“The knowledge of Good and Evil, no matter how systematically or thoroughly consumed, will by no means make us gods. Rather, modern ethics, modern psychotherapy, and modern political ideologies all tend to produce not superhumans but pitiable slaves to the rationalizations generated by our distorted human desires. In order to gain control over the world, we have been too willing to renounce essential aspects of our own freedom.”
Todd, there’s a significant amount of information scattered across innumerable sources as i’m sure you are aware. I’ve found the attached link to be a useful and logically arranged analysis. My opinion is that all of these belief systems- a.k.a. "religions’ have as their fundamental basis the concept of works, which is a kind of god. If you do thus and so you can gain insight, approbation and heavenly rewards. Many- again my opinion- are elite in nature, i.e. for the initiated. The concept of the ‘elect’ in Calvanism comes to mind here. I don’t consider Biblical Christianity to be a religion, as religions have at their core man seeking after God, unfortunately usually finding him in their own image. Biblical Christianity is God reaching down to man in the person of Jesus to form a permanent, individual spiritual relationship (salvation). As Jesus told Nicodemus "You must be born again" (by the spirit of God). Works are useless in achieving salvation; otherwise all wealthy people would easily get to heaven. But with true repenting of sin, confession to God, and a request for mercy God instantly responds to the sinner who then becomes a ‘new man in Christ.’ This is an eternal transaction. Salvation once attained is never lost.
The disadvantage of knowledge is that it can, and will be, weaponised whereas insight, arising from the higher forms of consciousness and the self-discipline of morality, is far more difficult to exploit and abuse.
Considering our bloody, experimental and sometimes exploitative past and our present gold rush to the horrors of transhumanism, I wonder if we would have done better keeping to the limitations of our medieval ancestors and their monastic tradition of healing with simple food, herbs, bedrest and prayers.
That's what I am thinking as well. I believe science used to be driven by a sense of wonder, awe and intense curiosity...of course scientist of yesteryear were all men and women of God.
Have you run across James Le Fanu in your reading? He confirms what you are saying here. I wrote some time back about the things I learned from him and from Leon Kass, about more "old fashioned" scientists. Here is a section from my blog post:
'LeFanu is a physician and author whose book *The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine* won the Los Angeles Prize Book Award in 2001 [there is now a second edition out]. He was speaking in the interview about his recent book *Why Us?: How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves*.
'Le Fanu is also concerned about the reductionist and unsatisfying science that purports to tell us all there is to know. Before the notion of science appeared in the early 19th century the idea of the metaphysical was part of the common sense of mankind. Galileo and Newton and Kepler had an instinctive recognition that whatever science couldn’t explain, there was “something beyond.” Their study of Natural Philosophy was encompassed in the larger whole of the love of wisdom.
'Nowadays, says Le Fanu, science is boring, and “to be a career scientist is to be in a very small hole,” as they are so specialized in their work, and in their education there is nothing like the older biology textbooks that were “full of awe and wonder and astonishment.” Le Fanu said that in the scientific journals he reads and in his talks with scientists, he has not noticed that any individual scientists are fully appreciating the mystery and glory of the human being.'
My dad used to say that knowledge is the accumulation of facts, and wisdom is the correct application of that knowledge. He dropped out of school in the 8th grade to work and finished school when he was released from the Army after WW2 ended. Never stopped learning. Read books with a dictionary next to him. NEVER thought he knew it all. We need more of that kind of humility
I don't think the problem is in the knowledge, in the discoveries and inventions. The problem resides in what we chose to do with that knowledge. The tree in the garden of Eden was forbidden because God understood that man would be tempted to decide for himself what was good and what was evil, and the consequences would be dire for us.
Motivated by our fallen nature, pride and the hunger for power would result in division and violence on God's most favored creation, the human beings made in his own image. Free will should be understood by us all as not the freedom to do as we wish with claims of happiness, but as the freedom to choose correctly, sacrificially and in love for each other, always following God's standards rather than our own selfish ones. This is how to judge everyone and everything around us, what is the intention and the motivation?
