Berean Studies / Ber03 - Knowledge
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Single Click a triangle below to see the references CT Russell selected for the associated question. The study questions (with the references) are also included as an attached Adobe PDF file at the bottom of this page. 1. What is the importance of knowledge? 2. In what four ways may knowledge be obtained? A121:3 But the question recurs in another form: Could not man have been made acquainted with evil in some other way than by experience? There are four ways of knowing things, namely, by intuition, by observation, by experience, and by information received through sources accepted as positively truthful. An intuitive knowledge would be a direct apprehension, without the process of reasoning, or the necessity for proof. Such knowledge belongs only to the divine Jehovah, the eternal fountain of all wisdom and truth, who, of necessity and in the very nature of things, is superior to all his creatures. Therefore, man's knowledge of good and evil could not be intuitive. Man's knowledge might have come by observation, but in that event there must needs have been some exhibition of evil and its results for man to observe. This would imply the permission of evil somewhere, among some beings, and why not as well among men, and upon the earth, as among others elsewhere? 3. In which of these ways did Adam possess a knowledge of evil before he sinned? A122:2 Adam already had a knowledge of evil by information, but that was insufficient to restrain him from trying the experiment. Adam and Eve knew God as their Creator, and hence as the one who had the right to control and direct them; and God had said of the forbidden tree, "In the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." They had, therefore, a theoretical knowledge of evil, though they had never observed or experienced its effects. Consequently, they did not appreciate their Creator's loving authority and his beneficent law, nor the dangers from which he thereby proposed to protect them. They therefore yielded to the temptation which God wisely permitted, the ultimate utility of which his wisdom had traced. 4. Where is the source of all true knowledge? 5. How is knowledge ‘God’s first gift to man’? 6. What is the relation between knowledge and faith? 7. Who only are counted ‘worthy’ to know ‘the deep things of God’? 8. Is knowledge necessary to salvation ? 9. What is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God ? 10. Does knowledge increase responsibility? 11. What is our duty toward building up each other in knowledge? 12. How do we know we are accepted as probationary members of the body of Christ? 13. What is our present inheritance through obedience to our knowledge of God’s will? 14. What effect does the knowledge of the truth have upon superstitious fears? 15. How do we ‘ grow in knowledge’? 16. What is the significance of ‘the helmet of salvation,’ and is it more important now than in the past? 17. Can we give too much attention to acquiring knowledge? F319:1 Our fourth proposition: Growth in knowledge is very liable to detract from devotion--strange as it may appear that it should be so. We find our capacities so small, and our time for religious things so limited, that if attention be energetically directed in one channel it is apt to lead to dwarfing in other directions. The Christian is not to be all head and no heart, nor all heart and no head. The "spirit of a sound mind" directs us to cultivate all the fruits and graces which go to round out and complete a perfect character. The tendency of our day in all matters is in the opposite direction --to specialize. One workman does this part, another workman that part; so that now very few workmen understand a trade in full as in former times. The New Creature must resist this tendency, and must "make straight paths for his feet" accordingly; lest while cultivating one element of grace he falls into danger through the lack of the proper exercise of another God-given faculty or privilege. R2488 c1 p6 It is a great privilege for Christians to study the Lord's Word, yet a great deal of study is done to no purpose. Study which is not put into practice in daily life is worse than a waste of time. It is not he that merely knoweth the Master's will, but he who patiently and perseveringly seeks to do the Master's will, that shall be approved and win the crown. Every reasonable opportunity should be used by the Lord's people to obtain a knowledge of the divine plan--even to the extent of sacrificing; but the child of the Lord will be particular to see that it is his own conveniences and comforts that he is sacrificing, and not chiefly the conveniences and comforts of others. The Bible study which is done merely at the expense of others is a sign of selfishness rather than a sign of a rich indwelling of the Lord's spirit of love. 18. What is the relation between knowledge and love ? 19. What is the difference between the knowledge which precedes justifying faith, and the knowledge... 20. How are ‘grace and peace multiplied’ unto us through knowledge? 21. What is the relation between knowledge and prayer ? 22. Do all kinds of knowledge profit us? 23. How can we explain the Apostle’s statement, ‘Ye know all things,’ and ‘need not that any man teach you’? 24. Explain Isa 53:11. 25. Should we expect to have any knowledge of the future? 26. What evidences have we that Da 12:4 is being fulfilled? 27. When will ‘the knowledge of the Lord fill the earth as the waters cover the sea,’ and... 28. What will be the relation between knowledge and faith in the Millennial Age ?