Knowing knowledge

 

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We all know things, but it’s hard to define what we mean by knowing. As a campus ministry veteran, I can assure you the question, “How do you know?” is the most frequently asked question by both believing and non-believing students. Epistemology, the study of knowledge, is crucial to an effective ministry and essential for preparing students for college. Now more than ever, students are wondering if they can know anything, let alone if it is possible to know God. And I know what you’re thinking: “How in the world can I, as a parent or youth worker, navigate teenagers through the confusing maze of epistemology?”

 

Thankfully, Esther Lightcap Meek, professor of philosophy at Covenant Theological Seminary, has written a book entitled, Longing to Know: Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (Brazos, 2003, ISBN # 1-58743-060-6). Meek attempts to put complex ideas into simple terms for people like me.

 

The book was written with three kinds of people in mind: 1) “People who wrestle with questions concerning truth and the possibility of knowledge as a result of our culture’s … shift from modernism to postmodernism;” 2) People moving from adolescence to adulthood, who are dealing with questions of what is really real, and good, “questions to which you were presuming someone else’s answers but now are faced with deciding for yourself;” and 3) “People who are considering questions about truth and how we know because they are considering Christianity.”

 

This book may be too challenging for teenagers-often I found myself re-reading large sections so as to grasp the concepts-but parents and youth workers will find it accessible and thought provoking. Meek’s illustrations (How knowing God is like knowing your auto mechanic!) could serve as great conversation starters to get teenagers thinking about what it means to know.

 

-Derek Melleby

 

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For more information on resources to help you understand today’s rapidly changing youth culture, contact the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding.

 

©2004, The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding