"Knowing is an activity that all of us are involved in, all of the time," writes Dr. Esther Meek in her book Longing to Know, which turns 20 this year. "Usually knowing happens without our taking great thought to the process. But sometimes we stop and think about what we're doing. When we stop and think, what we were doing without much thought becomes murky indeed."
Think of learning to ride a bike. After a period of assisted practice, something clicks. A person who initially couldn't balance on a bike can suddenly ride off on their own. The external process of learning to ride a bike—guidance from a parent or a friend, training wheels, brief intervals of unassisted pedaling—are all easily identifiable. But the personal transformation—from not knowing how to ride a bike to knowing how—is more mysterious.
Building on the thought of Michael Polanyi, Dr. Meek challenges conceptions of knowing that have reigned since the Enlightenment, which don't reflect the way the biblical authors appear to portray how we acquire knowledge. It turns out that, for instance, doing what YHWH commands "so that you may know" looks a lot like learning to ride a bike.
Esther Lightcap Meek (BA Cedarville College; MA Western Kentucky University; PhD Temple University) is Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Geneva College, in Western Pennsylvania. She is also Senior Scholar with The Seattle School for Theology and Psychology, a Fujimura Institute Scholar, an Associate Fellow with the Kirby Laing Center for Public Theology, and a member of the Polanyi Society.
Show notes:
Show notes by Celina Durgin
Crying for Justice: Why We Should Pray the ‘Angry‘ Psalms (Trevor Laurence)
Reading the Bible While Black: The Crucial Perspective of the Black Church (Esau McCaulley)
Understanding Supersessionism and the Controversy over a TBM Article (Ari Lamm)
Prosperity, Responsibility, and Economics in the Torah (Michael Eisenberg)
How the Marginalized Church Reads the Bible, Part 1: Vince Bantu
Two Upcoming Series, Feat. Esau McCaulley, Rachael Denhollander, Others
Making Leaders Who Can Make Disciples (The Pillar Seminary)
Why Jesus‘ Judaism Matters (Jen Rosner)
Reading Evangelicals: Doctrine, Culture, and Popular Christian Fiction (Daniel Silliman)
Overcoming Common ‘Mistruths‘ We‘ve Heard in Church (Brent Strawn)
Narrative of Place: Why Historical and Geographical Context Matters (Cyndi Parker)
God Wears a Robe? Reading the Psalms as Poetry (Chip Hardy and Matt Mullins)
Proverbs 31 Isn't a Future-Wife Checklist (Dominick Hernandez)
Biblical Artist Series: Seeing Differently through Art (Steve Prince)
If Christians Read Scripture Like Jews Do, Continued (Ari Lamm)
Ancient Jewish Pilgrims and Sacrificial BBQ (Jeffrey Garcia)
Yes, You Can Learn Biblical Hebrew—and Why You Should! (Aleph with Beth)
Christians Shouldn't Be Stuck in the Present (David Moore)
Can You Understand Scripture without Background Knowledge?
The 'New Christian Zionism' Isn't Dispensationalist (Gerry McDermott)
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