hristianity
claims to know of God, and about God, because God Himself reveals this knowledge
to human beings. Earlier in this Overview the function of the Holy Spirit was
discussed and St.Augustine's claim regarding Divine Illumination of the
intellect was seen to be corroborated. All knowledge, including knowledge of
God, comes from the one Divine Source. The Revelation of God is a normal case of
Divine enlightenment of the intellect.
Revelation is of two sorts. The first kind is the gift of understanding as a free act of God, and the second is in the form of answers in response to the questions of individuals. The promptings of God which are seen as the operation of the conscience are simple examples of free acts of God. The free acts of God are, by definition, not predictable and are therefore not a matter for epistemological rules. Knowledge of God and God's Acts can be achieved by the correct operation of the Augustinian problem solving method.
Theologians and other students of religion come to the question of God with some knowledge amounting to an expert religious understanding, and with clearly defined purposes which give rise to questions. These questions are defined according to the problem solving method. The questions, both original and supplementary, are submitted to the Source of Understanding in the form of a series of solution specifications. The resulting answers constitute a flow of understanding of God which appears as an act of revelation. The inquiries of individuals whose intellects are developed to the requisite standard of understanding can lead, therefore, to revelation through method. Methodical revelation is a continuing opportunity for individuals to learn about God.
Revelation is absolutely true since it emanates from the moral God. From the point of view of objective knowledge the claim to truth rests on the proper operation of the problem solving method. Its truth may be checked in the usual ways since answers must satisfy the solution specification. Answers must also account for all known phenomena that bear on the problem as detailed in the problem definition and must advance the purpose of the inquiry.
Theological inquiry begins with questions about the origin and meaning of human life. When pursued through the Augustinian epistemological method answers can be obtained to these questions through the Inner Light.
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The Moral Problem of the Human Situation
Revelation differs from the more usual answers to questions by the fact that it is prompted by the human moral problem for which God has full responsibility. God is a responsible and moral being and God, through the Inner Teacher, is the only possible source of answers. The nature of revelation is that of an explanation. It explains why everybody is in this common situation in the Cosmos. Humanity has not created the situation it finds itself in. Human beings ought to understand what it is that is going on which results in the emergence of sensitive and intelligent individuals into a three dimensional universe, and finding themselves beset with problems. There is too much suffering and unhappiness in the world to see life as an obvious and unqualified benefit. Humanity's main problem is lack of knowledge which carries with it a consequent powerlessness. People are morally entitled to an explanation and it is provided in a complete and clear form.
The moral problem of the human situation in the world is a real problem of experience which may be investigated, defined, and understood. Using the Augustinian method a solution specification may be constructed to requisition the solution in the normal way. The problem may be restated as that of the situation of the sensitive and intelligent individual, rather than that of the race, in the three dimensional universe. The method comes to a solution either way, and those solutions are approximately the same. The general case offers a greater scope for supplementary questioning and is preferred for objective knowledge.
The purpose to understand the human situation in the world leads to the discovery and understanding of God, and God's acts. This is true for any and all individuals and this explains the widespread knowledge of God.
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The Holy Trinity of God
The Christian analysis of God's actions in the world revolves around the three channels through which God acts. The first is Love and the power to help individuals; the second is Knowledge and the teaching function; the third is Life and the capacity for choice and growth. This analysis shows God acting in distinctly different ways. The one God takes three different roles in creation which, because they act at arm's length from each other, are seen as three persons.
The theology of the Holy Trinity explains the relationships of these Persons to the Primitive Infinite God. It describes the world of the Intellect and knowledge in terms of the Holy Spirit. It sees Life and the creation of species and individuals in terms of the Christ. It explains Love and power in the world as the province of God the Father.
The theologian constructs the model of fundamental reality, based on the Holy Trinity, from his understanding of revelation. Fundamental reality provides the framework for created reality as a whole and is the interface between the Infinite God and His creation, explaining God's ongoing relationships to the world.