Sometimes too much knowledge isn't the problem. It's having just enough knowledge to think we know things we don't. Another thing, most people have an unfortunate discomfort with uncertainty, and fall for con artists who pretend to have answers. Lack of knowledge, and pretending or actually thinking one has knowledge when he doesn't have a clue, can be as bad as seeking too much. Different topic maybe but seems related.
Wisdom is much more important than knowledge. We've elevated knowledgeable "experts" above the wise devout. And are dearly paying for it.
You are sharing wisdom in your post. It is wise to heed God's designs for us using the tools God has provided us including learning with our brains...and our hearts. Knowing that our souls are eternally at his mercy. Wisdom is applying all three at the same time.
Sometimes there really is a Pandora's Box and I think The Medical profession has blown the lid off.
The profit is in the problem instead of the prevention so they lie about the cure or prevention in order to boost the profit.
I had an argument with my wife in 76 because I wouldn't take the swine flu shot. She did and got sick and my liberal female cousin did and ended up in the ER then the ICU.
This time around my wife and I both said hell no to any jab. My brother in law said we were stupid and took his jab cause everything he learns is on MSM TV.
Now the poor guy has Prostate Cancer. My other brother in law took the jab against my advice and now has a continuous chronic cough.
The jab is another Pandora's Box the human haters invented for lookie loozers to peek in and die.
My free medicantical advice is don't open the hood and tinker with the engine unless there is a problem. God didn't build junk!
Today it is phenomenally easy to criticize medicine...almost on every front it has become something that it was not intended to be. But the core of medicine, or more accurately the people who practice it, is to heal. Jesus was one of the first "healers" . . . he practiced spiritual medicine and his intention was to heal the physical body, as well as nurture the soul, through his ministry.
There are many doctors out there who still believe in healing, I think we have one amongst us here on ShrewViews...maybe a few.
Appreciate your comment, Todd. As you say, the fundamental goal of medicine is to heal; hopefully there are still some physicians who haven't forgotten that. The criticisms, which even come from some of us, are towards the way that the current practice of modern medicine has become.
Agree with everything you said. But the problem in medicine is certainly very complicated. As you say, unfortunately it is driven by profit. Sometimes, people tend to oversimplify by saying that the focus is on cure and not on prevention; but this is only partially true. A lot of what is inappropiately done in modern medicine is done under the supposed purpose of prevention. The problem is that the concept of prevention has been corrupted. Prevention is my area of expertise. In the past, it meant identifying risk factors (usually unhealthy conducts) and doing prevention by promoting healthy conducts. Today, they do a RCT and find out that an expensive synthetic drug may reduce the risk of having a cardiac event from 2% in five years to 1%. Since the drug was "50% effective" they will set a "guideline" (and you are a bad doctor if you do not follow the guideline) to use the drug on almost anyone to "prevent a cardiac event". Then, almost every person is a candidate to use a dozen drugs, even if they are not sick. This is just one thing that has gone terribly wrong with modern medicine.
A daily walk is very effective in prevention of a lot of health problems. When I had big dogs I used to walk about 3-4 miles a day over rough terrain but with our little dogs we have to watch for varmints and stay on the road so it is about
1 1/2 miles a day.
I observed some odd things walking my cow trails. The rats used to place cactus across the path for our dogs to quit walking there. Just something else to learn about nature. There was a water hole about 30feet from an oak tree with a former magpie nest inhabited by a Red Tail Hawk. She hatched 3 babies that peeked over the nest and watched our dogs play in the water. When they could fly they flew above us on our walk knowing the dogs would spook out small rats and rabbits for them to hunt. They weren't a bit afraid of us. Instead learning to become hunting companions. Animals learn quickly but most people don't notice . MThose dogs and the hawks have all passed on.
