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How Can I Know for Sure?
To many, the only remaining certainty in our world is uncertainty. Can we really know anything for sure? We all enter the marketplace of ideas with presuppositions that need to be challenged before we can see what is true—and what is not. Philosophical and religious pluralism have convinced us that unchanging truth, if it exists at all, is entirely beyond our grasp—unknowable. Into this cloud of doubt and confusion comes the authoritative voice of Holy Scripture. David Garner shows us that, by the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit, not only can we know biblical truth, we can know it with a confidence deeper than any logic could ever provide and with an assurance that no human expression could ever instill. God's Word is true, and by the vital ministry of the Holy Spirit we can know the truths of God's Word truly, quietly, assuredly, and eternally.
32 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 25, 2024
Great resource on assurance.
November 12, 2014
I always enjoy the chance to read new additions to the Christian Answers to Hard Questions series from P&R and Westminster Seminary Press. These booklets have proven to be succinct, clear, and immensely helpful, and the new volume follows suit.
How Can I Know For Sure by David Garner covers the area of how we can know what is true, what is real. Garner does well in showing why philosophy falls short without disparaging philosophy itself. He engages religion in the same way, showing again its inherent limitations in the acquisition of ultimate truth without unnecessarily disparaging either.
Garner argues that we are in desperate need of divine revelation, not just because of the deficiencies of human efforts at ultimate truth, but because of why human approaches are so perpetually limited.
Garner then uses the rest of the work to argue for the Scriptures, as God’s revelation to man, as the source of ultimate truth, and covers quite a bit of territory, especially given the length of this work. He covers the self-authenticating nature of Scripture, the need for illumination from the Spirit, the evidence of historical belief but the inherent limitations of that evidence, the reason that holding to the testimony of Scripture as it relates to Scripture is not negatively circular, and more.
This is a work worth investing an hour or two in and growing in your confidence of the word. Also, this would couple nicely with Kevin DeYoung’s new work, Taking God at His Word. While both deal with the Scriptures, the overlap seems to be minimal and I feel each would help the reader to appreciate the other work.
I received a review copy of this book from P&R Publishing.
How Can I Know For Sure by David Garner covers the area of how we can know what is true, what is real. Garner does well in showing why philosophy falls short without disparaging philosophy itself. He engages religion in the same way, showing again its inherent limitations in the acquisition of ultimate truth without unnecessarily disparaging either.
“The pervasive weakness in philosophy and religion is that they tender merely human proposals. They operate in vicious circularity, because the answers all come from us. Even the confluence of the most brilliant human minds lacks the resources to deliver definitive answers to the harassing questions of our souls.”
Garner argues that we are in desperate need of divine revelation, not just because of the deficiencies of human efforts at ultimate truth, but because of why human approaches are so perpetually limited.
“The answers to our ultimate questions will never come from us because they cannot come from us. We are both finite and fallen. We are dependent and depraved. We are small and sinful. We are creature and corrupted. Self-sufficiency wholly fails to address matters of ultimate importance before the creator God to whom we are wholly accountable. In the vicious circle of our stubbornness, we are left devoid of hope before God, barring his intervention. If there is to be an answer, it must come from God exercising mercy. For there to be any hope at all, he must act and speak to us savingly. And though under no obligation, he has done precisely this.”
Garner then uses the rest of the work to argue for the Scriptures, as God’s revelation to man, as the source of ultimate truth, and covers quite a bit of territory, especially given the length of this work. He covers the self-authenticating nature of Scripture, the need for illumination from the Spirit, the evidence of historical belief but the inherent limitations of that evidence, the reason that holding to the testimony of Scripture as it relates to Scripture is not negatively circular, and more.
This is a work worth investing an hour or two in and growing in your confidence of the word. Also, this would couple nicely with Kevin DeYoung’s new work, Taking God at His Word. While both deal with the Scriptures, the overlap seems to be minimal and I feel each would help the reader to appreciate the other work.
I received a review copy of this book from P&R Publishing.
June 21, 2014
The book begins by noting the problem with how philosophy and religion often fail to answer the most fundamental questions in life. Concerning philosophy, the author observed the difficulty of rationalism with trusting in our intellectual powers that suffer insurmountable limitations while with empiricism it leaves us trusting in our experience but then we can’t experience everything. Religion, like philosophy has often failed to give answers that transcend mere human speculation.
The book then addresses our need for God’s revelation in order to answer life’s important questions. I was happy that the author approached the issue of epistemology theologically and managed to talk about the concept of man’s suppression of the truth, and the self-attesting revelation of God. Here we find in the book a very good definition of self-attesting: “we mean that is authority cannot be measured by comparison to something outside itself, because as God’s voice it possesses final authority.” I also appreciated the book bringing the doctrine of illumination to bear in answering the question of how we can know for sure what Scripture has to say. Of course handling the subject of certainty and theory of knowledge from a Reformed and Van Tillian perspective will inevitably lead to the discussion of circular reasoning. The author notes here that the certainty we get from Scripture isn’t a “woodenly” circular reasoning (I just thought of the adjective “woodenly” right now); but theologically the position is more nuance, in that it’s the Spirit’s testimony to the Scripture. I also appreciate the author’s discussion of circularity in terms of a moral dimension in which he noted that the sinful circularity of unbelief that reasons in darkness and autonomously.
In terms of constructive criticism I wished the author could have spent more time showing how empiricism and rationalism failed. The booklet has great footnotes. When he made passing reference to the fact of the Bible’s fulfilled prophecies, fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah and the basic reliability of the Bible, I don’t think it’s fair to demand he fleshed that out for a small booklet (not to mention it would become another book than on certainty of knowledge for a Christian); but I think it would help footnoting further references. I heard the author’s interview of this booklet over at Reformed Forum and felt the interview covered other grounds people might be asking that the limitation of a booklet presents. It might be helpful to read the book and listen to the interview.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by P&R Publishing and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
The book then addresses our need for God’s revelation in order to answer life’s important questions. I was happy that the author approached the issue of epistemology theologically and managed to talk about the concept of man’s suppression of the truth, and the self-attesting revelation of God. Here we find in the book a very good definition of self-attesting: “we mean that is authority cannot be measured by comparison to something outside itself, because as God’s voice it possesses final authority.” I also appreciated the book bringing the doctrine of illumination to bear in answering the question of how we can know for sure what Scripture has to say. Of course handling the subject of certainty and theory of knowledge from a Reformed and Van Tillian perspective will inevitably lead to the discussion of circular reasoning. The author notes here that the certainty we get from Scripture isn’t a “woodenly” circular reasoning (I just thought of the adjective “woodenly” right now); but theologically the position is more nuance, in that it’s the Spirit’s testimony to the Scripture. I also appreciate the author’s discussion of circularity in terms of a moral dimension in which he noted that the sinful circularity of unbelief that reasons in darkness and autonomously.
In terms of constructive criticism I wished the author could have spent more time showing how empiricism and rationalism failed. The booklet has great footnotes. When he made passing reference to the fact of the Bible’s fulfilled prophecies, fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah and the basic reliability of the Bible, I don’t think it’s fair to demand he fleshed that out for a small booklet (not to mention it would become another book than on certainty of knowledge for a Christian); but I think it would help footnoting further references. I heard the author’s interview of this booklet over at Reformed Forum and felt the interview covered other grounds people might be asking that the limitation of a booklet presents. It might be helpful to read the book and listen to the interview.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by P&R Publishing and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
December 31, 2014
Can we know anything for sure? If so, to what authority ought we defer? These questions are among the basest of human existence, and this brief booklet examines them in introductory fashion. Garner writes with a conversational and inviting tone (though it gets deeper as the book progresses) and readers should find his reasoning fairly easy to follow. Over and above experience and intuition, Garner posits a high view of Scripture, consistent with its own claims.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews