Random Thoughts: Revelatory Epistemology

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, by my Father who is in heaven." Mathew 16:13-17

HOW DID PETER KNOW JESUS WAS 'THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD?'
According to Jesus, Peter "knew" that Jesus was 'the Christ' because God give him that knowledge. In other words, if God had not revealed this truth to him all other answers would have been human speculation but woefully short of the glorious reality ... Jesus was the 'Son of the living God.'

Jesus is adamant in contrasting what did reveal this truth to him with what did NOT reveal this truth to him: 'Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.'

WHY WOULD JESUS TELL PETER WHERE HE LEARNED THE TRUTH OF CHRIST?
One must wonder if Peter might have felt smug about his answer. 'Others say such and such, but I know better. You are the Christ.' It isn't much later (chapter 18) when the disciples are arguing over who will be the greatest, so you can imagine that some of this attitude had to be present in this profession. Jesus asks the question and Peter jumps on the opportunity beating the other disciples to the punch, like a school boy who knows the answer to the teachers question and wants to be picked so that he can demonstrate his knowledge to the classroom (though as an adult I still do this).

But Jesus deflates any notion of pride that Peter may have had. 'Yes, Peter, your are right and consider yourself blessed for knowing this, but don't think that it was your own intellect and acumen that gained you this knowledge. This truth is not derived from man, but God. You know, because God has chosen to let you know.' In other words, Peter has this knowledge only because it was given to him. If God did not reveal this truth to him, no amount of study or seeking would ever discover this truth. Man is at the mercy of God revealing himself and his truth to us. All 'Eureka's' should be followed with exclamations of praise and thanksgiving to God who has been gracious to impart an insight to an otherwise dull and blinded mind.

REVELATORY EPISTEMOLOGY
This story is an illustration of what I call revelatory epistemology, the belief that all knowledge is a gift from God. Therefore, to know is to be endowed by God with the grace to do so. Some may find this elementary, but I find it profound, because it deconstructs any refutation that "One cannot 'know' truth absolutely." I think we can know truth, because truth is not limited to the realm of abstraction, but is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ who himself proclaimed to be "the way the truth and the life" (John 14:6). We can know truth, because we can know Jesus. But we know Jesus, not because we went searching for him and found him ... but because he sought us and revealed himself to us. We know him because he has shown himself to us. This should humble the wise and encourage the simpleton.

WHAT DO WE DO IF WE DO NOT KNOW? AN OBJECTION
If we find that we are ignorant or without, what do we do then? I can hear the objector, "Well, if I don't know than it is God's fault since he has not 'revealed' himself or the truth to me!" No, God is not to blame for your ignorance, O foolish man. You do not have because you do not ask or seek, and when you do, you ask or seek amiss and for your own passions and not for the glory of God ... thus God will give you up to your own passions which will not lead to wisdom, but foolishness, perversion, and destruction (James 4:2,3; Rom 1:24, 26, 28).

WHAT DO WE DO IF WE DO NOT KNOW?
Paul would tell us to "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2Tim 2:7). As John Piper would say, "Thinking is a gift for thinkers." No amount of thinking will gain us understanding unless God gives it to us. But the means by which he imparts understanding is by us thinking! "Thinking is a gift for thinkers." Do you not know? Then ask (but not amiss), seek (but not for your own passions), think (but with all the God given ability to do so) ... and then you will receive, you will find, and you will know what you do not now have and know. So that when you have received this knowledge ... praise God and acknowledge that 'flesh and blood' did not gain this knowledge, but the grace of God revealed it to me through the means of asking, seeking, and thinking.