  That is one of the important things about knowledge and the effort to know.  It provides a meeting place for all who love and respect their neighbors.  It encourages us to listen as well as speak, to learn as well as teach.  Knowledge opens up possibilities and imposes responsibilities in the public arena.  It is no longer just a matter of “my stuff” against “your stuff.”  When we step into its arena there is suddenly a “we” and an “ours.”  Instead of automatic deadlock, there is the possibility of joint inquiry.  So, as I write here, I am speaking to every person and responsible to every person.”

So, welcome to the public square!  You are cordially invited to share your thoughts and perspectives as I share a weekly post over the next 8 weeks, one for each of the 8 chapters in the book.