THE YOKE OF IGNORANCE

Author: Ugo Wisdom Osita

School: Remnant Christian Network Theological Seminary (Adullam)
Program: Diploma year 2 first semester.
Course: Academic Research
Lecturer Prof. Timothy Imuwahen
Date: 11 September 2023

Introduction
The economic meltdown of every country thrives on the wings of ignorance, so many things that are
happening in our world today, the killings, the chaos, the hates are the result of ignorance. (Pastor
Timothy Imuwahen, a professor of kingdom theology) once said, “Knowledge is the fountain of
development and growth1”.
This article seeks to clarify areas of ignorance, the dangers, and the probable solution to eradicating
ignorance in our society and the body of Christ. Ignorance is no respecter of anybody; it doesn’t matter
your position in the family, community, or society at large. This fact has put this world in disarray and
bewilderment. Even the supreme wisdom says, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”
(Hosea 4:6A, New English Translation). Indirectly, he is saying that they perished because they were
ignorant. Funny enough, we always read that as if it were something of the past, but I'm sorry to say that
ignorance is increasing even as knowledge is increasing. Just imagine how beautiful this world would be
if everyone knew and did what they were supposed to do.
Ignorance can be the flipside of memory, what we don’t know because we have forgotten2. (Robert N.
Proctor (2008) Agnotology: the making and unmaking of ignorance). Ignorance can be made or unmade.
(Peter Burke) The only growth that is natural is biological, every other growth is engaged, Intellectual,
and spiritual3. (Joshua Selman). Ignorance must be treated as an enemy because it can lead to so many
casualties. It must be fought like cancer. What a phenomenal experience when you are able to define
yourself by your belief system, values, goals, and abilities. Robert N. Proctor (2008) Agnotology: the
making and unmaking of ignorance.

What is Ignorance?
Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. It is the condition of being ignorant in general or in relation to a
particular subject. Ignorance is also a state of being uneducated or uninformed. Ignorance is a willful
neglect or refusal to acquire knowledge that one may acquire and which it is his or her duty to have.
Ignorance is a state of being unaware of or ignoring important information. According to Peter Burke
(2023), he narrowed his definition of ignorance to the absence or vacuum of knowledge or information 4.

1
Pastor Timothy Imuwahen, a professor of kingdom theology and a lecturer at Remnant Christian Network Theological
Seminary, Adullam.
2
Robert N. Proctor is an American historian of science and Professor of the History of Science at Stanford
University.
3
Joshua Selman is the Founder and Apostle of Eternity Network International, popularly known as Koinonia.
4
Peter Burke is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister of State.
It suffices to know that the society in which we find ourselves, our environment, and the people around us
encourage us to remain in that state of being unaware of or ignoring important information about
ourselves, our belief system, our values, our abilities, and our social interactions. This is very pitiful
because, in our homes, religious centers, and other institutions, we often frown at anyone who tries to
know beyond the known. Some often perceive these individuals as loquacious in their dealings with
people in their given communities.
More so, if such a person insists on getting more information, some religiously intolerant groups or
families may threaten to ostracize, deprive, hate, or stigmatize the knowledge-seeking fellow. In fact,
darkness invaded the earth as a result of ignorance. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be like gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:4-5. If you read further, it would seem as if they were
advanced in knowledge. However, I call that ignorance also, because the devil did not give them the full
information. They were lacking the knowledge of not only falling from the grace of God but also of their
eviction from the Garden of Eden.
After my exegesis on Genesis 3, I can say that half-truths are as dangerous as ignorance. However, this
falls under the category of ignorance because some information is still missing. For clarity, the Apostle
Joshua Selman posited that "A truth that is not well managed can kill 5". How much more an incomplete
truth or a total devoid of information?
Three folds of ignorance:
 Unaware of an information
 Ignoring an import information.
 Holding onto the wrong idea or information

1. Unaware of information: This is the most common form of ignorance in our society, which is a lack
of information or being unaware of information. Almost everyone is guilty of this because no matter how
educated anyone may be, there must be an area where he or she lacks information. This is the default
making of man; every man is born ignorant. The first man (Adam) was also created in that way, though as
a full-grown man without any prior knowledge. Every now and then, God comes to teach him. That is
why, when God came again as usual to continue the lecture, he discovered that his students had gone
hiding, and the lord called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” and he said I heard the sound you
made in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid. And he said, who told you that you
were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat? (Genesis 3:10-11, Pastors
English Study Bible) My major emphasis is on the word “Who told you?” On the contrary, you are
supposed to be devoid of this information. How I wish they had waited for God’s tutelage; man would
have known only good and not had knowledge of evil. I will explain this more on the third aspect of
ignorance.
God really wants us to be knowledgeable. Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed because of lack of
knowledge. It is a lamentation to God when his people are lacking in knowledge or wisdom. The Apostle
Paul would always say, I do not want you to be unaware.
Someone would want to ask, If God really wants us to be knowledgeable, isn’t He the sovereign Lord?
Why not by his power? And given that He was the one who created human beings, why did He not
include all wisdom as part of his making by default? I would not have you be ignorant of this. It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings to search out a matter.

