Hungry for knowledge

HUMANITY’S SEARCH

First of three

Humanity is hooked on searching. We often search for something we stashed away and can’t find now. We search for the right Christmas presents for loved ones. People who lost contact with family and friends in the busy time of their lives begin to search for them later on.

Humanity’s intellectual search and research has accelerated in the past few centuries. The more each discipline discovers, the more questions arise that need to be researched. The main branches of each discipline have split into a myriad of specialized twigs to focus in on ever-increasing and haunting detail. Humanity’s specialized searches make us know more and more about less and less.

It shows how great the database is, and how great the Omniscient One is who made it all and knows it all. Bring a million top scientists from all fields together, and their collective knowledge is just a drop in the ocean.

When I entered the university library as freshman, I realized I could gather only a tiny bit of the knowledge stored in those many rooms filled with many shelves full of many books. I built my own little library so that I could take some knowledge with me when I would work in rural areas.

Three millennia ago, King Solomon already concluded, “In much wisdom is much grief, and who increases knowledge increases sorrow. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh” (Eccl. 1:18, 12:12).

And yet, humans can’t stop searching. With today’s internet and devices, it’s easy to search. If you want information of any kind, type a few key words in the search box, enter, and thousands of sites are listed.

The number of used cars for sale is staggering. But if you are interested in a specific beauty of 2012, just type the make, model and year, and several online sites list those available in your area, complete with all the info you need. And if you want to inspect the car personally, you can get directions online, too.

Let’s jump to the other side of the spectrum: the Bible. You can read this most published book in any language online. To understand difficult texts better, you can read several translations in the languages you know. Some translations, like the New International Version (NIV), are free translations, giving the meaning of the original text; some are literal translations, like the New King James Version (NKJV ), sticking more closely to the words of the original.

Those who can puzzle out Greek, can search the original text in two forms, the Alexandrian (used by NIV) and the Byzantine (used by NKJV). Until 1881, only the latter was known.

Jacob Van Zyl of Lethbridge is a retired counsellor and the author of several faith-based books.