An honest person is invariably a humble person, since honesty compels the soul to confess the truth that it is profoundly ignorant, incapable of understanding even the simplest matters of life, and entirely powerless to heal itself… People may argue over words, concepts, and abstractions, inflating their opinions above even the Reality they purport to define, but the humble soul acknowledges that he doesn’t really know much about anything… And if “all the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly,” then how is it that people get puffed up and proud regarding their supposed knowledge of life itself? It is far better to approach life in deep reverence, wonder, love, and childlike trust than to profess your dogma based on pride and illusions…
To a visitor who described himself as a seeker after Truth the sage said, “If what you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all else.” “I know,” said the man, “an overwhelming passion for it.” “No,” the sage replied, “rather an unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong.”
Ours is an age marked by suspicion, arrogance and severely impaired thinking. Gone are the days of respectful dialog and the use of intelligence and logic. The self-styled deconstructionists of today are emotionally disabled solipsists who are so self-absorbed that they cannot tolerate any dissent from their own narrative and perspective. They are lost to themselves because they lack self-transcendence. In general the so-called “intellectuals” today have nothing to offer other than nihilist despair, anger, and puerile threats of violence.
Sadly the postmodern derangement syndrome has affected even established disciplines such as medicine and science, where opinion has been politicized for the sake of economic interests…. Be careful of those who think they have all the answers; beware of those who think they know better than others what is best for them! As C.S. Lewis forewarned: “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive….Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals” (God in the Dock).
It has been wisely said that “education is the process of turning cocksure ignorance into thoughtful uncertainty.” Intellectual humility means admitting to the reality that we all have biases and blind spots and therefore we may be mistaken. Such humility is an intellectual mark of grace, since it is willing to allow others their own perspectives while we work through our own convictions and truth claims. The difference between a real scientist and a fraud is that the real scientist will question his or her conclusions and be tentative in declaring the implications of his research, whereas the fraudulent scientist will demand that his or her ideas be accepted without question.
“Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance, it was done by dogma, it was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.” Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known; we always feel forward for what is to be hoped. Every judgment in science stands on the edge of error and is personal. Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible. In the end, the words were said by Oliver Cromwell: “I beseech you in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken.” (Jacob Bronowski)
We all walk by faith, but faith (by definition) implies that we do not have all the answers in front of our eyes. “We see through a glass darkly,” and that means we should respect the deep complexity that is bound up in all things, and furthermore that we should acknowledge that we are still learning, still growing, still seeking the truth for our lives. Those who refuse to concede their own fundamental ignorance regarding most things in life are fooling themselves. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; Prov. 3:34).
Let me add that regarding matters of faith we cherish the truth of revelation and regard it of utmost concern, but this means knowing from a place of real humility, for what do we truly know of the unseen world and of the heavenly power? You may perfect doctrine and exist untruthfully, whereas you might not have perfect doctrine, but exist truthfully. The devil knows how to quote Scripture, and often does so, but is a devil still. We must follow the path of peace, even if that requires that we “overlook” some of our doctrinal convictions for the sake of love. I don’t mean we should throw away our principles, God forbid, but we rather hold them with an inward passion that is at the same time willing to be overlooked, to suffer, to be misunderstood, and even to be mistreated by others. The key here is not to indulge in self-pity or resentment, which does no good. And above all we ask God for divine wisdom. God is faithful and true; if we ask Him for bread, he won’t give us a stone (Luke 11:11).