An interesting post today. Thank you. And possibly more relevant than we might think. What you have noted reminds me of the major heresy of the first two centuries of Christianity: Gnosticism. The Greek word 'gnostic/ gnosis' effectively means "one who knows". This heresy maintains that man can save himself through knowledge of the human divine spark (what ever that really means), and that God is not required for salvation. To paraphrase the OT, possibly what we are seeing today are people who literally have no God, but simply do that which feels 'right' to them to seek their own godliness. Much depends on motive. (To seek knowledge of the physical world to enable goodness is a noble thing.) Another verse comes to mind from II Tim: "Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of THE truth." (Jesus said "I am the way, the life, and THE truth. No man comes to the father but by me.") All of this, of course, goes back to Genesis where we have Satan telling Eve that by disobeying God she will become "a god". He's saying the same thing to folks today. God, however, is of a different opinion: "Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else." Some things never change....
Could you send me to some Gnostic text that claims "man can save himself through knowledge of the human divine spark (whatever that really means), and that God is not required for salvation"...I have studied Gnosticism and it seem that I have missed that!! I would love to revisit it...
Todd, I wonder if you might enjoy reading The Unseen Realm by Michael S Heiser. I’m currently reading it after reading the shorter version titled “SuperNatural” :) A friend and I were just discussing how the gods, the angels who rebelled, were all about Knowledge, The Mind, Intelligence (being like God, knowing everything), but then God comes along and established His covenant with humans and what are His rules? Love people. Don’t kill each other. They were earthy, grounded pursuits, not these “high and mighty” things. Which made me think of the Greeks, worshipping Athena or Artemis in their temples - and philosophy was such an important part of that culture. Is there a connection there between trying to be gods and pursuing intelligence and knowledge as opposed to finding wonder in God and remaining earthy?
I love Fabre! We started reading The Story Book of Science in our homeschool last year, and it’s just delightful. I bought two more books that I could find in print (Insects and one other one). I love that you mentioned him :)
Yes, I do believe there is a connection with trying to be gods and pursuing intelligence and knowledge (i.e. Lewis' That Hideous Strength). I think that is what The Garden of Eden was all about, and what this article is touching on.
I love learning stuff, and I think, for me, it would be a sad world if I was discouraged from seeking knowledge. But like I said elsewhere here, if you look at indigenous people and see where they draw the line with their pursuit of knowledge, and they do indeed draw a line out of respect for the creator, you will see that there is an awful lot to learn without "going too far."
Look at my example of Fabre...I think he got it. That is so cool you know his work!!! I have not heard of "The Story Book of Science"...
You mentioning indigenous people reminded me of a piece I shared last year, Teaching an Old Fox New Tricks. In it I break down my preconceptions I had about Russell Means and explore a speech he made in 1980 that became a Mother Jones cover story. It's a very long, illuminating speech I include the link to, presenting some excerpts that speak to the differences in the western mind from the minds of the 'nature peoples.' Humbling. He was wiser than most all of us. Which is probably why I was made to believe the caricature of him I had before I read his own words.
I invite readers to read his own words without my framing, meet him as I first really met him. Long read, but worth it, imho:
Interesting. Thank you. I have read some about gnosticism (not that I am any "expert"). I was not aware that "salvation without God" was a concept within gnosticism.
I had never heard of Jean Henri Fabre, so thank you for that. Entomology must be a declining profession these days since there are so few insects. Possibly due to chemtrails and geoengineering, or maybe just because some people hate God and His creation.
Very few entomologies study insects for the sake of studying fascinating life forms and their behaviour. Entomologists get jobs working for companies developing insecticides and more efficient ways to KILL insects. Very sad. The rape of the natural world.
