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Christianity was supposed to be about becoming like Jesus. | |
We went in the wrong direction. |
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Christian Pioneer - eBook for Cell Phone Everything you Know is Wrong |
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| Approximating Truth Figuring out what is true We often are unable to determine if something is true or not at first consideration. We can hold an item for later consideration. Slowly over time we can add to or subtract from something so that we can become more or less convinced of the truth of something.  If a person hears about a flying fish, he may at first be skeptical. If he goes fishing off the Southern California coast and sees one, he can be convinced of the truth (seeing is believing). Even if the fish does not truly fly, he can see why it is called so. (It sort of glides from one wave crest to another). It has been said that if you are not a liberal when you are young, you have no heart and if you are not a conservative when you are older, you have no mind. This illustrates a process of transition with an emphasis of the emotive feeling of youth and the hard won discernment of age. A young person might see nothing wrong with giving poor people money, while an older person has observed the corrosive effects of dependency. Growing in the knowledge of truth is a process of both learning and skill development. However, it can’t start without being of the truth. When truth matters so much that one will tolerate difficulty and discomfort, a loss of friends, and even sacrifice, the journey can begin. The process of learning is aided by asking questions, both of yourself as well as others. Today the Internet gives a good opportunity to get information and almost requires one to get proficient at sifting through that which is not true, is probably not true, and may be not true. Using the example of Christianity, one can first ask if there is a God or how likely it is that there is a God. If one determines that it is likely there is a God, why would he create a world with so much suffering.  If we accept the possibility that most of the suffering we inflict on ourselves, we can begin to understand wars, murders, tantrums, thefts, slavery, bullying, and all sorts of human characteristics.   That the suffering resulting from the natural world may be by design to force us to need each other, recognize that there is that in us that is hopeless, and the only way out is to ask God for help.   One can see that an investigation into the truth of a proposition usually comes in stages. One does not have to complete each stage, but as new information is acquired, the reliability of other stages can be increased or decreased. The process can seem tedious if one simply evaluates whatever comes his way by chance. Active seeking and inquiry can speed things along. The process of aggregating information and assessing if it is true is useful to other subjects, as well as Christianity. Here are some helpful questions to apply when assessing truth. 1. Is it logical? What different circumstances would make it logical or illogical? 2. Is there a bias? Does the person presenting the information gain from my acceptance (either monetarily or emotionally). 3. Is it consistent with what I would expect? If not, why? 4. What are the reasons (if any) that convinced the presenter? 5. Do I have a bias? Does this proposition make me feel either good or bad? 6. Is there additional information needed? If told of a fever of 101F, it would good to determine if it was because of a cold or because of the plague. |
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Information about Christianity and the Christian life. |
Pictures and views of our farm | Some of our animals | See some of the old-fashioned crafts we are trying to relearn | ||