Here are Albert Mohler's noetic (epistemological) effects of the Fall. To say it another way, here's where our mental faculties break down.
- The reason is hostile to God. We are bent away from the holy.
- Ignorance of facts--we don't know what we don't know!
- Forgetfulness--we lose information we once held.
- Prejudices (tribalism, etc.)
- Limited perspective--we can be only one place; we can only be one person.
- Distractedness--we are quickly knocked off course mentally.
- Intellectual pride--we are "puffed up" in what we think we know.
- Dogmatism--we hold too strongly to constructs we ought to abandon.
- Intellectual fatigue--we can't think hard enough, long enough.
- Illogical conclusions--inconsistencies in logic and worldview (formal and informal fallacies).
- Willful denial of data, also called "invincible ignorance."
- Intellectual apathy--we aren't passionate enough to pursue the truth ardently.
- Vain imagination--we create concepts that do not exist.
- Miscommunication--we fail to hear accurately and learn from others.
- Partial knowledge--we hold to incomplete sets of facts.
- Emotional reasoning--the mind is ruled by the emotions instead of the other way around.
Also see http://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/noetic-effects-sin/
ReplyDeleteI have only recently become aware of the noetic effects of sin and find it a fascinating topic. Part of the effects are that we don't know what we don't know! Is there a list somewhere of other effects of the fall? We are all aware of the death and alienation from God, but I'm wondering if there is a more comprehensive resource available?