Saint John Chrysostom, the present and the problem of knowledge

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleSfântul Ioan Gură de Aur, prezentul şi problema cunoaşterii
3. Language term Romanian
4. lemma author Stavinschi, Alexandra
5. lemma category Various approaches to the problem of correlation between science and theology - Concepts of knowledge and modes of reasoning > Philosophy of science/epistemology
6. Publication date 03-06-2007
7. lemma work Mihalache, Sorin [Author]. Sfântul Ioan Gură de Aur, prezentul şi problema cunoaşterii [St. John Chrysostom, the present and the problem of knowledge]
8. lemma manifestations Ziarul Lumina
9. Keywords apophatisim - John Chrysostom - scientific knowledge
10. Url Click Here
11. Lemma body

    1. In his writing "On the incomprehensibility of God", St. John Chrysostom addresses the problem of knowing God. Today, many centuries later, it became clear that despite the most recent groundbreaking scientific conquests, the problem of knowing both God and the created world is far from being easier than it was at the time of St. John Chrysostom. St. John Chrysostom was convinced that humans cannot know the divine nature. In order to support this claim, he points out that we cannot even fully apprehend the things that we can access directly, let alone those who surpass our understanding. If we are unable to know even the natural objects and phenomena that are available to our senses, how much more difficult will it be to approach the divine nature? "The world should be satisfied with the knowledge given to us humans, says St. John Chrysostom, are dust and ashes (Gen. 18, 27), flesh and blood (Matt. 16, 17), herb and flower field (Isa. 40: 6), shadow (I Chron ., 29, 15), smoke (Ps. 101: 4) and vanity (Ps. 38: 5), unless there is something weaker and more worthless than these things that they are likened to". This is true even for the elected few. Patriarch Abraham, who spoke with God Himself says: "And I am dust and ashes." However, notes St. John Chrysostom, the freedom that he had to talk to God did not arouse his pride, on the contrary, having that freedom helped him to keep the measure. This inability of man to know God seems more than natural, given the radical ontological distinction between them. St. John Chrysostom mentions that, according to Job, the clay and the potter are made of the same substance. In contrast, there is an incomparably bigger difference between this substance and God. St. John Chrysostom came then to wonder, using the words of St. Paul: "Who then stood against God's will? The whole structure of St. John Chrysostom’s argumentation refers to three types of borderline experiences. The created world, with its phenomena, objects and creatures, is a reality that cannot be fully known. Secondly, man is an apophatic being who cannot be captured by exhaustive definitions. His mystery is infinite and cannot be fully apprehended. Finally, and in the deepest sense, God is beyond all knowledge, being apophatic par excellence. Although all these three entities are apophatic, there is a significant difference between them. To start with, the ideal of abstract knowledge is illusory. The fact that the created world is not accessible in its last support is dramatically confirmed by contemporary scientific data. Secondly, reality cannot be fully described. However, physical reality on the one hand and the underlying scientific theory on the other, are not the same thing. Theory and reality do not overlap. In general, logic knowledge is fundamentally limited, and so are the judgments that are built through it. There is no logical way to reach valid first principles, neither based on intuition nor based on induction. There is no such thing as a logic that increases its own content (ie a logic of induction). Knowledge is relative and incomplete. St. John Chrysostom also invokes the words of St. Paul, according to whom we humans only "know in part". 95% still remains unknown. Data provided by contemporary astrophysics and cosmology confirmed 1,600 years later St. John Chrysostom’s claims; according to cosmology and astrophysics, contemporary scientific data refer to no more than 5% of the Universe, while the rest is represented by forms of dark matter and energy, completely unknown, and beyond direct investigation. The origin of the universe is inaccessible to scientific research. In general, the knowledge of the universe has limits that cannot be overcome in any way. A limit that has been recently determined is the so-called Planck time, below which no scientific theory can predict anything. Compared to the limited knowledge with respect to our world, the knowledge of the divine nature is infinitely inaccessible. It becomes increasingly clear that the phenomena and objects of this world, that we can reach with our senses, cannot be fully known. Therefore, our communion with Him who made the world and all these mysteries requires dedication and effort on our part, in order to ascend to the spiritual meanings embedded in it.