LessonsThe Universality of Divine Knowledge and Power: Classical ObjectionsQuiz

لَيْسَ الْعِلْمُ عِبَارَةً عَنْ حُصُولِ صُورَةٍ مُسَاوِيَةٍ لِلْمَعْلُومِ
Knowledge is not simply the occurrence of an image identical with the known object.

If knowing always meant receiving a matching internal picture, every external change would appear to require a new picture in the knower. Even human knowledge is wider than visual imagery: relations, judgments and abstract matters are known.

The central mistake in the objection is to model divine knowledge on created mental representations.

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Knowledge is not merely a matching mental image

The Universality of Divine Knowledge and Power: Classical Objections

لَيْسَ الْعِلْمُ عِبَارَةً عَنْ حُصُولِ صُورَةٍ مُسَاوِيَةٍ لِلْمَعْلُومِ
Knowledge is not simply the occurrence of an image identical with the known object.

If knowing always meant receiving a matching internal picture, every external change would appear to require a new picture in the knower. Even human knowledge is wider than visual imagery: relations, judgments and abstract matters are known.

The central mistake in the objection is to model divine knowledge on created mental representations.