How does disciplined inquiry hold together knowing that, knowing how, knowing from a point of view, and knowing by being?

Christian discernment integrates four dimensions of knowing: propositional, procedural, perspectival, and participatory. None is reducible to the others. Maturity isn’t excellence in one dimension; it is the integration of all four. The contrast between Josiah and Jephthah shows what happens when integration fails.

Knowledge isn’t a single thing. We often speak of knowledge as if it were a category of propositions: facts we can state, beliefs we can defend, information we can retrieve. That is one kind of knowledge. It isn’t the only kind, and it may not be the most important kind.

Christian tradition has long recognized this, though the vocabulary has varied. John Vervaeke has articulated four dimensions of knowing that together constitute what he calls relevance realization: the capacity to frame, reframe, and discern what actually matters. The four dimensions are propositional (knowing that), procedural (knowing how), perspectival (knowing from a point of view), and participatory (knowing by being). Each is distinct. None is reducible to the others. Christian discernment, properly understood, holds all four together.

Procedural knowing is the knowledge of how. It is the capacity to do something well: to pray, to comfort a mourner, to teach a child, to confess a sin, to lead a meeting. Paul urges the Thessalonians to walk and to please God more and more (1 Thess 4:1). Walking isn’t a proposition. It is a practice. Procedural knowing develops through repetition. It is the kind of knowledge that lives in the body, not primarily in the mind.

Perspectival knowing is the knowledge that comes from seeing a situation from a particular vantage. Daniel’s three friends before the fiery furnace exemplify this. They don’t reason their way to their response. They perceive the situation from within the conviction that God is able to deliver them, and that even if he doesn’t, their response will be the same (Dan 3:16-18). Perspective is the difference between seeing a situation and seeing a situation under God. The same facts, differently framed, yield different discernments.

Participatory knowing is the knowledge that comes from being in a particular relation to someone or something. Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). This knowledge isn’t information about Christ. It is the kind of knowing that only a branch has. It can’t be transferred through explanation. It is known by being.

The result is the considered engagement that Scripture associates with mature discernment. Hebrews 5:14 describes those who by constant practice have their powers of discernment trained to distinguish good from evil. Practice is procedural. Discernment involves perspective. Distinguishing good from evil requires propositional commitments. All of it occurs within the life of Christ, which is participatory. Maturity isn’t excellence in one dimension. It is the integration of all four.

This is what Josiah exhibited when he turned to Huldah and the Book of the Law rather than to political advisors or priestly bureaucrats (2 Kgs 22:14-23:27). His response drew on facts, skills, perspective, and participation in the covenant. It was the considered engagement of a ruler whose allegiance was to God rather than to his own interest. The contrast with Jephthah’s rash vow (Judg 11:30-31) is stark. Jephthah had propositional commitments. He lacked the integration the moment required. The difference was disciplined inquiry. Christian discernment, at its best, looks like Josiah and not like Jephthah.

Key Takeaways: Four Dimensions of Knowing

• Perspectival and Participatory: Daniel’s friends in the furnace and Jesus’s vine-and-branches teaching show two further dimensions: seeing under God and being in Christ.

• Maturity Is Integration: Hebrews 5:14 ties trained discernment to constant practice across all four dimensions. None alone is sufficient.

• The “So What”: Josiah’s integration and Jephthah’s lack of it show what disciplined inquiry actually looks like in practice. Propositional commitments without integration produce rash vows.

James Spencer, PhD, is a theologian, author, and host of the Thinking Christian podcast, where he writes and speaks on Christian formation, political theology, and technology. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and completed the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He serves as President of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program, and as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Christianity.com, and Sojourners; he has been quoted in The Telegraph; and he is a regular guest on Stand in the Gap Today with the American Pastors Network. His forthcoming book is Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press, Fall 2026). Learn more at jamesgspencer.com.