The Balance of Knowledge

Many attributes throughout Scripture can be taken too far or not taken far enough. Some of the qualities that Christians are called to strive for can challenge a person’s balance of humility and pride. This battle is found in multiple aspects of the Christian life, but none may be so prominent as the apprehension of knowledge.

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One:  The Wisdom of Learning

As Solomon was penning his immense work of proverbial statements and thoughts to his sons, he provided an introduction. Within this introduction, he exhorts his sons that “A wise man will hear, and will increase in learning; a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.” The first portion of this verse is where attention must be given. Solomon states that someone who is choosing to walk in wisdom will increase in learning. 

However, this is not a passive increase; it is intentional. Notice, “will hear.” This sounds an alarm to Jesus’s words famous remarks about having “ears to hear.” This specific phrase is used eight times in the gospels and is always used to describe someone who not only hears words enter their ears but has an attitude of heeding what they have heard. There is intentionality.

Beyond Solomon’s instructions, the New Testament flagbearer charges his young disciple in the faith to “study to show yourself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Notice the standard—study for approval from God. Every once in a while, in the text of Scripture, we come across a command and an expectation that presents an endless task. This is one of them. When God does this, I have come to understand that it is subtle instruction to continue this task throughout all your life. Learning, study, and diligence are never to cease for the true disciple of Jesus Christ. Paul knew this and was desperately heralding this charge and responsibility to his mentee and son in the faith.

{Proverbs 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15}

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Two:  The Warning of Learning

Paul, a man who was academically superior to most of his equals gave an intense warning in his first epistle to the carnal Corinthian church. He warned them that “knowledge puffs up.” This may seem to be a strange warning given the emphasis on learning elsewhere in Scripture. However, this cautious instruction is not misplaced. The following discussion will be an overview of three Christian leaders’ views on the state of an overeducated church culture:

J. I. Packer – “For the fact that we have to face is this: If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject power will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of ourselves 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 to us 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)” (1973, 21). Here, Packer gives attention to the theoretical dangers of pursuing knowledge about God rather than pursuing God Himself.

Paul David Tripp discusses this concept in a very practical way in his book Dangerous Calling. He recounts his own experience in seminary, “I had spent hours each day for months studying perhaps the most extensive and gorgeous exposition of the gospel that has ever been written, and I had been fundamentally untouched by its message” (2015, 41). He goes on to discuss his concerns as he eventually ended up on the other side of the educational scene as an instructor. He comments, “Over the years I had heard way too much ‘Will we need to know this for the exam?’ and not enough ‘Help me understand how to live in light of what you are now teaching us’” (2015, 47) and “His study of the Word brings him again and again to his desk, but it seldom brings him to his knees” (2015, 55). It is observations like these from a man who has been paramount in influencing the practical theological scene over the last few decades that should raise concern to the student who studies for the sake of studying.

“His study of the Word brings him again and again to his desk, but it seldom brings him to his knees.”

Millard Erickson, the author of a premier textbook entitled Christian Theology, notices this risk in education as well. He addresses the modern-day context of Christian education and state, “Theology is now being done in a period characterized by, among other things, a ‘knowledge explosion.’ The amount of information is growing so rapidly that mastery of a large area of thought is becoming increasingly difficult. While this is especially true in technological areas, biblical and theological knowledge is also much broader than it once was. The result has been a much greater degree of specialization than previously required. In biblical studies, for example, New Testament scholars tend to specialize in the Gospels or in the Pauline writings. Church historians tend to specialize in one period, such as the Reformation. Consequently, research and publication are often in narrower are often in narrower areas and in greater depth” (2013, 48-49). Pardon the lengthy quote, but notice the trend—Packer, Tripp, and Erickson (all highly educated men) recognize that there is danger in knowledge. 

{1 Corinthians 8:1b}

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As with many things in the Christian life, balance is essential. We don’t want to fall into the trap of a pendulum theology or pattern in our Christian life. As we grow in our maturity as Christians, we must learn to balance the task of diligent study with the danger of self-exaltation. We can get to the point that we think our knowledge itself is enough to be self-sufficient and lead ourselves away from dependence on God. Knowledge and learning are necessary for spiritual growth, but so are humility and lowliness. We cannot let the natural tendencies of our hearts steer us toward self-sufficiency but self-denial.

Until we write again…..

                                    In, for, and because of Christ,

                                                               Hunter V.S. See

Tripp, P. D. (2015). Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry. Crossway. 

Packer, J. I. (2021). Knowing God. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Erickson, Millard J. (2013). Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group.