Ignorance of God is a condition often attributed to the wicked in Scripture, highlighting a spiritual blindness and moral deficiency that separates them from the knowledge and understanding of the divine. This state is not merely a lack of information but a willful rejection of God's truth and revelation.

Biblical Descriptions and Consequences

The Bible frequently associates ignorance of God with wickedness, emphasizing that such ignorance is not innocent but culpable. In Romans 1:18-21, the Apostle Paul explains that God's attributes are evident in creation, leaving humanity without excuse for their ignorance: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse."

This passage underscores that the wicked actively suppress the truth, choosing ignorance over the acknowledgment of God. Their state of ignorance is thus a deliberate choice, leading to further moral and spiritual decay.

Old Testament Insights

The Old Testament also addresses the ignorance of God among the wicked. In Hosea 4:6, the prophet laments, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children." Here, ignorance is linked to a rejection of God's law, resulting in destruction and divine rejection.

Similarly, in Psalm 14:1, the psalmist declares, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good." The term "fool" in this context refers to one who is morally deficient and willfully ignorant of God, leading to corrupt behavior.

New Testament Perspectives

In the New Testament, ignorance of God is further explored as a condition of the heart and mind. Ephesians 4:17-18 warns believers not to live as the Gentiles do, "in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts." This passage highlights that ignorance is linked to a hardened heart, resulting in alienation from God.

The Apostle Peter also addresses this issue in 1 Peter 1:14, urging believers, "As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance." Here, ignorance is associated with a former way of life, characterized by sinful desires and disobedience.

Moral and Spiritual Implications

The state of ignorance of God among the wicked carries significant moral and spiritual implications. It is not a passive condition but an active rejection of God's truth, leading to a life of sin and separation from God. This ignorance results in a lack of moral discernment and an inability to live according to God's righteous standards.

In summary, the Bible presents ignorance of God as a defining characteristic of the wicked, marked by a willful rejection of divine truth and revelation. This state leads to moral corruption, spiritual alienation, and ultimately, divine judgment.Jeremiah 9:3
And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth on the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, said the LORD.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

John 15:21
But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

John 17:25
O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Acts 17:30
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent:
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Of the State Wherein Man was Created, and How the Image of God is ...
... of those parts; no mixture of darkness or ignorance,"no mixture of ... A desperate wicked
heart imagineth evil continually, evil against God, and evil ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/lecture xxiii of the state.htm

The Knowledge of God Stifled or Corrupted, Ignorantly or ...
... interpreter of his own meaning, when he says elsewhere, the wicked has "no ... opinion
of Deity is declared by an apostle to be ignorance of God: "Howbeit, then ...
/.../calvin/the institutes of the christian religion/chapter 4 the knowledge of.htm

The Eternal Punishment of the Wicked Reconciled with the Goodness ...
... it is good to be reminded of our ignorance, when we ... for example, supposes that although
God actually threatened to punish the wicked eternally, he ...
/.../chapter iv the eternal punishment.htm

The Knowledge of God
... When people's minds are covered with ignorance, it is a ... The wicked are subtile, having
borrowed their skill from the ... the vine, comfort the church of God in her ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/2 the knowledge of god.htm

The Wicked Servant
... the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is ... If God's law be not in our hearts,
then mere ... that in a very terrible way:- 'Thou wicked servant, unworthy ...
/.../the water of life and other sermons/sermon xviii the wicked servant.htm

The Wilderness State
... they dwell in an evil world, among wicked, subtle, malicious ... to pour out their souls
before God, and show him ... not to the ignorant, till the ignorance is removed ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 46 the wilderness state.htm

Whether a Religious Sins More Grievously than a Secular by the ...
... and they strengthened the hands of the wicked, that no ... of contempt, but out of weakness
or ignorance, commit a ... he has a right intention towards God, and though ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether a religious sins more.htm

Of Monastic Vows.
... entered into this kind of life through ignorance, being unable ... is that which has
for it the commandment of God. ... So many wicked opinions are inherent in the vows ...
/.../various/the augsburg confession of faith/article xxvii of monastic vows.htm

God Willing that all Men Should be Saved.
... For sins of ignorance, and those into which men were surprized ... unto them, as I live
saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that ...
/.../lee/sermons on various important subjects/sermon xvii god willing that.htm

But as He Afterwards Says that "The Teacher of Christianity Acts ...
... prevents them from consulting skilled physicians, by whom his ignorance would be ...
that the labours and chastisements inflicted upon the wicked by God are a ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/origen/origen against celsus/chapter lxxv but as he.htm

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