"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
Listen to an Article: Malcolm Guite on Poetic Imagination and Biblical Prophecy
A Realist Christian Response to the Horror of Trauma (Scott Harrower)
Why Scripture Doesn't Talk about Law, Religion, or Belief (Joshua Berman)
Scripture on Policing in America
A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament (Dr. Jaco Gericke)
Introducing Dr. Jeremiah Unterman (CHT Fellow)
Is the NT Just Stoic Philosophy? [Corrected]
Group Therapy for Anxiety in the Old Testament
Economic Thought in the Bible
Is God Perfect? Does that Matter? Peter Leithart Workshop, Part 2
Is God Perfect? Does that Matter? Peter Leithart Workshop, Part 1
Is God Perfect? Does that Matter? Peter Leithart Lecture
The Hebraic Roots of Modern Equality
Moral Progress in the Bible?
Hebraic Thought in Christmas, Part 2: Humble Moms and Shepherds
Nerdy Episode: Baby Yoda, Christmas, & Hebrew Narrative
Hebraic Thought in Christmas, Part 1: Endangered Babies
The Idea of Christian Calling
Hebrew Ethics: Radical in the Ancient Near East, Yet So Familiar to Us
Genesis as Rationality in the Ancient Near East
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