receptive knowledge
Definition
Receptive knowledge describes knowledge that arises from listening to God (revelation) rather than from human questioning, analysis, or reasoning. Receptivity does not mean passivity but directed opening: willingness to hear what God says, not what we expect or want to hear. In contrast to analytical knowledge (bottom-up, beginning with facts and rising to principles), receptive knowledge begins top-down: God’s word provides the context in which all other knowledge gains meaning.
In George Warnock’s The Vision and the Appointment (b9), receptive knowledge is central to his epistemology. Not: “Question yourself, reason it out, and come to God.” But: “Listen to God, and from there you will be enabled to understand.” This distinguishes itself from the Socratic model (questioning to discovery) and the Baconian model (experience to scientific conclusion).
George Warnock (b9)
Warnock grounds receptive knowledge in God’s own initiative:
“God does not answer the questions we ask, but the questions we should have asked. Divine revelation follows God’s timetable, not man’s.”
(The Vision and the Appointment, Bibliology)
And further:
“The prophet stands on his watchtower not to lay down questions but to hear what God will speak. This is receptive knowledge: receiving revelation, not investigating it.”
Receptive knowledge is not irrational — it employs reason, but under the Spirit’s guidance. It is knowledge that grows in obedience.