Folly of Experts

Trust in academic experts OR

The One in whom is hidden all the treasures of knowledge?

Watch our Truth in Two on the “folly of experts” (full text below).

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Pictures: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT

Working on a university campus I am most tempted to believe “experts.” In higher education, expert theories and theorists abound. Professors tend to present themselves as authorities as to what is acceptable, or not. Specialists in their fields of study may consider themselves to have reached the pinnacle of academic prowess. However, when I read First Corinthians 1:20, I am reminded what God thinks of “experts” when Paul writes, “Where is the sage? Where is the expert? Where is the scholar of this world order? Has not God made a fool of the world’s wisdom?”

God is calling into question the people who depend on human reason. A human-centered view of wisdom is based on intellectual aptitude, the idea that I may be smarter than you. A human-centered view of expertise resides in earthly experience, the idea that I have done more and seen more than you. The human-centered view of scholarship rests in an accumulation of the brightest academic minds, the idea that my way of knowing is better than yours.

But God has made a fool of the world’s wisdom. God’s wisdom is premised on a crucified Savior, Jesus. Academic experts are dependent upon self-reliance, a trust in oneself, which may lead to self-constructed knowledge, leading to self-affirmation, leading to self-assurance, leading to self-importance. The wisdom of the world is a belief that there is no need for God, and there is no Transcendent source of Truth.

At the Christmas season we are reminded that God’s wisdom comes through the baby born in a manger, who will be crucified on The Cross, Jesus. The promised Messiah who, according to Isaiah, is the Wonderful Counsellor excellent in wisdom. Yes, I am tempted by academic experts, but I depend on Jesus “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth in The Christ of Christmas.

[Isaiah 9:6; 28:29; Colossians 2:3]