Sunday, January 30, 2005

On Knowledge Applied

What is my ultimate aim and object in occupying my mind with [knowledge about God]? What do I intend to do with my knowledge about God, once I have it? For the fact that we have to face is this: If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bount to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject matter will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians because of our interest in it and grasp of it; and we shall look down on those whose theological ideas seem crude and inadequate and dismiss them as very poor specimens. For, as Paul told the conceited Corinthians, "Knowledge puffs up...The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know" (1 Cor 8:1-2).

-quoted from J.I. Packer's Knowing God

No comments:

Post a Comment

Leave your comments here.