Knowledge and Faith

One of the general education classes I am taking this semester is Introduction to Biblical Literature. By the end of the semester in a week’s time, we will have read through and discussed the entire Bible during the class, which is no small accomplishment. Out of my non-science courses, I have learned by far the most in this class about the subject matter at hand, and through the class I have also improved my understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

For most of today, I have been working on a paper for this class on the topic of Gnosticism. To summarize, the Gnostic heresy was that faith in Jesus’ resurrection would not save, but a “special knowledge” of God and the order of the universe would. As I was reading the article that I was using as my primary reference, it struck me how significant that distinction actually was.

As I may have mentioned before, I have traveled a tumultuous road on the journey to fully realizing my faith and beliefs. One thing I have struggled with to a large degree is knowing that the Bible’s testimony about Jesus was true, but not really being sure whether I had truly placed my faith in him. When reading about Gnosticism, it immediately struck me that I have been headed through my journey, which was to use knowledge to foster my faith, instead of the other way around. This realization has pushed me to try to believe without trying to first know it to be true. I am aware that it will be hard for me to do this as I am a very analytical person, but I will pray that God helps me through it.

– Gavin