Don’t Take Our Word For It
In our books and articles, we take a heurisitc approach. We admonish readers not to take our word for it. Or as the Royal Society has it in their motto, nullius in verba, which is to say, take nobody's word for it. Granted, this may be a bit of an odd approach to take when publishing theological articles, but each of us needs to prove our beliefs for ourselves, for each of us has to answer for our own actions. Therefore, we should heed the advice given to us by the apostle Paul who told the ekklesia at Thessalonica “To prove all things, and hold fast that which is good” or those things which are of God. [1 Ths. 5:21].
But you may ask, “Do you write things which are not to be trusted?” No, of course not. But the value in proving all things comes when hearing something contrary to the truth. Let me explain.
Let say you read in our Feature article, Mirror, Mirror On The Wall that Christ was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. This is what he told a gentile woman. You can read it for yourself in Mat. 15:24. And it is supported by that written in the Law and Prophets which Christ came to fulfill. [See Mat. 5:17]. As you read the article you think to yourself, “Yeah, that makes sense.” But you don’t do any due diligence to prove it to your satisfaction, but just take my word for it. Then a few weeks later, you hear someone say, “Christ came to save the whole world.” And they quote John 3:16. And you think to yourself, “Oh, that makes sense.”
Which is it, for they are opposing theological points? One leads us closer to our Lord, the other farther away. [See the Sneakers article, This Old House]. The point is that if we have a love of the truth, curious minds will want to know which it is. As Einstein said, "Never lose a holy curiosity." And if you’ve proven to yourself that Christ was not lying when he said he was “sent only to the House of Israel,” then you can inform others of the truth because you have the Biblical record’s facts to support it. And in this manner, we spread the knowledge of the truth.
But if we just take someone’s word for it, all of us end up chasing our theological tails in a circle, none getting any closer to the truth. In fact, over time our tail chasing circles get bigger, taking us further away from the truth. But when we prove something for ourselves, put it into action in our lives [faith without works is dead after all], then we grow in our knowledge of the truth and the big picture of the world we live in. And the more accurate our big picture, the greater our understanding the word of God becomes.
It’s like knowing whether or not the correct picture on a puzzle box is a photo of Mount Everest or a white sand tropical beach. If one person shows us some blue and white pieces of the puzzle and says it’s Everest, and later someone else shows us the same blue and white pieces of the puzzle, but says it’s a tropical beach, we have no way discern the truth. Are the pieces snow and sky or white sand and water? We can, however, bounce back and forth between these two points of view until we tire of the conundrum entirely and give up. The same holds for Christianity.
But when we go to the puzzle box and see for ourselves that it is Everest, then we have done our due diligence. Now when someone shows us the blue and white puzzle pieces and says, “How do you know it is Everest and not the sandy beach?” we can give them our reason. So it is that we stand firm in the truth.
As the apostle Peter wrote, “But sanctify the Lord GOD in your hearts. And always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ….” [1 Pet. 3:15].
The reason why Paul said to prove all things, is that it’s a more direct path to the truth than trying to disprove something. If we want to prove that 1 + 1 = 2, then this is a quick and direct thing to do. Taking the negative approach of disproving it would take an eternity. 1 + 1 = 3. Nope. 1 + 1 = 4. Nope. 1 + 1 = 5. Nope infinitum.
Therefore, let us be prepared with the reason for our hope in Christ before it's too late to start. Our reply shouldn’t be, “Well I read somewhere …” or “I heard a guy on television say …” or worse, “They said ….” And the only way to be prepared with the reason is to have proven to our own satisfaction what is the truth from the Biblical record. However, spiritual growth means we do not learn everything all at once. It is a lifelong process that increases our awareness of the big picture contained in the Biblical record, which is a puzzle for many people.
This is why our articles contain Biblical references as well as references to other related articles on site. This is done for two reasons. One, we want to provide the curious reader with starting points on their path to discovering the truth. The Biblical references provide the source, along with context, so each person can prove their beliefs for themselves using the source text. Two, it allows the articles to be read casually, but at the same time they can be used as in-depth study guides much like taking a college course.
In their book, Super Brain, Deepak Chopra and Rudy Tanzi make an important point. Whatever we pay attention to or focus on, grows. This is true for individuals and society. And it is especially valid for our study of the Biblical record. This is one reason we are admonished to “... seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." [Mat. 6:33]. When we are passionate for learning the truth, driven by curiosity, putting it into action in our daily lives, our knowledge of and love for the truth will grow. So it is important for us to know what we have proven to ourselves from the Biblical record and to keep our mind open to those things that we have yet to prove to ourselves. Then, when we hear someone on television say something or we read something somewhere, including here, we stand ready to prove all things that are of God, holding fast the truth.
