Real Christian Philosophy: A Brief Summary of Christian Epistemology

By jaminhubner

Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. It asks how we can know things, what it means to know things, and what knowledge is. A few features of a Christian epistemology (which is the only true epistemology) includes:

1. God is our foundation and starting point for not only our knowledge, but all knowledge. While most philosophies put man at the center, God says “apply your mind to my knowledge” (Proverbs 22:17-21). Indeed, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).

2. All human persons have knowledge of God (Rom. 1:18-22).

a. This knowledge is more basic than any other kind of knowledge because it is intrinsic to God’s images; persons know God just by virtue of being made in God’s image and being created to know God and reflect His glory both in structure and function (Calvin’s divinitatis sensum). More than 2+2=4, more than “murder is wrong,” and more than “I exist,” all persons know in their heart of hearts, the Christian God. This is “knowledge” at its base; all other definitions of knowledge (i.e. justified true belief) must first conform to the understanding of knowledge as described and defined in Scripture.

b. This knowledge is immediate, which means it is not gained by way of inference. It’s not as if a person arrives at Christian theism or an accurate knowledge of God by reasoning with the revelation of nature or applying syllogistic logic. They already have an accurate knowledge of God within them (“clearly perceived”), but due to sin, it is “suppressed in unrighteousness.”

c. Persons know God not because they are good knowers, but because God is a Good Revealer (“because He has shown it to them.”) God reveals Himself through virtually everything, hence, "they are without excuse." Yet, the human mind is incapable of interpreting natural revelation rightly to build an accurate natural theology (so as to be saved). Special revelation is needed and is central to the proclamation of the gospel and Christian apologetics.

3. Human knowledge is derivative of God’s knowledge. “Our very knowledge of ourselves, says Calvin, involves our knowledge of God as our original, whatever is found in man, as God’s image bearer, with the exception of that which results from sin, has its original in God.”[1] Since God is self-defining, self-knowing, and possesses exhaustive knowledge of everything, “whatever man is to know can only be based upon a reception of what God has originally and ultimately known.”^[2] Hence, only in God’s “light shall we see light” (Ps. 36:9), and Hannah sang, “Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge” (I Samuel 2:2) and Paul asked “What do you have that you have not received?” (I Cor. 4:7).

4. Human knowledge is analogical. “Christians believe in two levels of existence, the level of God’s existence as self-contained and the level of man’s existence as derived from the level of God’s existence. For this reason, Christians must also believe on the two levels of knowledge, the level of God’s knowledge, which is absolutely comprehensive and self-contained, and the level of man’s knowledge, which is not comprehensive but is derivative and reinterpretive.”[3] Thus, “Sinners, until saved by grace, do not reason analogically. They reason univocally.”[4]

5. Although human knowledge is not perfect and exhaustive like God’s knowledge is, it is still true. “We are created in God’s image, and therefore our knowledge cannot be exhaustive; we are created in God’s image, and therefore our knowledge is true.”[5]

6. God is the source of all truth.

a. Truth is Revealed. Truth is not constructed or created by us. God, the one true Creator (Deut. 6:4), is the ultimate source of all truth and knowledge – which is revealed in His Word (Hebrews 4:12). “Jehovah is the one who teaches man knowledge” (Ps. 94:10). So whatever we have, even the knowledge which we have about the world, has been given to us from God. ‘What do you have that you have not received?’ (I. Cor. 4:7)”[6] Language, thus, is a vehicle to convey truth (since Scripture is God’s Word).

b. Truth is Objective and Absolute. Truth transcends cultures; truth judges all cultures equally. Truth is not based on preference alone; God is true (Rom. 3:4). We are entitled to our own opinions, yes, but not to our own truths. Truth is absolute; it is nonnegotiable and invariant (John 14:1-6).

c. Truth is Universal and Eternal. Truth crosses cultural barriers, and is not situational (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 4:12). Truth, because of the nature of its Source, is eternal and unchanging (Is. 40:8; Malachi 3:6).

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[1] Cornelius Van Til. Introduction to Systematic Theology (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2007), 72.

[2] Greg Bahnsen. Always Ready (Nacogdoches, Texas: Covenant Media Press, 1996), p. 19.

[3] Van Til, Introduction to Systematic Theology, 33.

[4] Ibid., 178.

[5] Ibid., 62.

[6] Greg Bahnsen. Always Ready (Covenant Media Press, 1996), 20.