You make an important point, Todd, and I agree. I will not make any comments about God or Theology or the Garden of Eden. I will say something about your comments on medicine. Although I fundamentally agree with you, I believe that what is fundamentally wrong with today's medicine is not really that "we know too much". The problem is what has become to be the "accepted" way of applying what we know, and some of the accepted premises that guide the current practice of medicine. Someone decided that it is "good" to check your cholesterol levels every year, and if they are higher than some ridiculous level, then you need to take statins for the rest of your life, because it is "good" to have your LDL level below some number, even if the statins give you muscle pains and bust your liver. There are countless examples like that... I could go on talking about the "health industry", pharma... but you get the idea.
Yes, I would not argue with your comments here. There are such glaring issues before you get to this esoteric, ideologic, idea of "knowing too much"...think of what aboriginal people have sought to learn, and their insistence on spirit as the method to deal with the things they learn that could hurt them...anything beyond that is "too much"..🤣
Thank you so much for all of this...very well presented.
As someone else has stated here, it isn't what we know, but what we do with it. And in my opinion if we pursue knowledge without spirit/soul as part of the equation we are bound to do wrong with it. If soul is forefront in our discovery of the natural world we will know, out of regard and respect for that world where we should stop in our invasion. There are things best left unknown and not penetrated. I keep using the example of indigenous cultures...they know a lot, but they don't venture so far that they become disrespectful and arrogant. You say "...which shouldn't stop us from learning, if only to live harmoniously with our environment." Which is essentially what I am saying.
God can be known in so many ways there is no point in going down that rabbit hole.
“The knowledge of Good and Evil, no matter how systematically or thoroughly consumed, will by no means make us gods. Rather, modern ethics, modern psychotherapy, and modern political ideologies all tend to produce not superhumans but pitiable slaves to the rationalizations generated by our distorted human desires. In order to gain control over the world, we have been too willing to renounce essential aspects of our own freedom.”
― Timothy G. Patitsas, The Ethics of Beauty
Todd, there’s a significant amount of information scattered across innumerable sources as i’m sure you are aware. I’ve found the attached link to be a useful and logically arranged analysis. My opinion is that all of these belief systems- a.k.a. "religions’ have as their fundamental basis the concept of works, which is a kind of god. If you do thus and so you can gain insight, approbation and heavenly rewards. Many- again my opinion- are elite in nature, i.e. for the initiated. The concept of the ‘elect’ in Calvanism comes to mind here. I don’t consider Biblical Christianity to be a religion, as religions have at their core man seeking after God, unfortunately usually finding him in their own image. Biblical Christianity is God reaching down to man in the person of Jesus to form a permanent, individual spiritual relationship (salvation). As Jesus told Nicodemus "You must be born again" (by the spirit of God). Works are useless in achieving salvation; otherwise all wealthy people would easily get to heaven. But with true repenting of sin, confession to God, and a request for mercy God instantly responds to the sinner who then becomes a ‘new man in Christ.’ This is an eternal transaction. Salvation once attained is never lost.
https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/G/gnosticism.html
The disadvantage of knowledge is that it can, and will be, weaponised whereas insight, arising from the higher forms of consciousness and the self-discipline of morality, is far more difficult to exploit and abuse.
Considering our bloody, experimental and sometimes exploitative past and our present gold rush to the horrors of transhumanism, I wonder if we would have done better keeping to the limitations of our medieval ancestors and their monastic tradition of healing with simple food, herbs, bedrest and prayers.
That's what I am thinking as well. I believe science used to be driven by a sense of wonder, awe and intense curiosity...of course scientist of yesteryear were all men and women of God.
Have you run across James Le Fanu in your reading? He confirms what you are saying here. I wrote some time back about the things I learned from him and from Leon Kass, about more "old fashioned" scientists. Here is a section from my blog post:
'LeFanu is a physician and author whose book *The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine* won the Los Angeles Prize Book Award in 2001 [there is now a second edition out]. He was speaking in the interview about his recent book *Why Us?: How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves*.
