Program / Course 13: Foundations of Apologetics / Lesson 5.3
What you will learn
- Define intellectual humility and distinguish it from doubt, relativism and timidity.
- Explain how Christian sources ground humility in thinking and speaking.
- Describe practical habits that build humility, such as calibrating confidence and seeking correction.
- Show how a person can hold conclusions firmly and humbly together.
The big idea
Intellectual humility is an accurate sense of the limits of one’s own knowledge, joined to openness to correction. It does not mean having no convictions. A humble person may hold a belief with great confidence and still admit that human minds are limited and that others may see what has been missed. Christian traditions teach this attitude on theological grounds: that God is greater than any human thought, that human reason is finite and fallen, and that the virtue of humility applies to the mind as well as to the will. Without it, arguing for faith easily turns into arguing for oneself.
Key terms
- Intellectual humility
- A disposition to recognize the limits of one’s knowledge, to hold beliefs with fitting confidence and to be open to learning from others.
- Fallibilism
- The view that a person can know something and yet be mistaken about it, so that even firmly held beliefs may need revision.
- Calibration
- Matching the strength of one’s confidence to the strength of one’s evidence.
- Apophatic theology
- A way of speaking about God that stresses what cannot be said, because God exceeds human concepts. It is also called negative theology, and is especially valued in Eastern Orthodoxy.
- Dogmatism
- Holding views in a way that allows no question or correction.
- Relativism
- The view that truth depends on the person or culture, so that no view is better than another. It is different from humility.
- Epistemic virtue
- A good habit of mind, such as carefulness, honesty or humility, that helps a person find the truth.
Background
The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates is remembered for saying that he knew he did not know. He meant that wisdom begins with recognizing ignorance, and he questioned those who claimed to know without being able to give reasons. Christian thinkers adopted the point and deepened it. The Bible repeatedly links the fear of the Lord with the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10) and warns against being wise in one’s own eyes (Proverbs 3:7).
In the New Testament, Paul writes that knowledge puffs up but love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1), and that now a person sees as through a mirror dimly, while full knowledge belongs to the age to come (1 Corinthians 13:12). These verses do not discourage learning. They set it in a framework in which the knower is a creature and a servant.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: What humility of mind is and is not
Intellectual humility is not indecision. A person who says that nothing can be known, or who will not form a view, is not humble but evasive. It is also not relativism. The humble person holds that truth exists and that some views are better than others, and for that very reason is willing to be corrected. Nor is it false modesty, in which a person pretends to know less than he does.
It is better seen as a kind of accuracy. A humble person knows how much he knows, knows what he does not know, and is not afraid to admit it. The Rule of Benedict, a sixth-century guide for monks, devotes a long chapter to humility, treating it as the root of the other virtues. Similar teaching is found among the desert fathers and in the writings of many Protestants, such as the Puritans.
Step 2: Why Christian teaching supports it
Several themes of Christian teaching ground humility. The first is the difference between Creator and creature. God is infinite and human beings are not, so that human language and thought about God are always partial. Eastern Orthodox writers stress this in apophatic theology. Catholic writers such as Aquinas also teach that what God is exceeds what the mind can grasp, and that human words about God are analogies. Reformed writers say that God accommodates himself to human limits in Scripture.
The second theme is the effect of sin on the mind. Most traditions teach that human reasoning is imperfect, though they differ on how severely. The third is love: since the goal of knowing is to love God and neighbor (1 Corinthians 13), knowledge pursued for pride is empty.
Step 3: Calibrate confidence
A practical form of humility is calibration. Not every belief deserves the same confidence. A person may be nearly certain that Jesus was crucified under Pilate, quite confident that the Gospels reflect early memory, moderately sure about the date of a particular book and unsure about a disputed theory of the atonement. Treating them all as equally certain would be a failure of humility. Treating them all as doubtful would be a failure of accuracy.
One way to practice is to give each important belief a rough level, such as certain, very likely, probable, uncertain, and to note the reasons. The exercise often shows that confidence has been placed unevenly.
Step 4: Build habits of correction
Humility is shown in habits. A person can listen without planning a reply. A person can ask others to point out errors, and thank them when they do. A person can read serious authors who disagree and report their views fairly. A person can keep a record of past beliefs that were later revised, as a reminder that revision is normal. A person can admit ignorance without embarrassment and can admit error plainly.
James 1:19 advises being swift to hear and slow to speak. Proverbs 12:15 says that the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. These texts apply to the thinking life as much as to any other part of it.
Step 5: Humble and confident together
The hardest question is how humility fits with conviction. The martyrs and confessors of the church held their faith with great firmness, and the creeds speak with confidence. Christians do not usually consider this arrogance. A useful way to see how both can be held is to distinguish levels. At the center are core convictions held with great confidence on grounds of revelation, experience and reason. Around them are many beliefs about interpretation, application and history held more loosely. The humble person knows which is which.
Humility also leaves room for the work of God. A Christian who recognizes that faith is a gift does not claim credit for being right, and a person who recognizes how often others have been wrong in confident ways may be slower to expect certainty. This is part of what it means to give an answer with gentleness and respect, as the opening lesson of the course noted.
- How does intellectual humility differ from doubt, relativism and false modesty?
- Which Bible verses speak most directly to the pride of knowledge, and what do they say?
- What is calibration, and how would you apply it to your own beliefs?
