Please turn to page 40 in the class handouts. The Hermeneutical Principle number 9, the Scope of Cognitive Competence. I like to refer to this principle as the telescopes, and microscopes hermeneutical principle. The scope of cognitive competence refers to the intellectual tools through which everyone sees, and understands the world. It is a feature of both the biblical writers, and us the modern readers of the bible. Let's unpack the three terms in this hermeneutical concept. First, the word scope, it is a visual metaphor to use an agricultural concept, every generation has a field of vision. And in doing so, this implies limits and boundaries. Think of telescopes and microscopes, they widen and deepen our view of the world. The term cognitive comes from the Latin cognito, which means to learn and acquire knowledge. Cognition then refers to the mental processes in perceiving, reasoning, and knowing. Cognition is impacted by many factors such as, intelligence and knowledge, as well as our culture, education, and point in history. In particular, scientific instruments have been hugely influential in our perception and knowledge of the natural world. The term competence simply refers to being capable or having the ability to perform correctly. Consequently, someone is either competent or not competent. When it comes to the biblical writers, they had a narrow scope of cognitive competence and a limited field of vision. Their view of nature was restricted to the naked eye. Because at that point in history, there were no telescopes and no microscopes. Now, it's important to note, this is no disrespect to ancient people. Because if we lived at that time, we would have had the same views about nature and the same narrow scope of cognitive competence. In contrast, we as modern readers have a wide scope of cognitive competence. We seek deeper into space and inside cells than the biblical writers, because we enjoy telescopes and microscopes. The scope of cognitive competence has some important implications for Genesis 1- 3. First, the age of the universe, most ancient people believed the world was young, because they had a very narrow scope of cognitive competence. In particular, there were no instruments for radiometric dating. Their understanding of the age of the world was based on the length of time and a few short genealogies. We must remember that the first communities were oral communities. As a result, short genealogies reflect the limits of memory before the invention of writing around 3000 BC(BCE). For example, no one can memorize a genealogy with a million people. Instead, most ancient genealogies are about 10 to 15 people, and the limits of memory caused ancient people to assume that the world was young. The second implication of the scope of cognitive competence deals with the creation of living organisms. Ancient people accepted de novo creation, because of their narrow scope of cognitive competence. At that time, there was no fossil record and no instruments for genetic mapping. The ancient concept of de novo creation was based on the retro rejection of the ancient biological idea of the immutability of plants and animals. Please turn to page 41 in the handouts, some Christians can find hermeneutical principles quite challenging to their faith. And this is because they rarely hear about these ideas and their Sunday schools and churches. But I found that the scope of cognitive competence to be like a set of hermeneutical breaks that can stop us from sliding down the so called slippery slope and losing faith in God. Let's take a brief excursus to explain what I mean. Let me ask you some questions that I am certain you can answer. First, were the biblical writers competent to know the structure of the universe? No, they did not have telescopes as we do today. Second, were the biblical writers competent to know the size of mustard seeds compared to all other seeds? No, they did not have microscopes as we do today to see that, some seeds are both the size the acterial. Finally, were the biblical writers competent to know the cause of human reproductive problems? Again, no, because there were no microscopes during those days. Now let me ask you a new series of questions. First, were biblical writers competent to know that Jesus had changed water to wine, as recorded in John 2-9? The answer is yes, because if water was really changed to wine, an ancient person would certainly have known. Second, were the biblical writers competent to know that Jesus had healed a man who was born blind, as written in John 9. Again, the answer is yes, because the man would certainly have known he could now see, and everyone around him would have been able to determine If he had his vision restored. Finally, and most importantly, were the biblical writers competent to know that Jesus had risen to life after he had died on the cross, as recorded by Luke in the 24th Chapter of his gospel? And the answer is also a very firm yes, ancient people at that time had seen many deaths through crucifixion. If Jesus had indeed come to life after death, they would have definitely known it. People in the ancient world would not have needed microscopes or telescopes to confirm this miracle. It was well within their scope of cognitive competence. And to conclude this short excursus, with just one simple question that I'm certain that you can answer which group of questions are foundational to Christianity? Is it the set dealing with the structure and operation of the physical world? Or is it the group of questions dealing with Jesus and especially his resurrection from the dead? End of Episode