'Le Fanu is also concerned about the reductionist and unsatisfying science that purports to tell us all there is to know. Before the notion of science appeared in the early 19th century the idea of the metaphysical was part of the common sense of mankind. Galileo and Newton and Kepler had an instinctive recognition that whatever science couldn’t explain, there was “something beyond.” Their study of Natural Philosophy was encompassed in the larger whole of the love of wisdom.
'Nowadays, says Le Fanu, science is boring, and “to be a career scientist is to be in a very small hole,” as they are so specialized in their work, and in their education there is nothing like the older biology textbooks that were “full of awe and wonder and astonishment.” Le Fanu said that in the scientific journals he reads and in his talks with scientists, he has not noticed that any individual scientists are fully appreciating the mystery and glory of the human being.'
Exactly. Our present day is increasingly looking like a Greek tragedy!
Wishing you a good weekend.
Same to you Zarayna...
My dad used to say that knowledge is the accumulation of facts, and wisdom is the correct application of that knowledge. He dropped out of school in the 8th grade to work and finished school when he was released from the Army after WW2 ended. Never stopped learning. Read books with a dictionary next to him. NEVER thought he knew it all. We need more of that kind of humility
Very cool guy! Where has that sort of natural wisdom among people gone?
I don't think the problem is in the knowledge, in the discoveries and inventions. The problem resides in what we chose to do with that knowledge. The tree in the garden of Eden was forbidden because God understood that man would be tempted to decide for himself what was good and what was evil, and the consequences would be dire for us.
Motivated by our fallen nature, pride and the hunger for power would result in division and violence on God's most favored creation, the human beings made in his own image. Free will should be understood by us all as not the freedom to do as we wish with claims of happiness, but as the freedom to choose correctly, sacrificially and in love for each other, always following God's standards rather than our own selfish ones. This is how to judge everyone and everything around us, what is the intention and the motivation?
Very, very, very well put. Thank you.
Sometimes too much knowledge isn't the problem. It's having just enough knowledge to think we know things we don't. Another thing, most people have an unfortunate discomfort with uncertainty, and fall for con artists who pretend to have answers. Lack of knowledge, and pretending or actually thinking one has knowledge when he doesn't have a clue, can be as bad as seeking too much. Different topic maybe but seems related.
oh yes...it is related...thank you for adding this to the mix!!
Wisdom is much more important than knowledge. We've elevated knowledgeable "experts" above the wise devout. And are dearly paying for it.
You are sharing wisdom in your post. It is wise to heed God's designs for us using the tools God has provided us including learning with our brains...and our hearts. Knowing that our souls are eternally at his mercy. Wisdom is applying all three at the same time.
Very good point that I missed in the article...that wisdom is more important than knowledge. Thank you.
Knowledge is important, wisdom is informed by knowledge. But it can never be a substitute for wisdom.
Sometimes there really is a Pandora's Box and I think The Medical profession has blown the lid off.
The profit is in the problem instead of the prevention so they lie about the cure or prevention in order to boost the profit.
I had an argument with my wife in 76 because I wouldn't take the swine flu shot. She did and got sick and my liberal female cousin did and ended up in the ER then the ICU.
This time around my wife and I both said hell no to any jab. My brother in law said we were stupid and took his jab cause everything he learns is on MSM TV.
Now the poor guy has Prostate Cancer. My other brother in law took the jab against my advice and now has a continuous chronic cough.
The jab is another Pandora's Box the human haters invented for lookie loozers to peek in and die.
My free medicantical advice is don't open the hood and tinker with the engine unless there is a problem. God didn't build junk!
Today it is phenomenally easy to criticize medicine...almost on every front it has become something that it was not intended to be. But the core of medicine, or more accurately the people who practice it, is to heal. Jesus was one of the first "healers" . . . he practiced spiritual medicine and his intention was to heal the physical body, as well as nurture the soul, through his ministry.
There are many doctors out there who still believe in healing, I think we have one amongst us here on ShrewViews...maybe a few.
