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Quick Answer
The Greek word for knowledge is gnosis (γνῶσις), pronounced GNOH-sis, Strong’s number G1108. It comes from the verb ginōskō (“to know” through experience, observation, or relationship) and appears about 29 times in the New Testament. Gnosis isn’t just information stored in your head — it’s knowledge gained by coming into contact with something, which is exactly why the New Testament is so careful about what you do with it.
Word Study: Where It Comes From
Gnosis is the noun form of ginōskō, a verb that covers a surprisingly wide range in Greek: to perceive, to recognize, to understand, to come to know through firsthand experience — even, in some contexts, to know a person intimately rather than merely know facts about them. That range matters. In English, “knowledge” tends to mean data — the kind of thing you could look up. Gnosis leans harder toward knowledge that comes from encounter: you didn’t just hear a fact, you came to know it.
That’s what makes gnosis such a loaded word in the New Testament. By the second century, a movement historians call Gnosticism had hijacked the term, teaching that salvation came through a secret, elite gnosis — special spiritual knowledge available only to initiates, hidden from ordinary believers. The apostles were writing before that movement fully bloomed, but you can already see them pushing back against its seeds: warning that knowledge without love is worthless, and that some things being marketed as spiritual “knowledge” are counterfeit. Understanding that background changes how you read several New Testament passages that otherwise sound oddly cautious about something as ordinary-sounding as “knowledge.”
Where This Word Appears in the Bible
| Reference | KJV Text |
|---|---|
| 1 Corinthians 8:1 | “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” |
| Luke 1:77 | “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,” |
| 2 Peter 1:5-6 | “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance…” |
| Philippians 3:8 | “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…” |
| 1 Timothy 6:20 | “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:” |
Verse Deep Dive: 1 Timothy 6:20
Read in English, 1 Timothy 6:20 sounds like Paul is warning Timothy about physics experiments: “avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.” Modern readers hear “science” and picture laboratories. But the KJV translators wrote “science” in its older sense — the word behind it is gnosis. Paul isn’t warning against science at all. He’s warning Timothy about a rival, counterfeit gnosis: a system of “knowledge” already circulating that claimed special spiritual insight, contradicted the gospel, and had already started to distract believers with arguments that sounded deep but led nowhere.
That’s the phrase “falsely so called” doing the real work — pseudōnymos, “falsely named.” Paul isn’t anti-knowledge. He’s telling Timothy that something can wear the name gnosis and not actually be it. Real gnosis, the kind Paul wants Timothy pursuing, is anchored to “that which is committed to thy trust” — the actual gospel, handed down, testable, and open to everyone. Counterfeit gnosis is exclusive, speculative, and untethered. The passage isn’t a warning against learning. It’s a warning about which knowledge you let define you.
Not All “Knowledge” Is the Same
The New Testament actually uses several related words that get flattened into “knowledge” in English translation, and the distinctions matter:
- Gnosis (γνῶσις) — knowledge gained through experience or instruction; the raw material.
- Epignosis (ἐπίγνωσις) — a compound of gnosis with the prefix epi- (“upon” or “toward”), meaning full, precise, or thorough knowledge. Paul reaches for this stronger word when he prays believers would grow in “the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10) or “the acknowledging of every good thing” (Philemon 1:6) — a deeper, more complete knowing than gnosis alone implies.
- Sophia (σοφία) — wisdom, the right application of what you know. James 3:13 pairs the two on purpose: “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?” Gnosis without sophia is just information; sophia is what you do with it.
Paul’s own progression in 2 Peter 1:5-6 makes the point visually: faith, then virtue, then knowledge (gnosis), then self-control. Knowledge doesn’t sit at the top of the list. It’s a step, meant to keep producing the next thing.
Why the Original Word Changes the Meaning
In English, “knowledge” reads as neutral — you either have it or you don’t, and having more is generally assumed to be good. Gnosis in the New Testament is never treated as neutral. It’s judged entirely by what it produces. “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” (1 Corinthians 8:1) isn’t a knock on learning; it’s a warning that gnosis detached from love curdles into pride. And 1 Timothy 6:20 shows that gnosis can even be counterfeited — dressed up to look spiritual while leading someone away from the actual gospel.
So when Paul says he counts everything as loss “for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8), he’s not talking about facts about Jesus. He’s talking about the kind of knowing that comes from actual encounter — the same root sense buried in ginōskō all along. Bible knowledge was never meant to end as information. It’s meant to end in relationship, humility, and love — or, per Paul, it isn’t really the gnosis worth having.
Living It Out
This week, notice the difference between studying Scripture to know more and studying it to know Him more. Both can look identical from the outside — same open Bible, same notes in the margin. The test 1 Corinthians 8:1 gives you is simple: is what you’re learning making you easier to love, or harder? Gnosis that builds up looks like patience with someone who doesn’t know what you know yet. Gnosis that puffs up looks like impatience with them.
Journal Prompts
- Where might my pursuit of Bible knowledge have quietly puffed me up instead of building someone else up, the way 1 Corinthians 8:1 warns?
- 2 Peter 1:5-6 places knowledge in a chain, after faith and virtue, before self-control. What would it look like to let what I learned in Scripture today produce actual character before it produces an opinion?
- Philippians 3:8 calls knowing Christ something that outweighs everything else Paul had. What’s currently competing with that kind of knowing for first place in my life?
Prayer
Lord, You gave me a mind that can learn and a Spirit that can actually know You — not just know facts about You. Guard me from the kind of knowledge Paul warned Timothy about: things that sound wise and spiritual but quietly lead away from the truth You’ve already given me. Let every bit of gnosis I gain from Your Word turn into love instead of pride, into knowing You instead of just knowing about You. Amen.
Share This
📖 “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” — 1 Corinthians 8:1 hits different once you realize the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis, is being weighed against love, not against ignorance. Full word study here: [Post URL]
🕯️ Ever wondered why 1 Timothy 6:20 warns against “science falsely so called”? The Greek word is gnosis — Paul’s actually warning against counterfeit spiritual knowledge, not physics. Word study on gnosis: [Post URL]
FAQ
Is “gnosis” the same word the Gnostic heretics used?
Yes — Gnosticism gets its name directly from gnosis. The movement claimed a secret, exclusive spiritual knowledge was necessary for salvation. The New Testament writers used the ordinary word gnosis long before that heresy fully formed, but passages like 1 Timothy 6:20 show the apostles were already pushing back against its early seeds.
Does the Bible say knowledge is bad?
No. Knowledge (gnosis) is listed as something to actively pursue — 2 Peter 1:5-6 tells believers to add it to their faith. What Scripture warns against is knowledge detached from love, which 1 Corinthians 8:1 says “puffeth up” instead of building others up.
What’s the difference between gnosis and wisdom (sophia) in the Bible?
Gnosis is knowing something; sophia is knowing what to do with it. James 3:13 pairs them deliberately — being “wise” and “endued with knowledge” are treated as two different, complementary things.
Why does 1 Timothy 6:20 call some knowledge “falsely so called”?
Because Paul is warning Timothy about a rival system already circulating that claimed to be spiritual gnosis but wasn’t tethered to the actual gospel. The Greek word behind it, pseudōnymos, literally means “falsely named” — it can wear the label without being the real thing.
