Knowledge of God

I've been reading a book by Arthur Danto entitled Mysticism and Morality in it Danto reveals an important concept:

"Merely preaching a different morality, however, is unlikely to alter a practice. But changes of heart may come through changes in mind."1

No Danto is not a Christian, but the dynamics between factual knowledge and how it leads to moral formulation he makes is quite an intriguing connection, especially as it pertains to faith. He makes this observation:

"Knowledge cannot tell us what we ought to do or what we theoretically ought to believe. It only tells us that when certain factual beliefs have proven false we cannot consistently and sincerely act upon and believe in them."2

This is indeed a statement that I agree with. In fact it is a truth that is not really thought out in our relativistic culture today. This anarchic thought unfortunately pervades the church as well and we are completely ignorant to its persuasive invasion. The result is just the opposite: we do hold to opposing viewpoints without ever seeing the contradiction and clash in our thinking.

Danto equates religious conversion to that of living through an illusion: We merely view the world differently - it has not changed one bit; the only thing that has changed is our modification of the understanding that we have of it. But what is implied is that as our knowledge of the world continues to change our "illusionary" beliefs are "discarded and we begin afresh."

For he admits that since the so-called religious or theological foundation of Western morality has virtually eroded away - and yet the moral foundation still remains intact, perhaps means that our morality on which these foundations were based was misapplied.3

Danto does not look with much foresight however. Francis Schaeffer tackles this in many, if not all, of his books when he points out that yes, our theological foundations of Western culture have perhaps been eroded away, but the structure will eventually also fall but it will not necessarily be immediate. Furthermore, just because the theological principles that established the moral foundation falls does not presuppose that they were misapplied or do not belong exclusively to a Christian moral code. They do but, Schaeffer argues, as the Christian consensus that established the moral foundation fails, it will be inevitable that the moral foundation will succumb as well. He has said that the very things that established our freedoms will be the things that will be the hammer blows to bind us. So as the Christian consensus fails the forms and freedoms established by the theological principles, as fact, will turn into an instrument of bondage as we demolish the principles by which our freedoms hang to. For the moral foundation depend on Christian theological principles in operation. For Christian morality is tied to the fact that God is love and God is just. Remove God and the underpinnings grind to a halt. If the same form is used that was established because of a Christian consensus now being removed, then the form will not operate rightly but serve as a means to bind us and control us man to man. Liberty will give way to tyranny and this is what we now see so clearly before our eyes.

Nothing is instantaneous. Bondage comes slowly. Death arrives eventually but we are never really ready for it. It says that when sin sprang to life we died. Christians are sometimes called the walking dead as it refers to the sin nature that lies within. Christ killed the old man and so we died to sin. Behold we live to Christ who has set us free. But the world is also referred to as walking dead because they are blinded to the fact that they are dead - dead in spirit unable to respond to God favorably. They are dead and do not know it for they refuse to believe in the one who can set them free. And we who are free are truly free for sin is no longer our master!


-Joe


1 Danto, Arthur; Mysticism and Morality: Oriental Thought and Moral Philosophy; Basic Books Inc; 1968, p. 14.
2 Ibid, p. 16.
3 Ibid, p. 21.