Appreciate your comment, Todd. As you say, the fundamental goal of medicine is to heal; hopefully there are still some physicians who haven't forgotten that. The criticisms, which even come from some of us, are towards the way that the current practice of modern medicine has become.
Agree with everything you said. But the problem in medicine is certainly very complicated. As you say, unfortunately it is driven by profit. Sometimes, people tend to oversimplify by saying that the focus is on cure and not on prevention; but this is only partially true. A lot of what is inappropiately done in modern medicine is done under the supposed purpose of prevention. The problem is that the concept of prevention has been corrupted. Prevention is my area of expertise. In the past, it meant identifying risk factors (usually unhealthy conducts) and doing prevention by promoting healthy conducts. Today, they do a RCT and find out that an expensive synthetic drug may reduce the risk of having a cardiac event from 2% in five years to 1%. Since the drug was "50% effective" they will set a "guideline" (and you are a bad doctor if you do not follow the guideline) to use the drug on almost anyone to "prevent a cardiac event". Then, almost every person is a candidate to use a dozen drugs, even if they are not sick. This is just one thing that has gone terribly wrong with modern medicine.
A daily walk is very effective in prevention of a lot of health problems. When I had big dogs I used to walk about 3-4 miles a day over rough terrain but with our little dogs we have to watch for varmints and stay on the road so it is about
1 1/2 miles a day.
I observed some odd things walking my cow trails. The rats used to place cactus across the path for our dogs to quit walking there. Just something else to learn about nature. There was a water hole about 30feet from an oak tree with a former magpie nest inhabited by a Red Tail Hawk. She hatched 3 babies that peeked over the nest and watched our dogs play in the water. When they could fly they flew above us on our walk knowing the dogs would spook out small rats and rabbits for them to hunt. They weren't a bit afraid of us. Instead learning to become hunting companions. Animals learn quickly but most people don't notice . MThose dogs and the hawks have all passed on.
Wow...you should write a book...I love this!
Thanks, I have seen animals do some pretty amazing things in my 76 years.
An interesting post today. Thank you. And possibly more relevant than we might think. What you have noted reminds me of the major heresy of the first two centuries of Christianity: Gnosticism. The Greek word 'gnostic/ gnosis' effectively means "one who knows". This heresy maintains that man can save himself through knowledge of the human divine spark (what ever that really means), and that God is not required for salvation. To paraphrase the OT, possibly what we are seeing today are people who literally have no God, but simply do that which feels 'right' to them to seek their own godliness. Much depends on motive. (To seek knowledge of the physical world to enable goodness is a noble thing.) Another verse comes to mind from II Tim: "Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of THE truth." (Jesus said "I am the way, the life, and THE truth. No man comes to the father but by me.") All of this, of course, goes back to Genesis where we have Satan telling Eve that by disobeying God she will become "a god". He's saying the same thing to folks today. God, however, is of a different opinion: "Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else." Some things never change....
Could you send me to some Gnostic text that claims "man can save himself through knowledge of the human divine spark (whatever that really means), and that God is not required for salvation"...I have studied Gnosticism and it seem that I have missed that!! I would love to revisit it...
Todd, I wonder if you might enjoy reading The Unseen Realm by Michael S Heiser. I’m currently reading it after reading the shorter version titled “SuperNatural” :) A friend and I were just discussing how the gods, the angels who rebelled, were all about Knowledge, The Mind, Intelligence (being like God, knowing everything), but then God comes along and established His covenant with humans and what are His rules? Love people. Don’t kill each other. They were earthy, grounded pursuits, not these “high and mighty” things. Which made me think of the Greeks, worshipping Athena or Artemis in their temples - and philosophy was such an important part of that culture. Is there a connection there between trying to be gods and pursuing intelligence and knowledge as opposed to finding wonder in God and remaining earthy?
