Links to all parts may be found here. This part will contain a review and evaluation of Mr. Lazar's eighth chapter in his book, Scripturalism and the Senses.
Is Scripturalism Fundamentally Tied to Internalism?
Because both this chapter and Mr. Lazar's last chapter are so integrally tied to understanding the difference between internalism and externalism, I thought I'd begin this review with some prefatory comments.
One of the only objections I've seen from fellow Scripturalists to the idea that Scripturalism is tied to internalism is the thought that divine revelation is something "external" to us. If divine revelation is something distinct from us, does that not mean that it is "external" to us? Such objections betray a complete unfamiliarity with what internalism and externalism actually mean. I cited contemporary epistemologist Michael Williams in a post long ago that succinctly explains the difference:
Internalism is the view that, to be justified in holding a belief, we must have “cognitive access” to its “justification-makers.” So-called “externalist” theories of knowledge and justification, by contrast, allow epistemically appropriate believing to result from factors of which we are not aware.
Now, at the end of my last review, I linked to posts I've written (including the above) in which I further explain why I think Scripturalism is tied to internalism, a particular view of epistemic justification. While Scripturalism may also be compatible with externalism in some contexts, one's "basic epistemology," as Clark put it, ought to involve a first principle that is self-authenticating or self-justifying. This means that one can be aware of or have cognitive access to the epistemic justification for one's first principle, for the epistemic justification does not come from any external factors.
Is divine revelation something that is distinct from us? Of course. But is divine revelation cognitively accessible? Yes, it is. We can reflect upon, meditate upon, and be aware of divine revelation, the extant extent of which is codified in Scripture. In fact, this is one of the reasons that I mentioned in an earlier review that Scripturalists ought to regard our epistemic foundation, not as a physical and non-propositional texts, but rather as the [propositional] contents which the texts codify. Hence, Scripturalism is fundamentally tied to internalism even if it is compatible with [other] beliefs being epistemically justified or "known" on externalist grounds.
I really am not trying to suggest that I know it all. I don't. But it is admittedly frustrating to hear these kinds of objections when I have already anticipated such objections in and by providing definitions of the very terms in question, definitions I honestly doubt objectors have even thought to consider. I can only hope that, at some point, contemporary Scripturalists get with the times if they really want to start identifying with contemporary labels. I am aware of several Scripturalists who seem to think Scripturalism is fundamentally tied to externalism, not internalism. I hope these reviews cause them to rethink their position.
Anyways, if I can give Mr. Lazar credit for one thing, it is that he does not seem unwilling to read contemporary philosophers in general or epistemologists in particular, something I've recommended Scripturalists need to do for a long time now (link). He has not made the mistakes I am addressing above. I only thought it would be worthwhile to deal with them here and remind readers of the definitions for internalism and externalism as I proceed to review Mr. Lazar's eighth chapter.
Sense Knowledge, Internalism, and Externalism
I mentioned that Mr. Lazar provided what were, in my mind, several good biblical cases of extra-biblical knowledge. In this chapter, Mr. Lazar seems to want to pursue his point a bit farther, citing several biblical stories to strengthen his case. Unfortunately, I didn't think the examples he picked were well chosen.
For example, Clark might have chuckled at Mr. Lazar's choice to argue for sense knowledge based a story from the Bible in which sense deception occurred. Now, as a quote early on in Mr. Lazar's chapter shows, Clark didn't deny sense experiences, even if he overemphasized metaphorical cases involving them. So yes, in the story of Isaac and Jacob, Isaac's ears heard, eyes saw, and hands felt, just as God created them to do. Isaac is nevertheless tricked into a false belief that was [seemingly] caused by his senses. There is a book called Clark Speaks from the Grave, and I fancy that I can almost myself "hearing" Clark ask from beyond the grave, "how then can one trust whether his senses have caused a true belief?" This is a fair question, and I will return to it below.
Returning to the story and Mr. Lazar's arguments, it does appear Jacob makes an assumption that "if I do not dress up, Isaac will not be deceived." However, that assumption wouldn't itself imply Isaac would have otherwise known Jacob was appearing before him. That is, what Jacob may assume in this story isn’t explicitly validated, much less is it implied that any of the individuals in the story would have had or did have knowledge due to sensation. In other words, this story doesn't help Mr. Lazar's case.
Likewise, when Mr. Lazar brings up "doubting Thomas," we follow the story and read that Thomas would not believe that Jesus rose again unless he saw and touched Him. Jesus later rebuked Thomas for wanting to believe on the basis of sight. Mr. Lazar's conclusion that "the Bible assume the validity of the senses and their ability to furnish us with knowledge" (emphasis mine) does not follow from this story. Neither in this story nor in the story of Jacob and Isaac do we read anything about individuals acquiring or acting based on knowledge. Such responses would have sufficed for Clark to defend his epistemology without having to appeal to the sorts of metaphors Mr. Lazar notes he usually did. I think this recommends apologetic conservativism to us, another point I will return to below.
