When we consider the question of how we can know the truth, know what is lovely, and know what is good, we frequently neglect to address the more fundamental issue, which is the nature of the knowers. We assume certain things about the problem of knowledge, and this drives the solutions we come up with. We think the problem is a problem of knowing, when it is actually a problem of knowers.
This is just another way of saying that the study of epistemology is the result of sin. The seraphim that cry holy, holy, holy around the throne room of God do not have any problem grasping who they are and what they are doing there. The entrance of sin has brought about the antithesis (between the promised seed of the serpent and seed of the woman), and these two seeds know according to their nature. Because their respective natures are different, they challenge one another, and the challenge each presents to the other is in the realm of knowing.
“Did God really say that?” the serpent wanted to know. “How do you know?” From the very beginning, it has been the devil’s question, and he loves to ask it. But when the devil asks me the meaning of a word, I don’t mind answering the question. I do mind looking it up in his dictionary.