Epistemic Humility vs. True Humility

Within the Emerging Church, many are calling all Christians to an epistemic humility. For many of them, epistemic humility arises out of their postmodern epistemology which contends that absolute knowledge about God is impossible to obtain given the limitations of humanity. Since humanity is limited in their ability to gain certainty about eternal matters, they often argue that Christians should hold their theologies more loosely. This does not mean that Christians have to abdicate their current beliefs; rather, they just have to afford equal status to the competing beliefs of other Christians (and sometimes non-Christians) since all are limited in their epistemological prowess. Since the theological roots of Christians who accept the postmodern epistemological position are severed, they must turn to conversation (religious dialogue), relationships (ecclesiology), and good works (social justice) to find a point of unity. This is why many within the Emerging Church Movement are turning to the Kingdom of God as a possible metanarrative to support their worldview.Are the Emergents correct? Should we possess epistemic humility? If we must possess this humility, how can we continue to hold firmly to our theological foundations?

By default, humanity is limited in their nature and incapable of possessing all knowledge. They are further limited due to their sinful disposition. Therefore, all people must reject the modernist assumption that certainty can be attained purely through the power of human intellect via reason. On the other hand, humans are capable of obtaining reasonable certainty on many things that exist in the world. Furthermore, they are able to access truth as it has been revealed in God’s word. They can determine with some degree of precision the divine nature of the Bible based various types of inquiries: (historical, prophetical, literary, etc.). They can also test the message of Scripture by applying it to their lives and seeing what happens when others apply it to theirs.To manifest humility, Christians must submit to the words of the God of truth who claims to be and know and disseminate truth in and through the Bible. The testimony of Scripture ultimately must be received by a humble faith that holds firmly to the truths presented therein even while knowing that many questions will remain with us while we await our future with Christ in the life to come.