There are three primary methods by which we know anything.
First is using our senses to empirically test our surrounding environment (a posteriori).
Second is the use of logic and rationality to draw a conclusion from premises.
But the third somewhat disputed way of knowing is something that for the sake of
this brief essay we will refer to as Intuitive Knowledge.
Intuitive Knowledge is something that you know a priori, or a conclusion that
exists within your mind prior to and independent of experience.
It requires no experiential evidence to prove and no laws of logic or reason
to uphold. This is because you intuitively know this type of knowledge to be
a fact based on a more fundamental awareness than either of the other two involve.
If I were to ask you the answer to the mathematical problem 2 + 2, you would almost
instantly respond with 4. If I were then to ask you to 'prove' it to me, you would
probably be inclined to draw out the problem on paper.
If I asked you to repeat the problem to test its empirical reproducibility,
you would be baffled as to why I would demand something so silly.
It doesn't matter how many times we repeat the problem, the answer is still going
to be the same.
If I told you that Amy was taller than Sam, and that George was taller than Amy,
you would immediately know that George is taller than Sam.
Asking you to prove that to me would be a bit ludicrous, and would net me
an odd look. I would be considered somewhat daft if I could not see the
solution to this problem. All that is required to draw this conclusion is knowledge
of the concept of 'taller'. I don't even need to know if these individuals are real or
fictitious.
The ethicist Louis Pojman originally postulated the previous example.
He wrote:
"You don't even have to know that this proposition is true.
You need only whatever experience is necessary to understand the concepts involved,
such as 'being taller than'.
To believe this proposition a priori, one need only consider it.
No particular experience---perceptual, testimonial, memorial, or introspective---is necessary."
Intuitional truth requires no defense, because it does not result from reasoning by steps
to a conclusion. It is a truth that is obvious upon consideration.
C.S. Lewis writes:
"If nothing is self-evident, nothing can be proved."
Aristotle writes:
"Some, indeed, demand to have the law proved, but this is because they lack education;
for it shows lack of education not to know of what we should require proof, and of what we should not.
For it is quite impossible that everything should have a proof; the process would go on
to infinity, so there would be no proof..."
To paraphrase from the book
Relativism by
Gregory Koukl and
Francis Beckwith,
take the following conversation as a further example.
"My hand is injured."
"How do you know it's injured?"
"Because it hurts."
"How do you know it hurts?"
"Because I can feel it!"
"But how do you know you can feel it?"
And so we reach an impasse. One does not conclude that one feels pain based upon other evidence.
That knowledge is based upon direct access to ones own inner states.
Personal sensations are private, immediate, and incorrigible; one cannot be mistaken about them.
You may imagine your injury, but you cannot imagine the imagining; for it is impossible to
think you are feeling pain and not be feeling it.
Everyone knows their own mental states through the faculty of immediate awareness or intuition
(immediate in this case meaning 'not proceeding from inference').
One simply turns his or her gaze inward and reflects.
This knowledge cannot be proven because, on the level of intuition, no further analysis
is possible. Reductionism cannot reach further without inviting catastrophic infinite regress.
This foray into philosophy may seem like intentionally splitting hairs, but I am building
the groundwork for an argument that I would like to make involving this concept of Intuitive
Knowledge which we have established thus far.
If you have difficulties with believing that there is such a thing as Intuitive Knowledge, you
need not read further, and indeed might wish to put a lid on much of your personal
introspection, as it generally relies upon this method of 'knowing'.
I personally believe that the following three problems which I will present are
known to us by Intuitive Knowledge. To be aware of these problems, we only need
turn our gaze inward and honestly examine the awareness we have of
the world which surrounds us and our interactions with it thus far.
The Problem of Justice
We hear it from an extremely early age in children: '
That's not fair!'
This exclamation is usually uttered in a shrill and ear-piercing tone, and occasionally
accompanied by red-faced bluster and no small amount of tears designed to provoke
a sympathetic response.
Indeed before small children are even capable of forming words, all one has to do
to prove their cognizance of the concept of equity is to snatch away their favorite toy
from their grasp and wait for empirical evidence to follow suit.
I assure you it will be forthcoming and unpleasant.
I was greatly amused by an experience related by scientists researching the moral behavior
of infants in
this article, which I have also linked to in a prior entry.
During testing, the researchers would place an infant barely one year old in front of
three puppets. The puppet in the middle would pass a colored ball to the puppet on the right,
who would then slide it back. Then the center puppet would slide the ball to the puppet
on the left... who would promptly abscond with it.