But that's boring! So while the following is entirely hypothetical, let's instead imagine that Clark read Mr. Lazar's chapter and felt especially responsive. Let's say that he not only was satisfied with replying along the above lines but also replied that these stories have more to do with metaphysics (causation of beliefs) rather than epistemology (beliefs that can be viewed as known).
Mr. Lazar might respond that, in such a scenario, Clark would be assuming that the two have nothing to do with one another. That is, perhaps the manner in which true beliefs are caused, for example, itself can function as epistemic justification. This would be to suggest externalism: we can refer to true beliefs as being known if they have been caused in a particular, divinely designed manner. We may not be aware of the causal process that was divinely ordained (hence, at least one justificatory factor is external), but we can hypothesize that the causal process occurred.
As was already noted above, Clark could just reply that these biblical stories are not evidence for an externalist theory of epistemic justification. In fact, since the passages say nothing about knowledge, it is actually Mr. Lazar who would be making the assumption. Even though this is a hypothetical, since Mr. Lazar did bring these passages up in a chapter on sense knowledge, the charge does seem to be applicable. It also foretells why Mr. Lazar would have been better off sticking to explicit Scriptural cases of extra-biblical knowledge rather than unnecessarily attempting to multiply examples.
But rather than pursuing that consideration at this point, let's consider what else Clark might have said. Since Clark was interested in distinguishing between cases of knowledge and opinion, suppose he asked Mr. Lazar the following question: can one who has "knowledge" in an externalist sense distinguish such "knowledge" from an opinion, or is it only third-parties (like God) who can be consciously aware of what externalist "knowledge" we possess?
Say one had two beliefs - one which was an untrue opinion and another which was a true belief that was epistemically justified in an externalist sense such that this latter belief could legitimately be regarded, in an externalist sense, as "knowledge" - could the person be aware of which belief of his is the one that is epistemically justified ("known")? Well, I think Mr. Lazar implicitly admits that he can't:
Clark claimed that you can't affirm the possibility of sense knowledge without first explaining how it works... What's the Neo-Scripturalist response to this objection? To reiterate that we take sense knowledge axiomatically, not on the basis of empirical theories. We know that sense knowledge happens because the Bible says so, not because we can explain how it happens philosophically.
Reading Mr. Lazar carefully, he may be correct that that Bible says we can know that sense knowledge happens in general. But if we cannot tell when sense knowledge actually happens - for what if we are all potential Isaac's with deceitful Jacobs [or the demon of Descartes] plotting to trick us! - then it seems we cannot consciously distinguish our true beliefs that have epistemic justification in an externalist sense from other beliefs of ours which are [potentially false] opinions.
Consider why not: take a belief that is known in an externalist sense. In part, the reason such a belief could be generally regarded as "known" is because at least one element of one's epistemic justification is not reflectively or cognitively accessible. There is at least one contributing factor to one's epistemic justification of which one cannot be aware (precisely because it is "external"). Whatever the external element or contributing factor is, it prevents one's being aware of it and, I conclude, therefore prevents one's being aware that his belief is known in an externalist sense. That is, in the scenario we are considering, one cannot be aware of one's own true belief as anything more than an opinion even if a third party could. For only a third party (like an omniscient God) could be aware of the justificatory factor that is present such that our belief is "known" by us in an externalist sense.
I think that for Mr. Lazar to object to any of this would really mean that he would be positing an empirical theory of knowledge after all, despite his protestations to the contrary. If he were to try to defend the presence of the "external," justificatory factor in a particular sense experience so as to identify when one has sense knowledge, that would suggest Mr. Lazar could be aware of the presence of it after all. It would no longer be "external" to Mr. Lazar but something about which he could be aware. How he could be aware is anyone's guess, but I think it would conform to some empiricist theory of knowledge even if not a pure empiricism.
With the above arguments in mind, what good does it do for, say, God to be aware of what we "know" in an externalist sense if we ourselves cannot be aware of this "knowledge"? Well, we should not too hastily conclude that beliefs which are epistemically justified in an externalist sense are useless (link). Hypothetical reasoning is important, although it's importance is not to be overstated. But the fact that we cannot be aware of externalist "knowledge" we may posses should give us apologetic pause. Which of our beliefs should we fundamentally be attempting to defend: ones that have epistemic justification of which we can be aware, or one's that have at least one justificatory element of which we cannot be aware?
I expanded on this question in my last review, explaining why knowledge that is epistemically justified in a [purely] internalist sense is more fundamental than that which is justified in an externalist sense. Note that Mr. Lazar implicitly agrees in the way in which he defends sense knowledge. Mr. Lazar may say that we should take sense knowledge as axiomatic. But does he really mean that?