5
Joshua Selman: Spiritual Intelligence.
Our societal problem is the ability to go through what it takes to search out a matter, the pain, the
patience, the rigors, and settle for mediocrity. The trickiest part is that this group of people does not want
anyone to rise. They are comfortable in that state and want everyone to be comfortable at that mediocre
level, which makes it more difficult for the remnant who want to know more.

2. Ignoring important information: This could be described as laxity and a nonchalant attitude towards
information that was supposed to be taken with the utmost seriousness. God frowns at this; in Hosea 4:6,
he says, because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you. He speaks of the priests and says
their lack of knowledge is deliberate. They did not know God and his ways because they did not wish to
know.

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of
the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? Jeremiah 8:9.

These people ignored the most important thing they should know. The dangerous aspect of these people is
that they believe they are wise, but the very little thing they should know is ignored. Such people are very
difficult to correct, which is why anytime God speaks to this group of people, He always pronounces
judgment on them. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will no longer accept
advice. Eccl. 4:13.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man
who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against
that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7:26-27.
The beginning of the fall of a man is the idea that he has known all that is to be known. The Apostle
Joshua Selman would always say that your last enemy is not your failure but your last success. The
moment someone starts thinking that they have known all, that same day, their fall begins.

I sincerely believe that those who hold onto the wisdom of this world will not see the kingdom of God
because the pathway to it doesn’t seem logical. (Matthew 11:25) Jesus, speaking, gave thanks to the
Father and the Lord of Heaven and Earth, saying, thank you because you have hidden this thing from the
wise and the intelligent and revealed it to babes.

3. Holding onto wrong ideas or information: this is the most dangerous aspect of ignorance. Why?
Because it is transgenerational, we pass it on to our children and our children’s children. An example is
my family; anyone from a traditional background will relate to this. My father almost educated me into
his idea of who God is, but because I have seen the light, I came to understand that he was speaking from
a point of gross ignorance. It was when I began to ask him some questions about what he believed that he
understood how unfruitful and defenseless he was and then he said, yes, that was what my father told me!
This is the major problem in the body of Christ in our day and time: everybody believed that what they
knew was all that was to be known and all the truth therein. However, over time, I have heard so many
men of God who were bold enough to come out and declare in public that what they had been preaching
was false, and I have followed some of them when they were teaching what they now see to be a lie, but
they were defending it then with their lives, even making bold statements like, whoever preaches another
thing rather than that which they are preaching is false.
My concern now is for those who believed them but didn’t have the opportunity to hear their
correction(s). They will also run through the same error, passing it on to other people who might believe
in them, probably because it’s coming out of their pastor’s mouth. To make matters worse, we live in a
world where information travels like light and everybody has the liberty to say what he or she thinks or
believes.
Most of the Israelites were, and some are still, in this aspect of ignorance, they have their own concept of
who and how the promised messiah will function, which is why they never regard Christ as the Messiah.
They believed and expected that the promised messiah would come in the form of a military figure. Psalm
2:7-9, Isaiah 42:1–4, who would fight the Romans and drive them out; other Jews were expecting a
prophet like Moses. They never expected a servant. I mean, it doesn’t make sense that it is by dying that
he will deliver the world. They didn’t even know that Elijah came in John the Baptist as the forerunner of
the coming of the promised Christ.
Roman 11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brethren, so that you may not be wise
in your own opinion. Partial blindness has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.
My main emphasis is "so that you may not be wise in your own opinion". This is the reason why I love
the men of Athens in Acts 17:22–23. These men were doing what they thought they knew; however, they
were open to receiving greater light and understanding. They didn’t throw that altar but kept it, believing,
and hoping for the day an understanding about that would come. As I passed by and looked at the object
of your worship, I found an altar with the inscription "To the unknown God". Therefore, I am going to
make known to you the one whom you worship without knowing. (Acts 17:22–23)
Many believers do not know the antichrist; the Bible says, here is wisdom. Let him who has
understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. I remember when I was a
child, the movie they normally showed us as the Antichrist was a horror-looking creature. Ever since then,
I have been waiting to see that kind of creature. I believe you know the rest of the story.
This can actually make one fight the very truth that would have saved them from pending danger. These
people believe they know something, they would fight any other thing that seems inconsistent to what
they know. by observation, this could be more dangerous than not knowing at all.

