A number of bills in various state legislatures and the United States Congress seek to help increase and facilitate the knowledge of our young students through education funding increases and other teaching improvements. However, these lawmakers, and the general public as well, aren't always aware that the pursuit of knowledge is CONTRARY to Biblical teachings.
The "Holy" Bible cautions AGAINST knowledge throughout. Some typical warnings (emphasis added) include: "For what hath the wise more than the FOOL?..."(Eccl 6:8); and "...If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a FOOL, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God..." (1 Cor 3:18-19 and Job 5:12-13); and "...Knowledge PUFFETH up...And if any man think that he knoweth ANY thing, he knoweth NOTHING yet as he ought to know." (1 Cor 8:1-2); and "Beware lest any man SPOIL you through philosophy...after the tradition of men and the rudiments of the world..." (Col 2:8).
The Bible tells us that increased knowledge just brings grief and anguish, as in, "For in much wisdom is much GRIEF: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." (Eccl 1:17-18); and "...how dieth the wise man? as the FOOL." (Eccl 2:16); and "...thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath PERVERTED thee..." (Isaiah 47:10).
The Bible would have readers believe that FEAR of the Lord was the proper path to knowledge. Passages that attest to this include: "The FEAR of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." (Psalms 111:10 & Job 28:28) and "The FEAR of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." (Proverbs 1:7 & 9:10).
The Biblical god FRUSTRATES the gathering of knowledge in: "I shall destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau." (Obadiah 1:8); and "He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness..." (Job 5:12-13); and "God leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges FOOLS....He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged....He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to WANDER in a wilderness where there is NO way....They grope in the dark without light, and he MAKETH them to stagger like a drunken man." (Job 12:17-25).
Knowledge is hindered in: "...the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be HID." (Isaiah 29:14); and "I will make DRUNK her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake..." (Jeremiah 51:57).
Knowledge is punished in: "For it is written, I will DESTROY the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?...hath not God made FOOLISH the wisdom of this world?... wisdom knew not God....Because the foolishness of God is WISER than men....not many wise men...are called: God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to CONFOUND the wise..." (1 Cor 1:19-27).
The Biblical God also takes pains to limit knowledge in: "For the priest's lips should KEEP knowledge, and others should seek the law at HIS mouth: for he is God's messenger." (Malachi 2:7).
Paul admits to secrets and hidden wisdom in: "But we speak the wisdom of God in a MYSTERY, even the HIDDEN wisdom...Which NONE of the princes of this world knew..." (1 Cor 2:6-8); and "...we speak, NOT in the words which man's wisdom teacheth...the natural man receiveth NOT the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 2:13-16).
Anti-intellectualism reaches new heights when we read that religious "faith" is superior to knowledge or wisdom. Typical Bible passages that promote that view include: "For it is written, I will DESTROY the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent....hath not God made FOOLISH the wisdom of this world? ..." (1 Cor 1:17-23); and "...when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom...your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (1 Cor 2:1-5).
"Faith" is the very antithesis of knowledge, yet the Bible elevates it ABOVE knowledge in: "For I know nothing by myself...the Lord...will bring to light the hidden things of darkness....We are FOOLS for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ..." (1 Cor 4:4-10); and "...in simplicity and godly sincerity, NOT with fleshly wisdom, but by the whim of God..." (2 Cor 1:12); and "Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things NOT seen." (Hebrews 11:1).
Interestingly, although the word "faith" occurs several hundred times in the New Testament, it only occurs twice in the whole Old Testament. The reader might also wonder concerning the efficacy of "faith" over knowledge after reading: "...though a man say he hath faith, and have not works, can faith save him?.... faith without works is DEAD....Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and NOT by faith...so faith without works is DEAD also." (James 2:14-26).
According to the creation accounts in the Book of Genesis, the desire for knowledge proved to be Adam and Eve's downfall. That little tale begins when God tells Adam (Eve had NOT been created yet!), "...of the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil, thou shalt NOT eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17). After eating of the fruit, "...the eyes of them both were opened..." (Genesis 3:7). They did NOT die as God threatened, but they frightened God into realizing, "...Behold, the man is become as one of US, to KNOW good and evil: and now, LEST he put forth his hand, and take ALSO of the tree of life, and EAT, and live for ever..." (Genesis 3:22-23).
Besides restricting knowledge from people, Jehovah also constantly DECEIVES people as in: "O Lord, why hast thou MADE us to ERR from thy ways?" (Isaiah 63:17); and "...Hear ye indeed, but understand NOT; and see ye indeed, but perceive NOT. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; LEST they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9-10); and "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely THOU hast greatly DECEIVED this people and Jerusalem...saying, Ye shall have peace..." (Jeremiah 4:10); and "...wilt God be altogether unto me as a LIAR, and as waters that fail?" (Jeremiah 15:18); and "O Lord, thou hast DECEIVED me, and I was DECEIVED..." (Jeremiah 20:7); and "If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have DECEIVED that prophet..." (Ezekiel 14:9); and "Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were NOT good, and judgments whereby they should NOT live; And I POLLUTED them in their own gifts..." (Ezekiel 20:25-26).
The deceptive biblical God continues to confound and frustrate the search for knowledge in the New Testament also. Examples include: "...Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast HID these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." (Matt 11:25-26 and Luke 10:21); and "...unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and NOT perceive; and hearing they may hear, and NOT understand..." (Mark 4:11-12); and "...Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were HOLDEN that they should NOT know him." (Luke 24:15-16, and the similar John 20:14 and 21:4); and "He hath BLINDED their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should NOT see with their eyes, NOR understand with their heart..." (John 12:40, Matt 13:14-15, and Acts 28:25-27); and "For this cause God shall send them strong DELUSION, that they should believe a LIE..." (2 Thess 2:11-12).
Should ANY "Bible Believing" American citizen or lawmaker even think about countermanding the mandate and decrees found throughout the "Holy" Bible on this issue? Or should they, instead, take a common sense and rational stance on the otherwise grave risks associated with NOT facilitating and increasing our youths' knowledge and wisdom?
This article is Copyright © 1997 by Gene Kasmar, the author of ALL the Obscenities in the Bible. So long as profit is not the motive, and this copyright notice is always included, this material may be reproduced and distributed widely in electronic and printout form. Permission to publish this in print, microform, or CD-ROM should be sought from the author, who can be reached by e-mail at kerry@mtn.org.