The two puppets from the ends would then be taken down from the stage and set before
the toddler. Each was placed next to a pile of treats, and the toddler was asked to take a treat
away from one of the puppets. Like most infants who were tested in this situation, this particular
youngster took the treat from the pile of the kleptomaniac.
But apparently feeling a general dissatisfaction with the suitability of the punishment to the crime,
this particular toddler then leaned over and proceeded to pop the thief in the head for good measure.
We all know the concept of justice.
Countless examples may be given, but I really feel they are unnecessary.
We all should be aware that justice is a genuine problem in this world we inhabit.
Intuitive Knowledge makes us aware of this.
In fact, a parents response to their child's plaintive cry of '
But that's not fair!'
is often very telling. We should know the response by heart.
"
Life's not fair. Deal with it."
But this is no real solution. It's just a grim acknowledgement that we will
spend a life doomed to the bleak outcome of frequent injustices perpetrated
upon us by the human beings with whom we share this planet, and circumstances
beyond our ability to control.
Those who hold no religious belief in God have a genuine problem with justice.
There is none. And if they are honest with themselves, they will acknowledge this.
Renowned atheist Richard Dawkins, famous for spitting vitriolic invective against
religion of all flavors, can be credited with the following quote:
"In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice.
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
But we know there are such objective forces as good and evil at work in the world.
If there were not, people would not raise the 'Problem of Evil' against Christians as a wrench-in-the-cogs so frequently.
So atheism cannot be turned to for an answer in this problem of injustice; it merely denies
that there is a problem in the first place and moves along with little time spent brushing
the 'lint' of human dignity off of its proverbial cuff.
So then, where do we turn for an answer?
Well, if you believe in God, there's still hope.
And if you don't believe in God, there's still time to start.
God promises a final justice beyond the scope of this limited physical existence
we wrestle with presently.
(Jud 1:14) And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
(Jud 1:15) To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
(Job 8:3) Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
The God of Christianity loves justice and embodies the principles of it
(regardless of the slew of embittered slights trivial or otherwise brought against Him recently).
If any of my last entry regarding the immutable nature of God is to be believed,
the paradigm of justice is God Himself!
He continuously exhorts in Scripture to care for the widow and the
orphan, the weak and the defenseless.
And we will give an account before His throne.
Of this we can be absolutely assured on the Christian worldview.
Justice will be served. If not in this life by fallible human beings, then in the time to come when
every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And in spite of the somewhat fearful prospect of giving an account before an infinitely just God,
this is a matter of some comfort, particularly to those who have given themselves over to the Creator.
The Problem of Guilt
We can acknowledge it or deny it, but the emotional response of guilt is assuredly genuine,
and presents a very real problem in the world today.
One only has to look inside themselves to realize that one experiences feelings of guilt,
oftentimes without even being consciously aware of it.
Guilt can cause various and sundry psychological disorders such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
it can cause lasting anxiety and extreme stress, and even consumes some individuals entire lives as their purpose for living, in essence, becomes an endless struggle to alleviate their inner burden.
But since guilt has a direct connection to the element of the human conscience, many people
feel quite uncomfortable even discussing it. The conscience itself is a highly debated topic.
The bottom line is, we are all guilty over something.
It may be a false sense of guilt over something perceived that is not actual, or it may be
a true sense of guilt and shame over things which we know with certitude that we have or
have not done and to which we ascribe a high degree of importance.
Why is this significant? Because guilt is not an impersonal emotional response.
Some of the guilt which we feel may be directed to specific individuals in our lives.
But some of the guilt which we feel has no personal anchor in the physical world.
And so to whom then do we feel this guilt or sense of overwhelming shame?
I suggest, of course, given my viewpoint that we feel guilt and shame because we have
an innate perception of having violated moral laws given by a moral Lawgiver: God.
And once again, atheism falls short of the mark in coming up with a viable solution
to this ever-present human problem. Atheism's response to guilt is to claim its nonexistence.
This seems a facile and insubstantial solution to a problem which seems to grow more
prevalent every day in society, nevertheless it is no more facile than believing that
human consciousness itself does not exist, or that all of our actions or lack thereof
since the beginning of our embryonic states have been predetermined by the laws of physics,
or that emotions and sounds and colors do not exist and are merely chemical interpretations
of our brains. But those are topics for another time.
I have an answer to the problem of guilt, and it comes straight from the pages of Scripture.
