The Christian Scriptures could be theologically described as beginning and ending with an epistemological outlook. The first episode of humanity’s activity centers on the knowledge of good and evil. The final stage of humanity is pictured by Jeremiah as a universally prophetic and knowing society:“And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying,‘Know the Lord,’for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord”(Jer 31: 34). What happens to knowledge in between? We intend to hash out epistemology with the tool of biblical theology: an approach to knowledge as developed in Genesis 2 and explored throughout the Tanakh (ie, the Old Testament) and New Testament. 1

In short, due to the resemblance of Genesis 2–3, both in the theology and narratives of Israel’s canon, we will work from the beginning of the Pentateuch forward. But we are not bound to a particular school of biblical theology. In this manner, we will follow this epistemological process through the narratives rather than make theological statements about individual passages.