What do you think of knowledge?

[daveleau]

Is knowledge always good? The 4th principle of Enlightenment (not Buddhist enlightenment , but the historical age) states that knowledge is always good. Or can knowledge be bad? Or is it neutral and dependent on its use?

God bless,
Dave

 

[rural_preacher]

I think knowledge apart from knowledge of God (and the wisdom and understanding that accompany that knowledge) is just information and can be used for good or evil. But even its use for good is worthless apart from God..."all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags".

Proverbs 1

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:


2To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
3To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion--
5A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.


7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 4

7Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.

 

[jbarcher]

Amoral. And saying knowledge is always good sounds like it'd get into some serious question begging...

 

[Gold Dragon]

Like a gun in a child's hands, a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing in the wrong mind.

 

[pressingon]

Well said, rural_preacher! Ecclesiastes also has much to say about wisdom, and its meaning apart from God....

 

[Ave Maria]

It's neutral and dependent on it's use. A terrorist could have knowledge about how to build a nuclear weapon. In that case it's bad. However, a government official here in the USA who has that same knowledge might be able to use that knowledge to develop defenses against nuclear weapons. I think it's pretty much neutral and depends on how it is used.