They are not to be separated, that is my point. The vast majority of threads on this forum are intellectual, not spiritual. There are a few people who respond by the Spirit, but most argue from the pride of their hearts not realizing that knowledge puffs up.
1 Corinthians 8 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
A practical problem: shall we be guided by superior knowledge or love?
8 1a Now to deal with the matter of meat which has been sacrificed to idols.
1b-3 It is not easy to think that we “know” over problems like this, but we should remember that while knowledge may make a man look big, it is only love that can make him grow to his full stature. For whatever a man may know, he still has a lot to learn, but if he loves God, he is opening his whole life to the Spirit of God.
4-13 In this matter, then, of eating meat which has been offered to idols, knowledge tells us that no idol has any real existence, and that there is no God but one. For though there are so-called gods both in heaven and earth, gods and lords galore in fact, to us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything comes, and for who we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom everything exists, and by whom we ourselves are alive. But this knowledge of ours is not shared by all men. For some, who until now have been used to idols, eat the meat as meat really sacrificed to a god, and their delicate conscience is thereby injured. Now our acceptance of God is not a matter of meat. If we eat it, that does not make us better men, nor are we the worse if we do not eat it. You must be careful that your freedom to eat meat does not in any way hinder anyone whose faith is not as robust as yours. For suppose you with your knowledge of God should be observed eating meat in an idol’s temple, are you not encouraging the man with a delicate conscience to do the same? Surely you would not want your superior knowledge to bring spiritual disaster to a weaker brother for whom Christ died? And when you sin like this and damage the weak consciences of your brethren you really sin against Christ. This makes me determined that, if there is any possibility of meat injuring my brother, I will have none of it as long as I live, for fear I might do him harm.
The context tells us that it is a specific knowledge about idols and worshiping false gods as real. Not, about using our minds in general.
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Right before the phrase "knowledge puffs up," the Apostle Paul wrote, "Now about food sacrificed to idols.” Some Christians knew that idols weren't real, whereas others didn't know that and believed eating food sacrificed to idols made it ceremonially unclean. In context, Paul was exhorting the believers who had greater knowledge to show love to those with the weaker conscience and to refrain from eating food offered to idols in front of them so they wouldn't stumble. His point was that knowledge should be exercised in love, to build up other believers and not our own arrogance.
Just as we should consider verses in their contexts, our theology needs to be based on the whole of Scripture. Here are a few of the many places where Scripture speaks positively of knowledge:
Fools hate knowledge. (Proverbs 1:22)
A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel. (Proverbs 1:5)
Hosea chapter 4 says God's people perish for lack of
knowledge regarding the law. 2 Peter 2:1 tells us to add to our faith goodness, and to goodness,
knowledge. In Philippians 1:9, Paul prayed "that your love will keep on growing in
knowledge and every kind of discernment."
Paul even praises knowledge as a part of spiritual warfare in 2 Corinthians 10:5 by saying, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God." Proverbs 15:4 says the "discerning heart acquires
knowledge," and Proverbs 1:29 warns of the destruction that follows a hatred of
knowledge.
Over and over in Scripture we are commanded to seek out knowledge, and over and over we are warned of the consequences if we don't. In fact, when Jesus commanded us to "love the Lord your God with all your mind," He was saying we must love God with all of our intellectual capacity."
The Bible Says, "Knowledge Puffs Up." Does This Mean We Shouldn't Study Too Much?
