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Writer's pictureAndy McIlvain

God's Sovereignty & His Limits to Our Knowledge


God the Source of All Knowledge
God the Source of All Knowledge

We humans in our hubris believe we can discover unknown things and manipulate them to our liking.

We forget that when we make ourselves the center of creation we arrogantly try to replace Christ who is at the center.

We are finite and do not have unlimited cognitive powers.

There are many reasons for that but the fact we in our sin trend to rebellion makes it clear why we need to be limited.

Philospher Colin McGinn has astutely pointed out we have “cognitive closure” in regards to certain problems. Just as monkeys and apes will never understand advanced mathematics, our human brains are closed off from some of the world’s mysteries and wonders. McGinn speculates the reason why philosophical conundrums such as the mind/body problem, the so called hard problem of consciousness, is that their reality is simply inaccessible to the human mind.

McGinn concludes that our brains are simply not equipped to solve certain problems, in our world. McGinn is convinced that there is a natural solution to the mind–body problem, but that human brains will never discover it.


Isaiah 55:8-10

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:


Knowledge that is revealed through our human ingeniuty and intelligence is gifted to us by God and what we discover and do not discover is also held within God's sovereignity & Providential control.


The Allegory of Platos Cave Illustrates our Condition

"..The Allegory of the Cave is a Socratic dialogue recorded by Greek philosopher Plato. Plato was a student of Socrates, and one of the few people to write down some of his many teachings, which were eventually compiled into their own books. The Republic is one such book, containing The Allegory of the Cave, a dialogue between Socrates and Plato’s brother Glaucon. As presented by Plato, Socrates’s allegory of the cave imagines a group of people chained together inside an underground cave as prisoners. Behind the prisoners there is a fire, and between the prisoners and the fire are moving puppets and real objects on a raised walkway with a low wall. However, the prisoners are unable to see anything behind them, as they have been chained and stuck looking in one direction—at the cave wall—their whole lives..." from the article: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Explained


Science & Intellectual Discovery is a Gift from God

James 1:17

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.


One of our mandates was to subdue the earth and for that God gave us the intellect to do that.


Genesis 1:28

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”


There has been much human knowledge that has been lost since our creation and much of it was not beneficial to humanity. God permits us to have the knowledge we have and discover.


Forbidden Knowledge Corrupts Humanity to this Day!

Have you considered the possibility that much of our current knowledge, knowledge we use to kill and maim each other is evil knowledge not sanctioned by God?

This is the reality!

We can find reference to this evil we have inherited from our sinful ancestors in the "The Book of the Watchers" within the Book of Enoch (found among vthe dead sea scrolls). be advised that The Book of Enoch is not part of the canon of scripture but an extra-biblical resource. The biblical book of Jude quotes from chapter 1 of the Book of Enoch in Jude 1:14–15.


Three Versions of the Watchers’ Sin

"..The Book of the Watchers contains three main threads regarding the sin of the angels that reflect earlier traditions:

1. Forbidden Knowledge 1: Make-up and Weapons

In one account, the angel Asael[6] descends to earth and teaches forbidden knowledge to women concerning female adornment, which facilitates lust. He also teaches men how to create weapons, which enables war.[7]

8:1 And Asael taught men to make swords, and daggers, and shields and breastplates. And he showed them the things after these, and the art of making them: bracelets, and ornaments, and the art of making up the eyes and of beautifying the eyelids, and the most precious and choice stones, and all [kinds of] coloured dyes. And the world was changed. 8:2 And there was great impiety and much fornication, and they went astray, and all their ways became corrupt.

This knowledge causes sin that must be wiped out in the Flood.

2. Forbidden Knowledge 2: Magic and Other Forbidden Knowledge

In another thread woven into the story of the Watchers in Enoch, humans are taught magic and other forbidden knowledge:

And they taught them charms and spells, and showed them the cutting of roots and trees (i.e., medicine) (1 Enoch 7:1b).

This again results in sin and the Flood.

3. Mating and Reproducing with Women

The predominant tradition and main thread in the Book of Watchers, into which the other traditions are interwoven, focuses on the desire of the angels, led by Shemihaza,[8] to mate with human women.

