[Greek] ἀγνωσία (agnōsia), [Latin] ignorantia: state of lacking knowledge, ignorance, inability to recognize familiar objects (stimuli); 1Cor.15:34, 1Pet.2:15
Background information:
Greek Hellenism: This term means lacking essential knowledge (of God, the soul, and revelation), lack of acquaintance, obscurity, lack of insight, being unknown, and physical disability in understanding. One is entangled with agnosia (ignorance) before receiving revelation. This term is not associated with lack of culture or evil intentions.
Plato’s Republic 5.478c: “But do you deem opinion something darker than knowledge and brighter than ignorance? Yes. It lies within the boundaries of the two.”
Euripides’ Medea 1204: “But her poor father, ignorant of the calamity, stumbled upon her body unprepared as he entered her chamber.”
Plato’s Sophist 267b: “Some who imitate do so with knowledge of that which they imitate, and others without such knowledge.”
Old Testament: This term means unintentional sin, inadvertence, failure, nothing, destruction, lack, and negation.
New Testament: This term means lack of knowledge, failure to understand, and what is not understood. Paul tells the Corinthians to wake up from their slumber of indulgence, vice, ignorance, sin, and error. There are those who claim to be Christians but are ignorant of God. It is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people. This involves living a life of integrity, following sound doctrine, and teaching sound doctrine.
Scripture:
“Become sober as you ought and stop sinning. For some have no knowledge of God; I say this to your shame.” 1Cor.15:34
Paul calls others to wake from their sins, indulgence, and stupidity. There are some who call themselves Christians yet are ignorant of God and do not follow the faith. Paul says this to shame them.
“For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people.” 1Pet.2:15
One must silence the ignorance of foolish people who may have evil intentions. Leading a life of integrity, following sound doctrine, and teaching sound doctrine will silence and remove accusation of evil speakers.
Types of agnosia:
Prospanosia: inability to recognize familiar faces
Achromatopsia: color blindness
Phonagnosia: inability to recognize familiar voices
Apperceptive visual agnosia: inability to perceive shapes (forms)
Associative visual agnosia: inability to recall information associated with an object
Spritual agnosia: hearers but not doers of the Word. These actions can be intentional or unintentional.
The culture of death: This is an ideology in which the moral crimes of abortion (and euthanasia) are viewed as individual rights. The woman’s reproductive ‘rights’ and ‘freedoms’ overrule any consideration for unborn rights and moral consequences. Many refuse, ignore, or unwilling to see the spiritual and moral consequences of abortion. Some have even claimed that they have the ‘right’ to kill their unborn.
Conclusion:
Ignorance, ignorant
It is important to note that this term for the most part does not indicate evil or malevolence. This term refers more so to the inability to attain a higher level of knowledge or revelation. Such examples include understanding God and the salvation of the soul. However, when this involves abortion, this becomes a very serious matter.
Plato illustrates this notion that an opinion is the middle ground between total ignorance and revelation.
During Paul’s time there were also Christians who did not faithfully practice or follow their faith. (Does this sound familiar today?) These ‘Christians’ deny their faith and are strangers to God’s grace.
Peter illustrates that providing an example to others is perhaps best way to silence, influence, or reform foolish people.
The culture of death has contributed to several generations not considering or ignoring the moral and spiritual consequences of abortion.
Update: Many are ignorant of what the Supreme Court stated: abortion should have never been considered a constitutional right. This matter must be decided at the state level.
Many abortion rights supporters ignorantly believe that overturning Roe vs. Wade has pushed back women’s reproductive rights.
Many abortion rights supporters do not really realize that there is sizable demographic interested in adopting children.
Many prominent Catholics are pro-abortion. (President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, etc).
There is only a small percentage (31%) of all Catholics who really believe that the real Presence (Body and Blood) is in the Eucharist.
There are growing number of ‘Nones’ who are rapidly losing any semblance of faith.
All of us need to be reminded of or wakened out of our slumber of indulgence, vice, and sin.
“Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis reminds us that our actions can often provide the best example to evangelize and change others.
Rather than silence and muzzle critics, each of us must work to change hearts and minds, rather than to win arguments.
Because of all this ignorance, I think it is important that I offer some catechetical observations. If you will lend me your ears, I can sound down some thoughts about our culture. I regret to inform you that many in our secular culture presumably think that traditional thinking about marriage, sex, and gender are out of touch with society. Or perhaps unknowingly we may be out of touch with God’s values. You also hear that many Catholics (and Christians) are viewed as hateful or extreme. Or you are informed that others think they believe that they have the right and freedom to define and redefine marriage and gender. My question to you is “What if God and scripture may have been right all along (but we can’t and won’t see it for various reasons)? I do not have all the answers, I am just asking the questions. If so, then each of us will have to answer for our actions at our judgment before God, who is the author of marriage? How does this sound?
Next post: Instructing and sounding down