- What habits help a person learn from others?
- How can a person be both firm in conviction and open to correction?
- What does apophatic theology teach about the limits of human speech about God?
Examples
Calibrating a set of beliefs
A student lists ten of her beliefs about Christianity and history and assigns each a level from certain to uncertain. She finds she was equally sure of beliefs with very different support. She marks two for further study and notes that she had never read an argument against one of them. The exercise does not change her faith but changes how she talks about it.
A hard saying
A pastor is asked by a teenager why God allows children to die. He replies that he does not know a full answer, that Scripture does not give one in a sentence and that he has stood with grieving families and has not found words to explain. He offers to read Job with the young person. His honesty earns more trust than a quick argument would.
Changing a position
A scholar who for years defended a particular date for a New Testament letter meets new evidence and publishes a correction. Colleagues respect the move. The scholar’s other work gains credibility because it is clear that conclusions are held for reasons. This is a constructed example.
Different perspectives
Eastern Orthodox
Orthodox theology treats God as beyond all concepts and speaks of knowing him through worship, prayer and humility. Vladimir Lossky and others describe apophatic theology as a necessary guard against turning God into an idea that can be mastered.
Roman Catholic
Catholic teaching holds that human reason can know truths about God and also that these truths are limited. Aquinas teaches that the human mind cannot know what God is, only what he is not and how creatures relate to him. Catholic spirituality gives a central place to humility, as in the writings of Thomas a Kempis.
Protestant traditions
Protestants emphasize the authority of Scripture and the corruption of human wisdom by sin, and so urge humility before the word of God. Reformed writers speak of reasoning as under the Spirit. Some Protestants also hold that confidence in God’s word allows great firmness together with humility about human interpretation.
Secular and philosophical views
Philosophers from Socrates to Karl Popper have argued that willingness to be corrected is central to good thinking. Contemporary psychologists measure intellectual humility and find that it is linked to better reasoning. Critics warn that it must not be used to avoid taking positions.
Jewish tradition
The Jewish tradition values study, argument and the admission that a teacher may be mistaken. The Talmud preserves minority views and records that a sage may change his mind, treating this as a mark of wisdom.
Why it matters
Apologists are often accused of arrogance. Sometimes the charge is fair. A discipline of reasoned defense can tempt a person to think of himself as master of the truth. Intellectual humility corrects this temptation without weakening conviction. It makes the apologist easier to trust and easier to learn from. It also keeps the student honest about the limits of what any argument can show, which is a theme of this whole course.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Humility means having no firm convictions.
Correction: Humility is compatible with strong convictions. It concerns how they are held and how the person responds to challenge, not whether they are held.
Misunderstanding: Admitting uncertainty weakens a defense of the faith.
Correction: Honest admission of limits usually increases trust. A defense that claims to know everything invites suspicion.
Misunderstanding: Humility is a Christian virtue, so it has nothing to do with argument.
Correction: The virtues apply to the mind as well as the will. Proverbs, Paul and the monastic writers all connect humility with wisdom and learning.
Misunderstanding: Admitting that one may be wrong means there is no reason to hold the belief.
Correction: Fallibilism allows knowledge. Having reasons for belief is compatible with admitting that further evidence might change it.
Knowledge check
What is intellectual humility?
It is a disposition to recognize the limits of one’s knowledge, to hold beliefs with confidence that fits the evidence and to be open to correction. It is not the same as indecision or relativism. A humble person can have strong convictions and still welcome challenge.
Why do Christian traditions support humility of mind?
They teach that God is infinite and human beings are finite, that sin affects the mind, and that the aim of knowing is love. Orthodox apophatic theology, Catholic teaching about analogy and Reformed teaching about God’s accommodation all stress the limits of human speech about God.
What is calibration?
It is matching the strength of one’s confidence to the strength of the evidence. Some beliefs deserve near certainty, others only moderate confidence. A calibrated person is not equally sure of everything and does not treat all beliefs as equally doubtful.
Name two habits that build intellectual humility.
Examples include listening without planning a reply, asking others to point out errors, reading serious authors who disagree, keeping a record of beliefs that were later revised, and saying plainly that one does not know when that is the case.
How can a person be both humble and confident?
By distinguishing levels of belief. Core convictions can be held with great firmness on solid grounds, while many beliefs about interpretation and detail are held more loosely. Humility concerns openness to correction and awareness of limits, not the absence of conviction.
Think it through
- When did you last admit an error about something that mattered?
- Which of your beliefs would be hardest to hold more loosely, and why?
- How do you react when someone corrects you in front of others?
- Where is the line between humility and avoiding a question?
Independent assignment
A calibration list
In your own notebook, write 500 to 700 words. List ten beliefs you hold about religion, history or ethics, and give each a level of confidence (certain, very likely, probable, uncertain) with a sentence of reasons. Choose the two where your confidence seems least supported and write what you would need to learn. Then write a paragraph on how holding beliefs at different levels affects how you speak with others. Keep this for yourself.
Further study
- Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of St. Benedict Read the chapter on humility and notice its connection to listening.
- Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ Read the opening chapters on humble knowledge of oneself.
- Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church Read the introduction on apophatic theology and its role in Orthodox thought.
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées Read selected passages on the limits of reason.
- Proverbs 3:5 Read the verse on trusting and not leaning on one’s own understanding.
- James 1:19 Read the advice to be swift to hear and slow to speak.