6:1 And it came to pass, when the sons of men had increased, that in those days there were born to them fair and beautiful daughters. 6:2 And the angels, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the children of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.’ 6:3 And Shemihaza, who was their leader, said to them: ‘I fear that you may not wish this deed to be done, and [that] I alone will pay for this great sin.’ 6:4 And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and bind one another with curses not to alter this plan, but to carry out this plan effectively.’ …

7:2 And they (=the human women) became pregnant and bore large giants, and their height [was] three thousand cubits. 7:3 These devoured all the toil of men, until men were unable to sustain them. 7:4 And the giants turned against them in order to devour men. 7:5 And they began to sin against birds, and against animals, and against reptiles and against fish, and they devoured one another’s flesh and drank the blood from it. 7:6 Then the earth complained about the lawless ones.

The result of this union is unnatural, as could be expected: the women bear violent giants. The giants’ violence and voracious hunger cause humans tremendous distress, as well as setting off a “domino effect” of violence among all creatures of the world. The final result of all this illicit angelic intervention is the Flood, either to rid the world of contamination or to end the humans’ sin.." from the article: The Benei Elohim, the Watchers, and the Origins of Evil


How 99% of Ancient Literature was Lost

Video from toldinstone

"During the Middle Ages, all but a tiny fraction of Greek and Roman literature disappeared. Here's why." from video introduction


Knowledge that has been destroyed or allowed to be destroyed can be understood to be knowledge we do not need.


And much of that knowledge of our world is in maps, many of which no longer exist.


Lost Maps of the Ancient World

"1. The Mysteries Surrounding Ancient Sailor Maps 2. The Enigmatic Waldseemuller Map of Ancient America 3. The Oldest 3rd Map Ever Discovered in Europe 4. Antarctica: Ancient Maps, Texts, Giants, Atlantis 5. A 14,000 Year-Old Map of The Cave Of Mythological Bird-Footed Nymphs 6. Mystery of a 5,500-Year-Old Babel Text from China 7. Ptolemy’s Map Decoded after 1,500 years 8. 1,000 Year-old Medieval Map Reveals the Location of Noah’s Ark" from the video introduction



What is the Mystery of God Referred to in the Bible?

The Bible tells us that the mystery of God is Jesus Christ: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2–3).


A “mystery” in the New Testament is something that had at one time been hidden but is now revealed to God’s people. Jesus spoke of “the mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11, NAS) that He was at that point revealing to His disciples. The apostle Paul used the word mystery 21 times in his Epistles. In each case, the “mystery” involved a wonderful declaration of spiritual truth, revealed by God through divine inspiration. A mystery is that “which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 3:5).


The mystery of God’s will is that “which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:9–10; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:7; Revelation 10:7). The mystery of God is the consummation of God’s plan in bringing His kingdom in Christ to fulfillment. The kingdom had long been prophesied, but the how and the when and the by whom was not clear until the time of Christ. It is in Christ that God has been manifested to all of mankind. As Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).


Paul said that he had been commissioned to preach “the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people” (Colossians 1:25–26). That is, it is through the apostles that we have been given the capstone of Scripture; their writings, all of which point to Christ—represent the final disclosure of God’s Word to mankind.


There is no understanding of God apart from a personal relationship with His Son (Matthew 12:50; John14:23; 2 John 1:6). Christ is the “mystery” revealed to those who believe—as is the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The key to having the “full riches of complete understanding” (Colossians 2:2) is to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).


Paul tells us that, “beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great.” Then he records what may be an early hymn of the church: “He [Jesus] appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). In that short paragraph, the Bible reveals the heart of the gospel, the mystery of “true godliness.” The secret of being godly was hidden but is now revealed. It is to those who believe in Christ that the mystery is made known (1 Corinthians 2:7–14; Colossians 1:27). We come to learn that we of our own volition cannot please God; we must depend on Christ (2 Corinthians 3:5). As a man, Jesus lived a perfect life (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:21), and so He is a perfect example of how to live. As God, Jesus gives us the power to do what is right. It is possible to live a godly life—through the power of Christ (Philippians 4:13).


God has revealed His complete Word to His saints (Colossians 1:26) who have “heard and learned” the gospel (John 6:45; cf. Romans 10:17 and John 3:16–18), and it is they alone who fathom “the glorious riches of this mystery” (Colossians 1:27). In its fullest sense, the “mystery of God” is God’s plan of salvation through Jesus. We would never have been able to comprehend the way to eternal life without the coming of Jesus, His death and resurrection." from the article: What is the mystery of God referred to in the Bible?



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