Jesus Christ has already promised you a pardon to absolve you of all of your guilt and shame.
And all that this unconditional pardon requires of you is your admission.
Confess and you are guaranteed an acquittal. What could be more simple?
It may not be possible to truly expunge every last vestige of guilt and shame from our psyches
in this life, but I can guarantee that if you pursue a relationship with the Author of the universe,
you will find that day by day your load lightens more and more as Jesus continues to work
the beautiful symphony of regeneration in your life.
Many of those who have yet to believe find the concept of daily subservience to the Lord
a disaster tantamount to leaping from the top of the highest nearby building.
But that couldn't be any further from the truth. The more we come to rely on the Lord
and the more we submit to the unction of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the more
we come to agree wholeheartedly with the words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew:
(Mat 11:29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
(Mat 11:30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Problem of Apprehension
Most of us are aware of it from a very young age. We just bury the knowledge deep in our minds
because there is no solution. The very real sensation that there is something terribly wrong with
the world. This could even be said to be a combination of the preceding two problems, plus a plethora
of other things which you just subconsciously know aren't right but can't quite put your finger on.
At least until that exceedingly rare moment of perspicacity that comes unexpectedly like
a glimmer of light in a dark room. There one moment; gone the next.
And I'm here to tell you that according to Scripture, you're absolutely right in your assessment
of reality. The apostle Paul writes of a yearning for a better existence with such poignance that it is almost tangible.
(2Co 5:1) For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
(2Co 5:2) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
(2Co 5:3) If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
(2Co 5:4) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
And the author of the Ecclesiastes certainly knew of the ironies of the world.
He wrote a great deal about them.
(Ecc 1:2) Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
(Ecc 2:11) Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
I could go on, but the entire book is one count after another of this sort of vaguely depressing writing, almost containing a certain aspect of nihilism to it.
Were it not for the redemptive quality of one thing. The Lord who makes living worthwhile.
Because Christianity acknowledges that in spite of the fact that we live in a corrupted world since the fall of Adam and Eve, we have hope and expectation for an incorruptible eternity.
And this is the exclusive nature of the Christian offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.
To make this abundantly clear in closing, I would like to paraphrase the comments offered by conservative thinker Dinesh D'Souza during his final remarks in debate with Dan Barker.
"If we are merely evolved primates in the world, our job in life is to survive and reproduce and benefit ourselves. Why should we be good for goodness sake?
There is no goodness built into evolution.
We are selfish creatures in the world. If we are good, it must be a part of our nature...
...I think the case for Christianity depends upon the following fact:
Things are not as they ought to be...
...I think we would all agree that we live on two levels.
We'll call one the human level; the way things currently are.
And we can all envision a better world. Perfect justice, perfect beauty, perfect truth.
Let's call that the divine level. That's the way things ought to be.
So there's a huge chasm between the way things are and the way things ought to be.
How do we bridge this chasm?
The atheist says "That's a wrong diagnosis, we're doing great now!"
But this is just a foolish refusal to acknowledge the depravity and the difficulty that even Darwin admits is built into human nature.
We are selfish, grasping, tribal beings in the world.
All you have to do is set people loose and remove laws.
Just let the cops take one week off and see what happens...
...That's the way we are. That's the human level...
...Most religions in the world say that we can climb up to the divine level by
following a set of codes and commandments. That's Judaism; that's Islam...
Follow these rules, and man can step-by-step move up to God.
Christianity is unique and radical in saying, in effect: "No; this gap is too big.
We cannot climb high enough to get to God's level.
We can go up a couple of rungs, but ultimately it's not going to be enough to make a difference."
Jesus saw that.
And Jesus came to give Himself as the sacrifice for our sin because the only
way to close the gap is to reverse it. God's level somehow has to come down to our level.
Jesus was the emissary; God's ambassador to the world."
And because of Him, we can live satisfied and fulfilled lives now, in spite of the problems
of justice, guilt, and apprehension that our intuitive awareness of reality informs us of.
Just like the song goes:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
Because of Jesus Christ, we don't have to be lost in the world around us with the
same despair and hopelessness shared by everyone else.
We can stand on this promise of a renewal beyond the veil of suffering.
(Rev 21:3) And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
(Rev 21:4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(Rev 21:5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
(Rev 21:6) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
(Rev 21:7) He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
This isn't some sappy fairy-tale ending.
This is the promise of the Almighty Living God to those that would partake
of the free gift of salvation and come to Him.
If you've been longing for something better out of life, maybe it's time to accept His offer.
