Divine Knowledge--Or the Lack Thereof

This is a brief excerpt from our book that is almost completed.  It relates to my past post on Yahweh, and how this anthropomorphized god is further illustrated to be quite ignorant.  

Epistemology is the study of knowledge, and epistemologically speaking, knowledge is gained by asking the following questions: What is it? How do we find knowledge? How do we know?

To find knowledge, humans use reason, critical thinking, and experience, which is perceived through what JS Mill posited as a "Permanent Possibility of Sensations."* How we gain this knowledge can vary, but the best way of finding knowledge pragmatically speaking, is through the Hypothethico-Deductive method. The H-D method of inquiry begins by formulating a hypothesis which could possibly be falsified by testing, which is both verifiable and reproducible. This is one of the most reliable methods of gaining knowledge; that is, of course, in the context of finite mortality.

But what is Divine Knowledge--the omniscience of God? It becomes paradoxical when the god of the Bible is assumed to be perfect in his knowledge, and at the same time, exhibits a lack of knowledge. In Genesis 18 for example, Yahweh illustrates his lack of knowledge when the Bible stated he needed to go to Sodom in order to confirm what he had heard was going on there:

"...I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me."Genesis 18:21

Yahweh's lack of knowledge also causes him to question others. Also in Genesis 18, Yahweh questions Abraham about whether or not Sarah had laughed when she was told by Yahweh that she would bear a child in her old age. The added question, and the silence of Abraham to Yahweh's question, led to the subsequent lie Sarah told Yahweh about her not laughing. This illustrates that Yahweh does not know everything, and the "father and mother of all nations" (Abraham and Sarah) also cannot be trusted, as they were cowardly liars. Furthermore, there was no point in the "Lord" asking for advice from his companions in the following passages:

"When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Genesis 18:16-19

In fact, these passages illustrates a god who is not omniscient at all as he obviously was not fully aware of what was happening in Sodom. Many Christians like to claim that Yahweh asks questions as a method of helping us to learn certain things, but there is nothing we can learn from Yahweh asking his companions whether or not he should hide his plans from Abraham. What it does do however, is cause us mere mortals to question how Yahweh can have "perfect knowledge" when he himself questions others, and admits he does not know everything.

Some theologians assert that his "companions" in this case were the other members of the Holy Trinity, and he was consulting with them, (himself?) but this would be impossible, as the Jews who wrote this text do not believe in Jesus as God, and never have. Therefore, this conclusion would be illogical and inconsistent with the Jewish texts.

It should also be noted that Yahweh chose Abraham because his "knowledge" told him that Abraham and his children would keep the "way of the Lord" (Gen. 18:19), i.e., the "laws of Yahweh." This is clearly has not been the case however, as Yahweh's laws have been virtually wiped out by the believers in Yahweh and his son Jesus, which would mean that either Yahweh did not know Abraham's descendents would reject his laws, or Yahweh lied.

Furthermore, if it were the case that Yahweh knew his laws would not stand up to scrutiny, why did he give them to his followers in the first place, knowing he would eventually send himself/his son to die a horrible death in order to revoke them? Where is the "Divine Knowledge" of Yahweh, when his knowledge (laws) have been cast aside by Christians? This is quite a conundrum.

Without knowledge there can be no wisdom, and without understanding, there is nothing at all. Yahweh is, to his own followers, "beyond their understanding" (Job 36:26) and therefore, he is, according to this belief, unable to even pass his knowledge to them. Instead, we have men who speak in his name. Men, who use Yahweh as a catalyst to manifest their own agendas to the demise of actual knowledge--not to its gain.

*Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind, Volume 1,James Mill, John Stuart Mill, Alexander Bain, p. 446

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Cathy Cooper