Why We Can Know Things and Why That Matters
By John Stonestreet & Timothy D . Padgett
We live in a confused and confusing age . Things once considered obviously true are now rejected . Things once considered unthinkable are now thought to be unquestionable . How should a Christian think ?
In the state of Oregon , high school graduates will now no longer have to demonstrate proficiency in reading , writing , or arithmetic . 1 The logic behind the suspension of the state standards , according to the governor , has to do with equity . Somehow , she missed that “ helping ” racial minorities by not giving them even the most basic tools for life is a different kind of bigotry altogether , one which Andrew Sullivan has called a bigotry of no expectations .
Then there ’ s the story of Michaela Kennedy Cuomo announcing to the world that she ’ s moved beyond identifying as a homosexual and bisexual , and even beyond pansexual , to now demi-sexual , meaning that she ’ s only attracted to those with whom she shares an emotional bond . 2 The need to publicize each and every stop on a journey of identity tourism is an odd feature of our day . The idea that every feeling , attraction , or preference is in and of itself an identity is a tragic feature of our day .
And in case anyone thinks we ’ ve reached the bottom of this slippery slope , a TikTok video has now resurfaced from last fall in which a young woman passionately explains what may be next . 3 Instead of identifying as “ he ” or “ she ,” many now claim the words “ kitty- ,” “ pup- ,” or “ bunny-self ” as pronouns . All this means that we may soon see chosen identities that transcend species , not just gender .
As my friend Dr . Kathy Koch said at a recent event , “ Our first response in all of this should be tears , not anger .” It ’ s true , of course , that many people are the victims of self-inflicted bad ideas . But it ’ s also true that we live in a cultural moment in which even medical schools deny the basics of biology . 4 How sad for young people to feel so distant from their own bodies that they ’ d rather be called rabbits than humans .
But to be clear , our crisis is not merely a moral one ; it ’ s a cosmological one and an epistemological one . We ’ ve not just lost the ability to know right from wrong ; we ’ ve lost the ability to know what ’ s real , what ’ s true , and what ’ s false .
In the ancient world , it was much simpler . There were authorities , civic and religious , that would announce what was good and true . You were told these berries are good . The water from that spring will make you sick . Your people came from this place , and therefore you worship these gods . People came to know the world primarily by trusting the accumulated wisdom of those who had lived before .
A major shift emerged a few hundred years ago , first in the West and then elsewhere . People discovered that their ancestors weren ’ t always right . As society began to question the knowledge it had been given , the growing distrust in revealed wisdom grew alongside a greater confidence in what could be learned through reason and science . Reason offered not only a critique of revelation and tradition but a compelling replacement for it . However , along with material comforts , this human-centered approach to knowledge brought along new and oppressive ideologies .
On a societal level , we saw state-sponsored evils unleashed under the banners of “ progress ” for “ the common good .” On a personal level , these coldly clinical beliefs of the Enlightenment made life easier ; but they also left it emptier . Beauty and truth lost their meaning , and the arts and social sciences , in particular , took a hedonistic turn . Truth claims built on human reason alone proved inadequate for human needs and human nature .
With the postmodern shift , in whose waters we now swim , suspicion and doubt are just the only things we can trust . There ’ s now a skepticism , not only of authority but also the objectivity of human reason , and this underlies and permeates our relationships to ourselves , to one another , and to the outside world . This habitual doubt now dominates the search for knowledge .
This leaves truth as subjective , found within , and created by each of us individually . We imagine ourselves to be free thinkers . We ’ re “ free ” from the constraints of governing authorities , “ free ” from the tyranny of tradition , and “ free ” from anyone else ’ s expectations . We ’ re “ free ” to imagine that reality conforms to our imaginations and fantasies , even though it doesn ’ t .
12 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW