Book Review: Longing to Know, by Esther Meek

The full title of this book is Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People.

After reading this “epistemology for dummies”, I’m afraid that I may be a little less than ordinary. I’m having the same feelings I had in the fall of 2000, when I was a first year seminary student listening to Professor Meek lecture at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. I left her lectures unsure that I had understood everything that she said and feeling somewhat confused. Today, in the same way, having just finished a long, thoughtful reading of Longing to Know, I’m still not sure whether I understand everything that she has written. So reader beware. Since Meek’s philosophy of knowledge claims to be written for ordinary people, my difficulty comprehending this book may be evidence that this review that you are reading comes from someone whose grasp of these philosophical issues is less than ordinary.

The question at hand is: How do I know that I know something? I think every living person asks this question at some point in their lives, in their own way. To get through life, every person must perform acts of knowing. But only strange people who philosophize actually try to describe these acts in contemporary language. Nevertheless, the philosophy of knowledge (also known as epistemology) is worth thinking about, especially since our unexamined philosophical choices can greatly impact the way we think about our knowledge of God. If we don’t think rightly, doubt may grow unchecked in unhealthy ways and steps taken in faith may be reversed by steps of unbelief. If I can’t know something rightly, how can I have confidence that I really know Jesus as he truly is?

Meek candidly informs her readers that most of her philosophy of knowledge is built upon the work of Michael Polanyi, a Hungarian born scientist and philosopher whose main works were published from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. Her Polanyian thesis is that “knowing is the responsible human struggle to rely on clues to focus on a coherent pattern and submit to its reality.” (13 & developed throughout the book). She attempts (and succeeds, in my opinion) to avoid the errors of past philosophers (the ancient error of skepticism and it’s irrationality, the pre-modern error of traditionalism and it’s lack of critical thinking, the modern/enlightenment error of foundationalism and it’s reliance on the myth of certainty, and the post-modern errors of deconstructionism and it’s self-refuting and inconsistent denial that real communication is possible leading to hopelessness and meaninglessness). I wonder how her thoughts compare to those of the late Carl F.H. Henry, who espoused a “rational presuppostionalism” and wrote the 7 volumes of God, Revelation and Authority. If you’ve read Henry on these issues, and you read Meek also, I would love to know how they compare, and would appreciate you letting me know.

Rather than trying to answer these “How do I know that I know?” questions deductively, she repeatedly uses examples of knowing from everyday life to develop an integrative philosophical understanding of the epistemic acts that normal people do regularly. Knowing as a responsible integrative act that relies on clues, seeks coherent patterns and is willing to submit to the reality it comes to know, fits well within a Biblical worldview. In Meek’s opinion, it reunites “the ivory tower with the world of everyday human experience, seeing the jewels of the one return to the streets of the other, where they belong.” (185) Furthermore, “It helps us see that the risky placing of confidence in God that Scripture calls “belief,” the orienting of our whole lives toward him, just is the epistemic act, the ordinary act of knowing that we replicate repeatedly in weaving the tapestry of our lives. Knowing God is like knowing your auto mechanic. We can and do know our auto mechanic. Therefore, we can and do know God.”

Eventually, questions about knowing lead to the question “Can I know God?” Meek strives to answer that question in the affirmative, with a thoughtful and sound answer based on some of the best philosophy from the 20^th century. But even better than that, she helps the reader keep that question in its proper perspective. On the last page of the book, she reminds us that “The ultimate question is not Do or Can I know God? It is Does he know me? It is right to ask questions. But expect to find that you are the one who needs to answer someone else’s questions – someone who has the right and power and reality to be answered. Expect that in seeking to know God, you are no longer the one in pursuit. You are the pursued.” (196)

In John 6:44, Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Thank you, heavenly Father, for being the sovereign one who uses even the struggles of our restless hearts to bring our souls to rest in the knowledge of you.