Philosophy
Re: Epistemology and Systems of Reasonings, Understandings, and Rationales
(note: bear with me, please; we get there).
It was likely for the majority that the reality of the virgin birth was not apparent until the resurrection of the dead. We don’t know how much of the whole story we know as the gospel was pieced together until after all the events took place, and all the disparate pieces were put together “in an orderly fashion” as Luke states when starting that gospel with his name. The gospels cannot be taken in pieces, with some content viewed as reasonable, logical, acceptable and other parts set aside as an embellishment or some other such construct.
If you have never heard or seen angels, then it is “reasonable” to have skepticism regarding the account of the shepherds. Even if your “theology” includes the “belief” of angels, then there is a further level of skepticism that entails the account of Mattias (the individual shepherd – made-up for this example) who tells his story of the night the skies lit up and they journeyed into Bethlehem. Yes, these things can happen, “they are in the scriptures” which you believe as a believer, but they don’t happen to Matthias, who is the neighbor down the street who is a little strong smelling because of his work in the fields with the sheep and is known to occasionally enjoy his wine a little too much (your opinion). This “reasonableness” is the focus of this piece and how it relates to our philosophy of epistemology, how we know that we know.
In a circle once at a men’s retreat, we had separated into smaller groups of 10 or so and were charged with getting to know each other more personally by telling our story. I knew the individuals casually, “normal” people who worked normal jobs and acted reasonably normal in church, where I primarily knew them. As I sat in the circle and one by one each spoke, I was astounded by the supernatural events that were woven into the details and the practical outcomes of their lives, and we were not drinking wine. I could listen to them and wonder and not doubt as my own experiences allowed the realities of such things to occur; they occurred for me, why not for them, I’m not special.
This returns me to the epistemological question. It is a huge question and has been around for a long time, with a more critical focus in our times beyond a philosophical one as our progress into AI (artificial intelligence) raises questions of where we are going and how will we get there. (Personally, I’ll interject here that I think the problem is already solved, but more about that later.) If you search the subject, try “the theory of knowledge” (ToK), and see where it leads you. It has lead me to several years of picking away at the issue and how to approach it from a practical perspective that is not just driven by a philosophical treatise or the ambition to create the first sentient non-human being if that is possible, and by this I mean is it even possible to be sentient without being human, regardless of what your intelligence is housed in. See what I mean – the Theory of Knowledge – what is knowledge and how does it work. This returns me to the virgin birth and the resurrection from the dead. Not much attention really is given to the supernatural birth compared to the resurrection, but this is a serious mistake. In the resurrection what already existed, the body, for all intents and purposes and accounts of a man, continued to exist. This body was killed and came back as a body, essentially, as it could start fires and cook fish, and yes, it is also stated that it became present in a locked house (not your normal church stuff). How are we to understand these things, how are we to know them, how do they become reasonable and rational? Within the circle of His closest followers, we have the account of Thomas who famously said in essence, “I know you guys, I know Jesus, I know the miracles, I know, I know, I know, but THIS I will not know until I put my hand into the side of this man I recognize; then I will know that all these things connect. The Theory of Knowledge.
Where is the starting place? Though the resurrection puts it all together and is held forth as the reason for our rationale – legitimately, but for our understanding I think it is better to start at the beginning and the nature of the reality that set the Man and the resurrection in motion.
What is that reality? It is the reality of a world that is so constructed that not only are such things possible, but they are allowable and even desirable and it is rational to understand them. However, if we have not had the experience, how can we have the perspective, particularly if we choose not to talk with others who have had different experiences and so perspectives. Somehow we have to make room for what we see and others don’t, and what others see and we don’t. Let’s be honest, what we see, what we have experienced, and consequently what we know (or think we know) are contained in both our conscious and sub-conscious reasoning systems, our rationales. It is reasonable to think in these systems, act in these rationales, they are where we all live. This is not to say that our reasoning and rational is correct, particularly that it has all the facts pertinent to all reality, or even a specific reality that is the focus of the moment; yet they are our experience, our perspective, our reality, and constitute our knowledge and our understanding.
How can we relate to the reality of a virgin conceiving, and in this case conceiving the Person of the Infinite, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God? There is no experience prior and no experience since that enables us to point to such an event and say “Of course, it has happened to Jane. Elizabeth. Carol, and my great-aunt.” So what is the rationale, the reasoning behind its presentation. As I wrote at the beginning, the account was written after the death and resurrection, the miracles, healings, and teachings. The present reality of those events enabled the whole account to be put together into a believable whole for those who personally had the experiences surrounding them.
Today, my perspective, rationale, reasoning come from that same place of personal experience, and of so many others. No, my great-aunt did not conceive by the Spirit and produce my great-cousin who …: but the experience of the reality is sufficient to have the perspective, the rationale, the reasoning to accept the whole and to present the perspective, the rationale, and the reasonings to any who care to share.
The epistemological question will be continued in future posts.