The propelling power of Ignorance:

1. Neglect: A willful disregard or lack of attention towards information or a body of knowledge. There
may be a few things that would cause someone to act this way towards information. (i) the difficulty or
how ambiguous the information is. (ii) Doubt (iii) Felling that one has outgrown past the level. (iv)
Feeling that the information is outdated and no longer useful to your generation. (v) Not seeing the
usefulness of it in future time.
2. Forgetfulness: Not having a retentive capacity to store information for a long period of time and, for
some people, it is almost immediate. According to an article in NIH News Health Titled “Things
Forgotten”, it stated that forgetfulness can arise from stress, depression, or lack of sleep. Other causes
include side effects from certain medicines, an unhealthy diet or not having enough fluids in your body
(dehydration). It also stated that episodes of memory loss may be a sign of a more serious problem called
Dementia, though this is more common among older people.
3. Myopia: This is a body of knowledge that you are not sure of, you can’t bodily say or act as required of
one who has that knowledge. This is the lack of knowledge clarity, it's uncertain.
4. Extinction: A total annihilation of a body of knowledge or information. This is certain information that
was aborted probably because of the mayhem that information may cause to society. This could also be a
body of knowledge that died out because of revolution; most of the things that are no longer necessary or
needed in the present generation.
5. Secrecy: This is concealed information or knowledge. It is not made open to the public, thereby
keeping every other person ignorant of the information. This is also called Suppression of knowledge.
Keeping information out of reach to them that is regarded as lower or less important in society. (Peter
Burke, Ignorance: The Global History) explains this as strategic ignorance, “deliberately keeping others
ignorant”, the default practice of governments and spy agencies6.
6. Organizational ignorance: is defined as the effect of the uneven distribution of knowledge within an
organization. A group of people intentionally withdraws information from the masses. (Peter Burke,
Ignorance: The Global History).
7. Rational ignorance: Refraining from learning when the cost outweighs the benefit. (Peter Burke,
Ignorance: The Global History).

The danger of ignorance:

- The moment anyone is yoked with ignorance, the person tends to overlook important matters that are
available and that can even help such a person out of trouble.
- Ignorance can lead to poor decision-making, missed opportunities, and even harm to oneself or others.
One major area where ignorance can have a significant impact is in procurement. Matthew 13:44 Again,
the kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field that a man finds and hides again and, for joy
over it goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.
- Ignorance creates fear. This is what we call fear of the unknown, pain, and loss.
- It would make one far from the trend in society, thereby leaving him outdated and seeming to not belong
to his society. I can remember the days of letter writing. After composing your letter, you will walk to the
post office, wait for days for it to get to the destination, and you will have to wait for days again to get
your response. Just imagine if anyone is still living in those days in our society of GSM today.
- Ignorance will cause someone to suffer to achieve a simple task.
- The economic meltdown of every country thrives on the wings of ignorance.
- Cause grief even when you are not supposed to worry. “But I would not have you ignorant, brethren,
concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope. (I
Thessalonians 4:13 pastors study bible) believers can know that death is not the end, that there will be
resurrection and reunion with those who have gone on before them.
- Such a one will be deceived and used by others. So that Satan might not take advantage of us, for we are
not ignorant of his schemes (2 Cor 2:11)
- The strongest campaign of Satan is in the area of deception. If Satan can deceive you, he can destroy
you. (Joshua Selman)

Signs and symptoms of Ignorance

According to Revival Army, (2021) Dealing with The Spirit of Ignorance7
1. Sudden decisions that lead to regrets and grief. This is to say that when one starts noticing regrets
and grief as a result of the decision he/she made, one needs to question his level of knowledge.
2. Hardened heart over instructions.
3. Indifference attitude.
4. Extreme carelessness and laziness.
6
Peter Burke: The Global History.
7
Revival Army, (2021) Dealing with The Spirit of Ignorance
 5. Repetition of past mistakes because they never learned from them.
6. Pride and self-glorification.
7. They act like they know everything.
8. They endlessly brag about their smartness.
9. Ignorant people are inconsistent.
10. They don’t express their emotions freely.
11. Ignorant people are conversation narcissists. A conversational narcissist is a person who hijacks
and takes control of conversations by making themselves the focus of the discourse.
12. Ignorant people are poor listeners.