I cannot think that he does. Suppose Isaac took it as axiomatic that he was talking to Esau when he was actually deceived! Just because one says he takes something as axiomatic does not mean his belief is true. Sense knowledge is not self-authenticating like God's word is. In fact, Mr. Lazar readily admits that he inferred that (again, not when) sense knowledge is legitimate from God's word: "Neo-Scripturalism accepts sense knowledge on the basis of our master axiom, i.e. the Bible" (emphasis mine). Okay, but if one's belief is inferred or deduced from a prior premise - even the Bible - that belief cannot be regarded as axiomatic by definition.
Therefore, Mr. Lazar himself seems to implicitly recognize that we defend that we can have beliefs that are epistemically justified in an externalist sense by first appealing to a foundational or axiomatic belief that is epistemically justified in an internalist sense. The truth of divine revelation (in our case, the extant extent of which is Scripture) is self-justifying or self-authenticating; hence, we can clearly reflect on or be aware of this justification. This is a belief which is justified in a [purely] internalist sense.
What this chapter turns out to be, then, is a further example of how internalism is apologetically more fundamental than externalism. Even if we have beliefs that are epistemically justified in an externalist sense long before we have beliefs that are epistemically justified in a [purely] internalist sense, we cannot be fully assured in a defense of the former until we have the latter. A child can "know" who his parents are in an externalist sense. But a mature ability to defend this kind of knowledge will not be possible until the child grows in grace and knowledge such that his conscious epistemic foundation is God's word, and this is why Scripturalism is intimately tied to internalism. Scripturalists have a conscious epistemology, not an unconscious one.
To return to my opening remarks, Mr. Lazar was better off, in his critique of Clark, bringing up passages like Mark 6:38, 13:28, and 15:44-45. These indeed appear to be instances of "sense knowledge," properly construed in an externalist sense of epistemic justification. That doesn’t mean Clark’s specific focus on the kind of knowledge in which he was interested (link) was wrong, only that it should not be regarded as the exclusive meaning of "knowledge" in all contexts. Clark's implicitly internalist understanding of "knowledge" just sets the context for our being able to defend an externalist understanding of "knowledge."
There are many more reasons for not regarding Scripturalism as fundamentally tied to an externalist theory of knowledge. I've mentioned most of them in other posts. One more reason is that subscription a fundamentally internalist theory of knowledge can allow for cases of externalist knowledge. If we regard divine revelation as our epistemic foundation - one whose justification we can be aware of (precisely because the foundation, of which we are aware, is self-authenticating or self-justifying; link) - then one can, just as Mr. Lazar has, deduce from it examples within that revelation why an externalist theory of knowledge is defensible. If one begins with an externalist theory of knowledge, however, one can never from such "knowledge" deduce that internalist knowledge is possible, for one can never be aware of what he himself actually "knows" in an externalist sense, if anything.
Clark may well have agreed with all of this had he been given the chance to reflect on it. Personally, I do wish he spoke to
these sorts of texts more than mentioning metaphorical cases of sense organs. Nevertheless, I would argue that the context for the
kind of "knowledge" Clark is interested in is fundamental to epistemic discussions.
I think this chapter is an example of apologetic overreach. I think Mr. Lazar really desires to such forth as much evidence as possible for a position I would even broadly agree is correct: there are biblical examples of extra-biblical knowledge. But if Clark were alive and had the inclination to respond to Mr. Lazar's book, I think it would have been easy for him to respond to this chapter.
Perhaps Clark would still have dealt with the stronger examples for Mr. Lazar's position. But one can be sure that many others would not. Instead, they would simply respond to Mr. Lazar's weaker arguments, ignore the stronger ones, and act as if they had thoroughly refuted Mr. Lazar. While this would not be done in good faith, Christians should know all too well why acting in bad faith is commonplace and should be our expectation in a world of sin.
This leads me to think that when we are defending our beliefs, we ought to set forth our best critiques of positions with which we disagree. If such critiques are defeated, so be it. We must think again upon 1) whether there are stronger critiques against the position that we hadn't considered, and 2) whether our beliefs on the matter in question are correct. But, if possible, we should be careful not to give those with whom we disagree any room for relief in being able to respond to weak arguments such that they can then posture while ignoring our strongest critiques.
Apologetics can be a way of dialoguing with friends. I hope Mr. Lazar reads these posts with the understanding that I do not view him as someone who refuses to believe the truth. I myself may stand in need of correction on some points. I am only saying here that I think Mr. Lazar could have effectively said "more" against Clark's view (figuratively) by saying less (literally), focusing only on his strongest arguments and biblical cases that function as evidence for his views.
With that in mind, I do think another intention of apologetics can be to shut mouths of those who refuse to believe the truth. If we only present our strongest critiques against a position (at least initially), we give stubborn adherents less reason to open their mouths against us. We don't need to say more in order for the Spirit to work in the minds of those with whom we are conversing. His power does not depend on how much we say. If anything, we need to keep our speech focused. As much of this is more so my own strategic opinion rather than a dogmatic assertion, though, I'll leave it at that.
In the next part of my review, I will turn to chapter 9, which Mr. Lazar calls The Bible and Other Sources of Knowledge.
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