Here is another idea that cannot be contained by a short Snap and Wave.
It is a long quote about knowledge taken from Baxter’s old book. In it, he argues the utility of knowledge. Of course, no reasonable man will deny this. What many in our time will find surprising is the comparison he made.
He compared temporal knowledge with eternal knowledge. Temporal knowledge is the kind that a natural man has in relation to how he conducts his life here on earth. Eternal knowledge, on the other hand, pertains to one's preparation for the afterlife.
Living in a world that either rejects or takes for granted the supernatural, many in our time don’t see utility in the second kind of knowledge. All that matters is the first kind. This category includes the knowledge of business, trade, wealth accumulation, legal, linguistics, sciences, arts, and many more.
Here's how I paraphrased Baxter’s comparison:
If it is really of primary importance to gain the knowledge of business, trade, wealth accumulation, and the laws rather than the knowledge of preparing one’s life for eternity, then let the first kind of knowledge have the pre-eminence.
I know this old soul does not say that the first kind of knowledge is useless. He affirms their value. However, if the first kind of knowledge distracts us and draws our mind away from the second kind of knowledge, then I think this old writer saw danger in the first kind. The man saw the value of the first kind of knowledge if it would serve the way we prepare our lives for eternity.
Though I don’t fully agree with the writer that the usefulness of the first kind of knowledge lies only in preparing us for the life to come, I share his thoughts as to the supremacy of the second kind.
As he concludes such a long paragraph about these two kinds of knowledge, he describes those who prioritize the temporal and take the eternal for granted as not truly wise and not truly happy.
Here is the full quote of the paragraph on which I based my reflection:
If any knowledge at all be necessary, certainly it must be the knowledge of the greatest and most necessary things: . . . Knowledge is to be valued according to its usefulness. If it be a matter of as great concernment to know how to do your worldly business, and to trade and gather worldly wealth, and to understand the laws, and to maintain your honor, as it is to know how to be reconciled unto God, to be pardoned and justified, to please your Creator, to prepare in time for death and judgment, and an endless life, then let worldly wisdom have the pre-eminence. But if all earthly things be dreams and shadows, and valuable only as they serve us in the way to heaven, then surely the heavenly wisdom is the best. Alas, how far is that man from being wise, that is acquainted with all the details of the law, that is excellent in the knowledge of all the languages, sciences, and arts, and yet knows not how to live to God, to mortify the flesh, to conquer sin, to deny himself, nor to answer in judgment for his fleshly life, nor to escape damnation! As far as such a learned man from being wise, as he is from being happy (Richard Baxter, Christian Ethics, 1665, pp. 13-14).
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