A probable solution to eradicating ignorance

Ignorance is not necessarily evil-it can be innocent (as knowledge can be sin). But it seems to be
something we are all supposed to want to grow out of, to put behind us, in the process of generating or
acquiring knowledge. Ignorance can be made and unmade8 (Peter Burke). It is proven that man will never
know everything. However, I agree with Pastor Steve’s slogan, “Know a little about everything and know
everything about a little9”. For one to overcome ignorance, one must first understand that it is not a bad
thing to be ignorant in some areas of one’s life, but it is wrong to remain in ignorance when an
opportunity shows itself to learn, create, innovate, and adapt positively. Accepting one’s level of
ignorance, knowledge of one's ignorance is a precondition for enlightenment. Real knowledge is knowing
the extent of one's ignorance10 (Robert N. Proctor (2008) Agnotology: the making and unmaking of
ignorance) Discovering that you do not know what you do not know is the first and most important step to
take in delivering oneself from ignorance. Surely, I am the most ignorant man and don't have a man's
understanding (Proverbs 30:2)
- Examine yourself to see if you have the signs or symptoms of ignorance.
- Dedicate your time to learning, not feeling that you have arrived and have known everything.
- Learn to ask lead questions in the areas of confusion and uncertainty, have an open mind to learn, and be
ready to adapt to the new change. One may wish to have a counselor and a coach in those areas he/she
seeks knowledge of.
- Dedicate your time to prayer and studying the word of God. The Bible says to study to shew thyself
approved unto - God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy
2:15)
- Seek for wisdom “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of the Lord who gives to everyone
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him”. (James 1:5 World English Bible Translation)
- Check your companies or companions. The people you get along with can influence you negatively or
positively. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were
unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13
World English Bible Translation)
- Ignorance destroys, it will always keep you in the dark. We rise by light—that is understanding 11 (Joshua
Selman)

8
Peter Burke
9
Pastor Steve. Lecturer at Remnant Christian Network Theological Seminary. Adullam.
10
Robert N. Proctor. Agnotology: the making and unmaking of ignorance (2008)
11
Joshua Selman
Observation and recommendation
I strongly recommend that more research should be done on ignorance, according to my research, I
discovered that there are more people who talk about knowledge, and only a few people discuss the
matter of ignorance. We shouldn’t only focus on knowledge; the discussion of knowledge is as important
as the discussion of ignorance. As we study God, it is also important to study Satan. (Joshua Selman)

Conclusion
This paper has been able to explore different areas of ignorance, types, dangers, and probable solutions to
eradicating ignorance. The work explained what ignorance is, the three folds of ignorance, and the
empowering source of ignorance. It also discussed the possible dangers of ignorance using scriptural
proof and everyday life experience, and it went further to identify the signs and symptoms of ignorance,
the primary ways to know when one is in ignorance. This work also gives in detail the possible ways to
eradicate ignorance, pointing out that hunger to know is the key factor to be delivered from the yoke of
ignorance. From my observation and research it is proven that is more than what we don’t know. in all
your getting, get wisdom, wisdom is the principal thing, and by wisdom is a house built and by
understanding it is established.
Abstract
This paper explores the areas of ignorance. It uses the work of some profound men, the likes of Peter
Burke (2023) showing the propelling power of ignorance, and an audio message by Joshua Selman on
Spiritual Intelligence. This paper further explores the danger of ignorance, and how a whole nation can
perish because of ignorance. The methodology adopted is an observative approach, relying on the
secondary source. This paper observes that more work is done in the area of knowledge than ignorance.
This paper also discovers that more people are in ignorance than expected, having discussed the signs and
symptoms of ignorance. This paper also explores the probable solution that one can break loose from the
yoke of ignorance. The paper concludes that the way to eradicate ignorance is by getting knowledge.

Bibliography
Revival Army, Dealing with The Spirit of Ignorance. Copyrights, Revival Army 2021

Joshua Selman. the Founder and Apostle of Eternity Network International, popularly known as
Koinonia Audio message “spiritual intelligence” 2019.

Peter Burke. an emeritus professor of cultural history at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of
many distinguished books that have been translated into more than thirty languages, including The
Polymath and What Is the History of Knowledge. Publisher: Yale University Press (February 14, 2023)

Robert Neel Proctor is an American historian of science and Professor of the History of Science at
Stanford University

Pastor Timothy Osarumwense Imuwahen, a professor of kingdom theology and a lecturer at Remnant
BIBLE
Christian Network Theological REFERENCE
Seminary, Adullam. (September 12, 2023)
1. ROMAN 11:25, 10:3 12. ECCL4:13,
2. 1 COR. 10:1, 12:1, 14:38. 13. JER. 4:22, 5:4
3. 2 COR. 2:11, 1:8 14. MATTH. 7:26
4. I THES. 4:13 15. TITUS. 3:3
5. 1 TIM. 1:13 16. 1 PET. 2:15
6. 2 TIM. 2:23 17. GEN. 3:4-5, 3:10-11
Pastor Steve. A business consultant, a Christian counselor, and a lecturer at Remnant Christian Network
Theological Seminary, Adullam.