--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Imagine that we could revive a…" description: "\"“Imagine that we could revive a well-educated Christian of the fourteenth century. The man would prove to be a total ignoramus, except on matters of fa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/sam-harris-457_faith_imagine-that-we-could-revive-a-well-educ_703364.jpg" --- # Imagine that we could revive a well-educated Christian of… ![“Imagine that we could revive a well-educated Christian of the fourteenth century. The man would prove to be a total ignoramus, except on matters of faith. His beliefs about geography, astronomy, and medicine would embarrass even a child, but he would know more or less everything there is to know…” quote by Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/sam-harris-457_faith_imagine-that-we-could-revive-a-well-educ_703364.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/sam-harris-457_faith_imagine-that-we-could-revive-a-well-educ_703364.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/sam-harris-457_faith_imagine-that-we-could-revive-a-well-educ_703364.jpg) > ““Imagine that we could revive a well-educated Christian of the fourteenth century. The man would prove to be a total ignoramus, except on matters of faith. His beliefs about geography, astronomy, and medicine would embarrass even a child, but he would know more or less everything there is to know about God.”” [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A medieval scholar would excel in theology but be ignorant of modern science, highlighting how specialization can limit broader understanding. **In simple terms:** Specialists may know a lot about one thing but be clueless about others. Key Takeaway Balance deep expertise with broad learning. Themes education specialization knowledge faith history Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic curricula - public discourse - personal study - cross‑disciplinary projects Key Concepts Epistemology intellectual humility interdisciplinarity Questions to Reflect On - How can we encourage scholars to engage beyond their field? - What value does deep faith knowledge hold today? A Different Perspective Specialists may still contribute valuable insights despite gaps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christian Fourteenth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-fourteenth-5563511/) [Educated Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-christian-881917/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Faith Beliefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith-beliefs-505708/) [Know God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-god/) ## Related quotes > [Christianity is not a doctrine, not truth as truth, but the knowledge of a Person; it is knowing the Lord Jesus. You cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-austin-sparks/christianity-is-not-a-doctrine-not-truth-as-truth-but-the-knowledge/) [Theodore Austin-Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-austin-sparks/) > [We're very open and outspoken about our faith and our beliefs. We also talk about our doubts, our moments of insecurities. We talk about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-kodjoe/we-re-very-open-and-outspoken-about-our-faith-and-our-beliefs-we-also/) [Boris Kodjoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-kodjoe/) > [Having faith, beliefs, and convictions is a great thing, but your life is measured by the actions you take based upon them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-vujicic/having-faith-beliefs-and-convictions-is-a-great-thing-but-your-life/) [Nick Vujicic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-vujicic/) > [“Belief and faith have nothing to do with each other. Beliefs are the manifestation of fear whereas faith comes from courage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/belief-and-faith-have-nothing-to-do-with-each-other-beliefs-are-the/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [My opinion is borne out of my childhood, my faith, my beliefs. That marriage is between one man and one woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boehner/my-opinion-is-borne-out-of-my-childhood-my-faith-my-beliefs-that/) [John Boehner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boehner/) > [Many people have turned back because they are afraid to look at things from God's perspective. The greatest spiritual crisis comes when a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/many-people-have-turned-back-because-they-are-afraid-to-look-at/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [“Have faith in your beliefs”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-christos-zeis/have-faith-in-your-beliefs/) [Michael Christos Zeis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-christos-zeis/) > [“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to-loosely-interpret-or-simply/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“And what does God ask of you?” “To fly without wings. To do what seems impossible. To cling to our loves through the rapids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-storace/and-what-does-god-ask-of-you-to-fly-without-wings-to-do-what-seems/) [Patricia Storace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-storace/) > [What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/what-matters-supremely-therefore-is-not-in-the-last-analysis-the-fact/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [“As you trust Me more and more, you are able to receive Me and My blessings abundantly. Be still, and know that I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-young/as-you-trust-me-more-and-more-you-are-able-to-receive-me-and-my/) [Sarah Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-young/) > [“These are the times when we aficionados of the gas stove know we are on the side of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-powell/these-are-the-times-when-we-aficionados-of-the-gas-stove-know-we-are/) [Julie Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-powell/) > [We should bathe our spirits in the deep, pure feeling that stirs within us when we gaze on the glories of His creation. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/we-should-bathe-our-spirits-in-the-deep-pure-feeling-that-stirs/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [“We must, however, urge it as a matter of the highest import, to cease from self-action and self-exertion, that God himself may act alone:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madame-guyon/we-must-however-urge-it-as-a-matter-of-the-highest-import-to-cease/) [Madame Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madame-guyon/) > [“You never know why God has you move the way He does. You should just listen when He tells you to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacinta-howard/you-never-know-why-god-has-you-move-the-way-he-does-you-should-just/) [Jacinta Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacinta-howard/) ## More by Sam Harris > [“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to-loosely-interpret-or-simply/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [There is no question but that nominally religious scientists like Francis Collins and Kenneth R. Miller are doing lasting harm to our discourse by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/there-is-no-question-but-that-nominally-religious-scientists-like/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [We have Christians against Muslims against Jews, and no matter how liberal your theology, merely identifying yourself as a Christian or a Jew lends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-have-christians-against-muslims-against-jews-and-no-matter-how/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Your principal concern appears to be that the Creator of the universe will take offense at something people do while naked. This prudery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/your-principal-concern-appears-to-be-that-the-creator-of-the-universe/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“As manuals for contemplative understanding, the Bible and the Koran are worse than useless. Whatever wisdom can be found in their pages is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/as-manuals-for-contemplative-understanding-the-bible-and-the-koran/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [About 120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. If our polls are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/about-120-million-of-us-place-the-big-bang-2-500-years-after-the/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“If your golf instructor were to insist that you shave your head, sleep no more than four hours each night, renounce sex, and subsist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/if-your-golf-instructor-were-to-insist-that-you-shave-your-head-sleep/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The fact that one can lose one's sense of self in an ocean of tranquility does not mean that one's consciousness is immaterial or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-fact-that-one-can-lose-one-s-sense-of-self-in-an-ocean-of/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“But the reality of consciousness appears irreducible. Only consciousness can know itself—and directly, through first-person experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/but-the-reality-of-consciousness-appears-irreducible-only/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Whether or not one likes Huntington's formulation, one thing is clear: the evil that has finally reached our shores is not merely the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/whether-or-not-one-likes-huntington-s-formulation-one-thing-is-clear/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-problem-is-that-religion-tends-to-give-people-bad-reasons-to-be/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Muslim moderates, wherever they are, must be given every tool necessary to win a war of ideas with their co-religionists. Otherwise, we will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/muslim-moderates-wherever-they-are-must-be-given-every-tool-necessary/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-idea-that-any-one-of-our-religions-represents-the-infallible-word/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“What could possibly cause billions of human beings to reconsider their religious beliefs? And yet, it is obvious that an utter revolution in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/what-could-possibly-cause-billions-of-human-beings-to-reconsider/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Explore all 543 Sam Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ## More Faith quotes > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Keep the faith, and keep going strong!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/keep-the-faith-and-keep-going-strong/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) [Riffat Hassan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riffat-hassan/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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