Unpublished Nonfiction Works
I have a growing number of nonfiction works in various stages of completion, ranging from mere titles and a short idea of the theme right on up to books or articles in final draft form.
Many books there are in various stages, ranging from mere dreams to a good number of pages of text. One is nearing completion. “Four Kinds of Knowledge” deals with the nature of revealed knowledge, speculative knowledge, scientific empirical knowledge, and practical empirical knowledge. Of particular interest is the way they intertwine so that even the most absolute of revealed truths is fleshed out by the other three sorts of knowledge. This leads to problems but they are problems caused by our creaturely natures and by the richness of God’s world. As one example of a problem, most Catholic Christian dogmas contain not only revealed truths but also various speculations on human nature and on the nature of the world. We must be very careful to use the brains the good Lord has given us or we will soon confuse ourselves so that the realization that speculative knowledge is wrong will lead us to deny the revealed truths with which it was intertwined in specific catechisms or theological works. Alternatively, some will treat the speculative elements of dogmatic declarations and theological systems as being as absolutely true as God’s self-revelations. I would hope to have this manuscript in the hands of a publisher by the end of 2006.