But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (John 16:13)
Centuries ago, a philosopher named David Humes argued convincingly that outside of some mathematical computations, you cannot know anything with certainty. That which feeds you day may poison you tomorrow. I think he’s correct. Consider…Vaccines are good for you.
Vaccines are bad for you.
The earth is round.
The earth is flat.
The square root of forty-nine is seven.
“The sum of the squares of the two legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse.”
Water boils at two-hundred twelve degrees Fahrenheit.
Do you know any of these to be true? How do you know? How do you know there are other planets? Or creatures living at the bottom of the sea? Or that atoms exist? In Mere Christianity, C. S . Lewis submits that at least ninety percent of what we know, we know because someone with authority told us it was true. The moon landings could have been fake, as could every election since 1962. We could live in the Matrix. I’m not saying that any of those things are true (or false.) I’m just saying we know them because someone told us, and that’s not a bad thing. Can you imagine having to learn everything through the process of personal proof?
Jesus promised that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all the truth. Since the Word of God will not generally contradict the Word of God, part of how we know it is the Spirit of truth guiding us is that the guidance we receive will be consistent with Scripture. It is the authority that tells us what is true.
Some people want to eliminate all authority except themselves, but doesn't that reduce their "true" knowledge to ten percent of what the average person knows?
Vaccines are bad for you.
The earth is round.
The earth is flat.
The square root of forty-nine is seven.
“The sum of the squares of the two legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse.”
Water boils at two-hundred twelve degrees Fahrenheit.
Do you know any of these to be true? How do you know? How do you know there are other planets? Or creatures living at the bottom of the sea? Or that atoms exist? In Mere Christianity, C. S . Lewis submits that at least ninety percent of what we know, we know because someone with authority told us it was true. The moon landings could have been fake, as could every election since 1962. We could live in the Matrix. I’m not saying that any of those things are true (or false.) I’m just saying we know them because someone told us, and that’s not a bad thing. Can you imagine having to learn everything through the process of personal proof?
Jesus promised that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all the truth. Since the Word of God will not generally contradict the Word of God, part of how we know it is the Spirit of truth guiding us is that the guidance we receive will be consistent with Scripture. It is the authority that tells us what is true.
Some people want to eliminate all authority except themselves, but doesn't that reduce their "true" knowledge to ten percent of what the average person knows?
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