oa Over de noëtische gevolgen van de zonde Een filosofische beschouwing

Many expressions in the bible suggest that sin has noetic effects. Through sin, it is said, our minds have been clouded, our understandings darkened; through sin we suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The aim of this paper is to make sense of these suggestions. The first section introduces some relevant epistemological distinctions and clarifies the relations between knowing, thinking, and truth. The second section gives a rough overview of the empirical evidence various Calvinists (Calvin, Kuyper, Greijdanus and Dooyeweerd) adduced for the thesis that sin has noetic effects. The next two sections discuss the question whether someone who believes that this thesis is true, should therefore become a sceptic. It is argued he should not. The final section summarizes some questions concerning the noetic effects of sin that deserve careful consideration.