Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul

by Hannah Anderson

We follow Augustine [in saying] ‘I believe in order that I might understand.’”7 By referring to Augustine, Belcher is not advocating belief apart from reason; he’s advocating “epistemological humility”—accepting that our minds are limited.8 It’s not that truth doesn’t exist. It’s not even that human beings can’t know truth. Humility simply leaves room that my understanding of a situation could be wrong. Perhaps I don’t have all the facts; perhaps I’ve been influenced by my cultural presuppositions to believe that a tomato is a vegetable; or perhaps I’m simply a limited human being. And because I am, my faith cannot rest on my own knowledge. My faith cannot rest on my ability to understand. In other words, epistemological humility leaves room for grace.