Ignorance does not come from Ignore. These words come from the Greek word "Gnosis" which means Knowledge. And so 'Ignosis' or "Ignorance" simply means: 'without knowlege'. When you quoted (John 9:38-40) this is concerning what would be labeled as "willful ignorance" or "culpable ignorance" it is in fact the intentional disregard of knowledge that would otherwise save a person from their ignorance. Christians do this all the time. People do this all the time. It is sinful, and it occurs because people are lazy, don't care, are not interested, believe they already know enough, or are afraid of learning something that would force them to reconsider their currently held opinion/position on a matter.
Hope this helps.
Willfully Ignorant:
In Bible prophecy we are told that people will deliberately reject these:
1/ That God created the world, which at first was covered with water. Genesis 1:1-2
2/ That God once judged this world with a global cataclysmic flood. Genesis 7:1-24
3/ That God is coming back to judge this world again, but next time it will be by fire. Isaiah 66:15-16, 2 Peter 3:7
Notice that the emphasis here is on a deliberate rejection, or a willful ignorance. It is a deliberate action on a person’s part not to believe. Romans 1:19-25
People often ask the question: ‘If there is so much evidence that God created the world and sent a global cataclysmic flood called Noah’s Flood, then surely all scientists would believe this?’ The answer is given in Matthew 11:25
It is simply not a matter of evidence to convince people, because people don’t want to be convinced. There is ample evidence to convince anyone that God is Creator, so much so that we are condemned for not believing. Furthermore,
Romans 1:18 also tells us that people ‘
suppress the truth in unrighteousness’.
It isn’t a matter of there not being enough evidence to convince people that the Bible is true, because they don’t want to believe the Bible anyway. 2 Peter 3:3-4
The reason for this is obvious. If people believed in the God of the Bible, then they would have to submit themselves to His authority and obey the rules He has laid down. However, every human being suffers from the same problem, the sin which Adam committed back there in the Garden of Eden, is a ‘dis-ease’ which we all inherit. Adam’s sin was rebellion against God’s authority. Likewise, people everywhere today are in rebellion against God, so to admit that the Bible is true would be an admission of their own sinful and rebellious nature, and of their need to be born again by cleansing through the blood of Christ.
It is easy to see this willful ignorance in action when watching debates over the creation/evolution issue. In most instances the evolutionists are not interested in the wealth of data, evidence and information the creationists put forward. Often evolutionists attack creationists by attempting to destroy their credibility. They are not interested in facts because they are totally committed to their religious faith called evolution.
And, as Jesus Christ in
Matthew 24:37-39 uses the event of Noah’s Flood as a warning that God has judged and will judge again, they would have to agree that God is going to come back as judge and next time He will use fire.
Sinful man in rebellion against God does not want to admit that he must stand before the God of Creation one day and account for his life. Thus, in rejecting Creation and Noah’s Flood and claiming ‘scientific’ evidence that supposedly supports his own belief, he becomes comfortable in not thinking about coming judgment. But, just as God created the world by His Word and sent the Flood, so God will judge this world, once again ‘
as in the days of Noah’: by sending fire. Matthew 3:12, Luke 12:49
The fossil record stands as an undeniable memorial to the fact that God has judged by water. All of this should warn each man, woman and child that just as God has kept His Word in the past concerning judgment, so He will keep His Word in the future coming judgment, in His Day of fiery wrath., that will severely affect everyone alive. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, Zephaniah 3:8, Revelation 6:12-17, Revelation 14:18-20
I don't know whether you are familiar with him, but the music artist Ron Isley of the group The Isley Brother years ago wrote a song with a lyric that said essentially the same thing. It says,