Diagram FT6.1 shows the relationship of the Persons of God to the Mind of God which manifests the world of experience. The Cosmos and the Creative Source are subsystems of the Mind.
Diagram FT6.2 shows the relationship of the intellect to the Mind of God. The intellect is a project of the Mind and exists within it. All individual thought, including prayer, takes place within the Mind of God and the intellect through thought may communicate instantly with the Persons of the Holy Trinity.
The theory of fundamental reality, based on the Holy Trinity, shows how God's acts are carried through to produce the picture of reality as it appears to systematic knowledge. The rational corpus of knowledge itself can be traced back to God's acts, and from there to God's purposes. The fact that knowledge is a complete and orderly system stems, in part, from the fact that God intends that human beings should understand.
Christianity intervenes in objective knowledge or culture by defining the purposes of God in relation to that culture, and in describing the work of God in physical and intellectual reality. Christianity is a knowledge-based religion which seeks to explain all aspects of human experience. Christian knowledge is therefore progressive towards deeper understanding of the truth where truth is defined as the meaning of reality. It is the argument of Christianity that the knowledge of God's activity in human reality is a necessary foundation for all human knowledge of reality. Without this knowledge there can only be ignorance, conflict, and the denial of all moral law and restraint. With it the whole enterprise of life makes sense and best actions may be determined.
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The Creation of the Cosmos
The Act of Ordination by the Holy Spirit brought the Physical Universe into existence and created the means for giving effect to the purpose of the Infinite Spirit. Created reality constitutes a complex problem of understanding which has to be solved by the normal problem solving process. Christian knowledge is, in part, the understanding of the progress made so far in solving that problem. The current physical state of the Cosmos determines the allowable species, and by the problem solving process the Christ initiates those species as solution specifications and the Holy Spirit realises them as solutions. As the states of the Cosmos succeed each other the problems change and so the range of species is forced to change.
There is a relationship between the different succeeding states of Created Reality, which is that each state is specified by the Christ in furtherance of the Divine Plan, which ensures the progressive development of higher forms of life. Each state of the Creation is therefore a solution to a solution specification formed by the Christ. The Holy Spirit does not initiate any change in the Creation, but executes all changes.
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The Need for Knowledge
The division of the Infinite Power of God into the Will and the Power in the Moral Universe is repeated in the birth of every human infant. Children come into the world understanding nothing, but having a will, are therefore capable of forming purposes. By pursuing the purpose of understanding they gain power. The human being, in a similar way to the Christ, has the facility to obtain new understanding from the Holy Spirit, otherwise called the Inner Light, subject only to the ability to specify the understanding that is wanted. Each individual makes use of that facility, generally without understanding its mechanics. The understanding of how it is done can improve the flow of true and useful understanding. Augustinian knowledge theory provides that understanding.
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Absolute Truth and Knowledge
There is an immediate reality and an ultimate reality. Immediate reality, as created reality, is transient, always changing in response to the acts of the Christ, individuals and groups. As manifestations of the Infinite Spirit reality for individuals is the ultimate reality of God. The ultimate reality is unchangeable. Therefore what is known of the ultimate reality is absolute, and knowledge of immediate reality is relative to human needs and purposes.
Truth is the accurate understanding of reality. Since understanding and meaning are equivalent, truth is the accurate meaning of reality. To know the truth about reality is to know what it means. The meanings of ultimate, fundamental and created realities as given in Augustinian theory amount to the truth. Since these meanings are not subject to change they are absolute and the truth they give is absolute. Truthful understanding is equivalent to knowledge and absolutely truthful understanding is absolute knowledge. The status of absolute truth and knowledge is claimed for the understandings of reality as defined above.
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The Augustinian Theory of Knowledge
Augustinian knowledge theory, including the concepts of Divine Illumination of the intellect and the Revelation of God, is summarised on the Next Page.