I love Fabre! We started reading The Story Book of Science in our homeschool last year, and it’s just delightful. I bought two more books that I could find in print (Insects and one other one). I love that you mentioned him :)
Yes, I do believe there is a connection with trying to be gods and pursuing intelligence and knowledge (i.e. Lewis' That Hideous Strength). I think that is what The Garden of Eden was all about, and what this article is touching on.
I love learning stuff, and I think, for me, it would be a sad world if I was discouraged from seeking knowledge. But like I said elsewhere here, if you look at indigenous people and see where they draw the line with their pursuit of knowledge, and they do indeed draw a line out of respect for the creator, you will see that there is an awful lot to learn without "going too far."
Look at my example of Fabre...I think he got it. That is so cool you know his work!!! I have not heard of "The Story Book of Science"...
You mentioning indigenous people reminded me of a piece I shared last year, Teaching an Old Fox New Tricks. In it I break down my preconceptions I had about Russell Means and explore a speech he made in 1980 that became a Mother Jones cover story. It's a very long, illuminating speech I include the link to, presenting some excerpts that speak to the differences in the western mind from the minds of the 'nature peoples.' Humbling. He was wiser than most all of us. Which is probably why I was made to believe the caricature of him I had before I read his own words.
I invite readers to read his own words without my framing, meet him as I first really met him. Long read, but worth it, imho:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/russell-means-mother-jones-interview-1980/
If you simply don't have the time I present some excerpts I found most prescient, with additional context and ideas I've connected to his words:
https://freedomfox.substack.com/p/teaching-an-old-fox-new-tricks
If time is what you have a lot of then read his piece first and then I invite you to compare your independently arrived at takeaway with mine.
Interesting. Thank you. I have read some about gnosticism (not that I am any "expert"). I was not aware that "salvation without God" was a concept within gnosticism.
I had not heard that about Gnosticism either, and I went through a period of intense study of Gnosticism!! Would love to know the source!
Fascinating! Thank you.
Thank you!
I had never heard of Jean Henri Fabre, so thank you for that. Entomology must be a declining profession these days since there are so few insects. Possibly due to chemtrails and geoengineering, or maybe just because some people hate God and His creation.
I wrote an article about this...https://www.shrewviews.com/p/where-have-all-the-insects-gone-long
Very few entomologies study insects for the sake of studying fascinating life forms and their behaviour. Entomologists get jobs working for companies developing insecticides and more efficient ways to KILL insects. Very sad. The rape of the natural world.
You make an important point, Todd, and I agree. I will not make any comments about God or Theology or the Garden of Eden. I will say something about your comments on medicine. Although I fundamentally agree with you, I believe that what is fundamentally wrong with today's medicine is not really that "we know too much". The problem is what has become to be the "accepted" way of applying what we know, and some of the accepted premises that guide the current practice of medicine. Someone decided that it is "good" to check your cholesterol levels every year, and if they are higher than some ridiculous level, then you need to take statins for the rest of your life, because it is "good" to have your LDL level below some number, even if the statins give you muscle pains and bust your liver. There are countless examples like that... I could go on talking about the "health industry", pharma... but you get the idea.
Yes, I would not argue with your comments here. There are such glaring issues before you get to this esoteric, ideologic, idea of "knowing too much"...think of what aboriginal people have sought to learn, and their insistence on spirit as the method to deal with the things they learn that could hurt them...anything beyond that is "too much"..🤣
Thank you so much for all of this...very well presented.
As someone else has stated here, it isn't what we know, but what we do with it. And in my opinion if we pursue knowledge without spirit/soul as part of the equation we are bound to do wrong with it. If soul is forefront in our discovery of the natural world we will know, out of regard and respect for that world where we should stop in our invasion. There are things best left unknown and not penetrated. I keep using the example of indigenous cultures...they know a lot, but they don't venture so far that they become disrespectful and arrogant. You say "...which shouldn't stop us from learning, if only to live harmoniously with our environment." Which is essentially what I am saying.
God can be known in so many ways there is no point in going down that rabbit hole.