The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. (Prov. 1:7)
This has often been interpreted as an epistemological principle. We know truth because we know the Lord. Ultimately this doesn’t make sense of what we see in the world around us. People have knowledge of the truth; people have knowledge of the “works of the law” as Paul notes in Romans 2: 14 and 15. Historically the church has always taught that people may have some knowledge of God and the world through “natural law” or through the “created order;” even through the “image of God.” The fear of the Lord can only be the epistemological beginning of knowledge in a limited sense then.
Perhaps we should see this principle as a hermeneutical principle. One can only rightly interpret the world through the fear of Lord. When we approach the world from the position of trust, we can begin to rightly interpret the facts that are before us. Without the fear of the Lord, the basic instrument in the interpretation of the world is lost.