Head Knowledge vs Heart Knowledge

[RarexxRose]

From your head to your heart by Maria Durso.....great book!

[gordon7777]

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

 

Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 

Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

[Figure of eighty]

this was  beautiful. I love the honey analogy.

[Jostler]

i can "know" in my head and not really believe.

Quote

Rom 10:9

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
 

 

What is revealed to the heart IS what we believe, and we WILL act on it, as naturally as water flowing downhill, without a thought. 

If a Word from God is "heard", faith comes.  The faith of GOD comes.  And in a measure sufficient  to cause His Word to  be completely fulfilled in our life.  IF we believe  it.  If we "hear" that Word with our  head alone, we may or may not have it in our  heart where we can actually appropriate  His gift of faith to ourselves by simply investing it with our heart belief...and live  out of His faith (now possessed by us as His gift to us), and out  of faith live  a life pleasing to Him.

Man is a three part being consisting of a spirit, that  possesses a soul, both of which are housed in a temporary "tent" which  is a flesh body.   The heart is the interface where soul and spirit meet to do business.  It  is here where the  conflict between His truth and lies of the carnal mind clash.  When soul meets with spirit to do business if soul brings carnal thinking to the table there is enmity and strife between flesh and spirit.  One lusts against the other and confusion and loss of peace is the result.

When soul CHOOSES to believe the Truth over the  lies it was previously enticed to believe as if true, the Spirit transforms that portion of the  soul and that bit  of  us begins to reflect the image of Jesus ....in our soul.   This is where the work  of transformation must take place.

This is not an emotional encounter.  And this is where many christians get confused  between the operation of the spirit and the  soul....and the flesh.  Emotions are primarily learned responses to chemical reactions in the brain, interpreted by the SOUL.  Powerful emotional experiences are NOT evidence of spiritual encounters. And if those emotions have not been submitted to the transforming work of the Word they can and often will LIE  to us. 

Quote

Luk 8:18

“Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

We are not only to take heed to WHAT we listen to, but HOW we hear what we hear.  If we cannot invest what we hear with  belief it is NOT yet "heard" with the heart.  Then it is time to do the "work"..to believe.

We can meditate  on what we have heard, in His presence, until He has convinced us that Word is settled into our hearts, and become a Word we can live by.

[Heybro]

What I like and believe to be the case, Instead of" Head Knowledge and Heart Knowledge," rather, "Head Knowledge and Heart Revelation," has a better "ring" to it in my understanding, just saying, God bless. To some, this may seem to be pedantic, just my thoughts.

[Jostler]

38 minutes ago, Heybro said:

What I like and believe to be the case, Instead of" Head Knowledge and Heart Knowledge," rather, "Head Knowledge and Heart Revelation," has a better "ring" to it in my understanding, just saying, God bless. To some, this may seem to be pedantic, just my thoughts.

oh boy.....bro thank you for sharing that...that's not being pedantic that's helpful.  i'm going to steal it.     That is SO much more accurate.  I'm kicking myself for not realizing it myself.  Let me tell  you why too.  In another thread I'm struggling to open up a detailed study on spirit, soul and body, and THAT right  there is  very helpful  in describing the  difference between the  "mind  of the  spirit" and the "mind of the flesh".

The spirit "knows" stuff....but NOT by  rational thinking, logic or cognition.  That is the way the soul  works in union with  the flesh (brain).   The spirit "discerns" and revelation is exactly how it obtains knowing.  It's a critical distinction and very difficult to describe.  Using the  right word helps a great deal.  Thank you for pointing that out.   i'm going to go modify that other post and use the right  word

The head is about "information".  The heart is about REVELATION....AMEN!

Edited June 27, 2019 by Jostler

[Nedrah]

Great message.

[enoob57]

On 5/5/2019 at 5:11 PM, Margo1945 said:

I have always been more head than heart knowledge but I do think both are necessary .. one needs to know God to love Him .. having faith in what is unseen is good but if we read God's Holy Spirit inspired Word and Truth and come to know Him in an ever growing ever maturing personal intimate relationship, He will reveal Himself more and more to us and we shall draw closer and closer to Him and love Him more and more .. so, I do think both head and heart are needed and must work with each other, not against .. I keep praying for more heart knowledge .. 

just an added clarification .. I "know" I love God but I do not 
"feel" such love and want to both know and feel

Sis one of the things that has help me in this is the reckoning we are to have with our flesh.... fleshy or first born realities is the original way we loved right or more to the point- thought was loved-  being born again through the power of The Holy Spirit we now must renew our minds toward right thinking... so our source is now of s/Spirit and we know our bodies of flesh are not redeemed and we are to reckon it dead... thus the renewal of mind is in complete unity of God's Word and s/Spirit, both required, and the warfare of moving from first born realities of thought in flesh to second born realities of thought in s/Spirit.  I have found it is a project upon which can only be accomplished in 100% reliance in s/Spirit only the flesh must be reckoned dead till we are separated from it … Prayed... Love, Steven

[BibleStudent100]

In the Christian Greek Scriptures there are two words commonly translated “knowledge,” gnoʹsis and e·piʹgno·sis.  Knowledge (gnoʹsis) is put in a very favorable light in the Christian Greek Scriptures. However, not all that men may call “knowledge” is to be sought, because philosophies and views exist that are “falsely called ‘knowledge.’” (1Ti 6:20) The recommended knowledge is about God and his purposes. (2Pe 1:5) This involves more than merely having facts, which many atheists have; a personal devotion to God and Christ is implied. (Joh 17:3; 6:68, 69) Whereas having knowledge (information alone) might result in a feeling of superiority, our knowing “the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge,” that is, knowing this love by experience because we are personally imitating his loving ways, will balance and give wholesome direction to our use of any information we may have gained.—Eph 3:19.