Italics and [ ] are the author's.
But you may ask, “Do you write things which are not to be trusted?” No, of course not. But the value in proving all things comes when hearing something contrary to the truth. Let me explain.
Let say you read in our Feature article, Mirror, Mirror On The Wall that Christ was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. This is what he told a gentile woman. You can read it for yourself in Mat. 15:24. And it is supported by that written in the Law and Prophets which Christ came to fulfill. [See Mat. 5:17]. As you read the article you think to yourself, “Yeah, that makes sense.” But you don’t do any due diligence to prove it to your satisfaction, but just take my word for it. Then a few weeks later, you hear someone say, “Christ came to save the whole world.” And they quote John 3:16. And you think to yourself, “Oh, that makes sense.”
Which is it, for they are opposing theological points? One leads us closer to our Lord, the other farther away. [See the Sneakers article, This Old House]. The point is that if we have a love of the truth, curious minds will want to know which it is. As Einstein said, "Never lose a holy curiosity." And if you’ve proven to yourself that Christ was not lying when he said he was “sent only to the House of Israel,” then you can inform others of the truth because you have the Biblical record’s facts to support it. And in this manner, we spread the knowledge of the truth.
But if we just take someone’s word for it, all of us end up chasing our theological tails in a circle, none getting any closer to the truth. In fact, over time our tail chasing circles get bigger, taking us further away from the truth. But when we prove something for ourselves, put it into action in our lives [faith without works is dead after all], then we grow in our knowledge of the truth and the big picture of the world we live in. And the more accurate our big picture, the greater our understanding the word of God becomes.
It’s like knowing whether or not the correct picture on a puzzle box is a photo of Mount Everest or a white sand tropical beach. If one person shows us some blue and white pieces of the puzzle and says it’s Everest, and later someone else shows us the same blue and white pieces of the puzzle, but says it’s a tropical beach, we have no way discern the truth. Are the pieces snow and sky or white sand and water? We can, however, bounce back and forth between these two points of view until we tire of the conundrum entirely and give up. The same holds for Christianity.
But when we go to the puzzle box and see for ourselves that it is Everest, then we have done our due diligence. Now when someone shows us the blue and white puzzle pieces and says, “How do you know it is Everest and not the sandy beach?” we can give them our reason. So it is that we stand firm in the truth.
As the apostle Peter wrote, “But sanctify the Lord GOD in your hearts. And always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ….” [1 Pet. 3:15].
The reason why Paul said to prove all things, is that it’s a more direct path to the truth than trying to disprove something. If we want to prove that 1 + 1 = 2, then this is a quick and direct thing to do. Taking the negative approach of disproving it would take an eternity. 1 + 1 = 3. Nope. 1 + 1 = 4. Nope. 1 + 1 = 5. Nope infinitum.
Therefore, let us be prepared with the reason for our hope in Christ before it's too late to start. Our reply shouldn’t be, “Well I read somewhere …” or “I heard a guy on television say …” or worse, “They said ….” And the only way to be prepared with the reason is to have proven to our own satisfaction what is the truth from the Biblical record. However, spiritual growth means we do not learn everything all at once. It is a lifelong process that increases our awareness of the big picture contained in the Biblical record, which is a puzzle for many people.
This is why our articles contain Biblical references as well as references to other related articles on site. This is done for two reasons. One, we want to provide the curious reader with starting points on their path to discovering the truth. The Biblical references provide the source, along with context, so each person can prove their beliefs for themselves using the source text. Two, it allows the articles to be read casually, but at the same time they can be used as in-depth study guides much like taking a college course.
In their book, Super Brain, Deepak Chopra and Rudy Tanzi make an important point. Whatever we pay attention to or focus on, grows. This is true for individuals and society. And it is especially valid for our study of the Biblical record. This is one reason we are admonished to “... seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." [Mat. 6:33]. When we are passionate for learning the truth, driven by curiosity, putting it into action in our daily lives, our knowledge of and love for the truth will grow. So it is important for us to know what we have proven to ourselves from the Biblical record and to keep our mind open to those things that we have yet to prove to ourselves. Then, when we hear someone on television say something or we read something somewhere, including here, we stand ready to prove all things that are of God, holding fast the truth.
Italics and [ ] are the author's.
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