The Holiness of Unknowing by Thomas S. Buchanan

The Holiness of Unknowing

“A wicked and perverse generation seeks after signs.”
—Matthew 16:4

Ours is a generation of information junkies. We have 24-hour-a-day news shows and Internet sites dedicated to keeping us informed with up-to-the-minute details of the world’s events. Through our keyboards, we have countless encyclopedias available at our fingertips to tell us anything we wish to know. In fact, we have a sector of our society dedicated to information technology, which is concerned not with the quality of the information we receive, but with our access to it.

One great assumption of our day is that the accumulation of information is a virtue. We know from Adam and Eve’s experience with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that this is not so. That is why King David sang in Psalm 131:

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Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.

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