E·piʹgno·sis, a strengthened form of gnoʹsis (e·piʹ, meaning “additional”), can often be seen from the context to mean “exact, accurate, or full knowledge.” Thus Paul wrote about some who were learning (taking in knowledge) “yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge [“a real knowledge,” TC; “a personal knowledge,” Ro; “clear, full knowledge,” Da ftn] of truth.” (2Ti 3:6, 7) He also prayed that ones in the Colossian congregation, who obviously had some knowledge of God’s will, for they had become Christians, “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension.” (Col 1:9) Such accurate knowledge should be sought by all Christians (Eph 1:15-17; Php 1:9; 1Ti 2:3, 4), it being important in putting on “the new personality” and in gaining peace.—Col 3:10; 2Pe 1:2.
 

[Jostler]

On 7/7/2019 at 5:33 PM, BibleStudent100 said:

In the Christian Greek Scriptures there are two words commonly translated “knowledge,” gnoʹsis and e·piʹgno·sis.  Knowledge (gnoʹsis) is put in a very favorable light in the Christian Greek Scriptures. However, not all that men may call “knowledge” is to be sought, because philosophies and views exist that are “falsely called ‘knowledge.’” (1Ti 6:20) The recommended knowledge is about God and his purposes. (2Pe 1:5) This involves more than merely having facts, which many atheists have; a personal devotion to God and Christ is implied. (Joh 17:3; 6:68, 69) Whereas having knowledge (information alone) might result in a feeling of superiority, our knowing “the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge,” that is, knowing this love by experience because we are personally imitating his loving ways, will balance and give wholesome direction to our use of any information we may have gained.—Eph 3:19.

E·piʹgno·sis, a strengthened form of gnoʹsis (e·piʹ, meaning “additional”), can often be seen from the context to mean “exact, accurate, or full knowledge.” Thus Paul wrote about some who were learning (taking in knowledge) “yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge [“a real knowledge,” TC; “a personal knowledge,” Ro; “clear, full knowledge,” Da ftn] of truth.” (2Ti 3:6, 7) He also prayed that ones in the Colossian congregation, who obviously had some knowledge of God’s will, for they had become Christians, “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension.” (Col 1:9) Such accurate knowledge should be sought by all Christians (Eph 1:15-17; Php 1:9; 1Ti 2:3, 4), it being important in putting on “the new personality” and in gaining peace.—Col 3:10; 2Pe 1:2.
 

gnosis and epignosis are pretty much  the  same word...  epi- is a preposition  all those words related to "ginosko" refer to "intellectual apprehension of facts...knowledge, knowing, to know.

 

There is another Greek word, somewhat different,  that is also translated into English as know, knowing  or knowledge

eidō is the word

both speak to apprehending information...but eido has some inclusions in it's use that "ginosko" group don't have....and I think the implications are significant.

" to experience any state or condition "

" to know how, to be skilled in"

 

I think Ephesians 1:17-18  display the difference meaningfully.  In verse 17, the word for knowledge is "epignosis" ...informing the mind of the facts of Jesus Christ....apprehending information.

Quote

Eph 1:17

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge (epignosis) of him:

 

In Ephesians 1:18 the word translated as "know" is "eido"

Quote

Eph 1:18-19

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know (eido) what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

 

My  best understanding so far is that Paul was praying a very precisely worded prayer here, and i think it's related to the difference between head and  heart knowing too.

But Paul seems to be asking Him to grant to us, His Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so we can intellectually apprehend the facts of who Jesus is...

and that knowledge of the facts would lead to a knowing because we have experienced.  To know by  personally experiencing and LIVING by  experience  of the hope of HIS calling, the riches of HIS inheritance and know  by experiencing His power.

I think when head knowledge is experienced as a present reality, it becomes heart knowledge.  I don't think  that's  the whole story, but I think it's a very significant piece of it.

When I was trying  to understand this a sort of parable came to mind.

 

If you read a recipe for German chocolate cake, you KNOW (gnosis) how to bake a German chocolate cake.   You have intellectually apprehended all the information you need to make one.

But when you have actually measured and sifted flour, added sugar, cocoa and milk, broken eggs, baking powder...and mixed  it all up, floured a pan and put it in the oven.....and then someone stomps too hard in the kitchen at just the wrong time and you get a gooey brownie instead of a fluffy cake and have to start over..... 

Then you KNOW (eido) how to make a chocolate cake, because you have experienced it.

I believe He desires we should know about Him, and that knowing should lead us straight into an experience  OF Him.

And Paul majors on  three things....experiencing the  hope of His  call, the riches of His inheritance (we're joint-heirs after all ) and specifically the most important part of His inheritance which is in the saints.  He longs for me to see YOU and EXPERIENCE YOU as He does, and as He sees you....a RICH inheritance.  And to know by experiencing HIS power, active and working in my  life.

Which the next verses identify as resurrection power.

 

I could go on  i love this passage so much....but that "eyes of your understanding" has a VERY interesting Greek  word behind it too

"Having your imagination shot through with  light"......worlds of insight in that too

Edited July 18, 2019 by Jostler
had to change totally to somewhat :) the words are similar, but not exact and there's a world of revelation in the difference between gnosis and eido