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GIGO

           All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)

Either Christianity is true or it's false. If you bet that it's true, and you believe in God and submit to Him, then if it IS true, you've gained God, heaven, and everything else. If it's false, you've lost nothing, but you've had a good life marked by peace and the illusion that ultimately, everything makes sense. If you bet that Christianity is not true, and it's false, you've lost nothing. But if you bet that it's false, and it turns out to be true, you've lost everything and you get to spend eternity in hell. (Blaise Pascal, Pensées)

Blaise Pascal invented one of the original mechanical calculators, the Pascaline. His work in fluid mechanics led to the invention of the hydraulic press, and the syringe. He and Pierre de Fermat laid the groundwork for statistics. He experimented with barometers to test the theories of Galileo and Torricelli. As he was dying, he invented the fixed public transportation system. He also wrote a large number of philosophical comments that were later pulled together as his Pensées. Among them was the quote above, known as Pascal’s Wager. It came to mind as I read today’s Scripture passage.

The claims in today’s passage are that Scripture originated with God and that it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. In both cases, either it is or it isn’t. Today, my focus is on the second claim. Either Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, or it is not.

A distinction needs to be made here. None of us likes everything Scripture tells us. But our not liking it does not invalidate its usefulness or its rightness. Our culture may differ from the culture in which, and for which, it was written when it was written. That doesn’t mean that the principles aren’t good. It may mean that we misunderstand or misapply what we find therein.

So, what are the over-arching principles of Scripture? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5, 11: 1, 13, and 22; and 19:1, Joshua 22:5, 23:11, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27.)

Love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19: 18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31 and 33, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8. Also Matthew 7:12 and Luke 13:4)

 Do not love or imitate the world (Deuteronomy 18:9, II Chronicles 33:2 and 36:14; II Kings 17:5, Ezekiel 11:12, John 15:9, I John 2:15, and III John 1:11.)

Either these principles are good, or they are evil. If they are good, then principles that flow from them are good. If they are evil, then the principles that flow from them are evil. After that, it’s all GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out.)

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