patrick jane forums

Quote from: Grace_Accepted on February 14, 2019, 11:16:39 pm

When we hear a truth statement or make a truth statement we should always check it for eternal coherence within the statement's context. We need to determine whether the belief is rationally consistent within itself and in relation to other beliefs of one’s larger worldview.

For spiritual truth statements, this would include the bible.  This test is not the traditional way most people determine spiritual truths.  Most people determine spiritual truths through non logical means.  Brent Cunningham outlined these ways in his blog as follows.

1. Instinct — “It seems true to me.”
    To this statement we must simply ask . . .
    . . . Why?  What is guiding one’s instinctual ability to judge between competing truth-claims?
2. Feelings — “I like the feeling I get.” or “It feels right.”
    . . . Can feelings be mistaken?
3. Wish fulfillment — “The God that I (want to) believe in would never send someone to hell.”
    . . . Maybe not, but the God one wants to believe in may not be the God who actually exists.  We can never determine objective truth simply by what we want to be true.
4. Custom — “This is the way I / my family / my culture has always been.”
    . . . Can they be mistaken?  What if one came from a Nazi background?
5. Popularity contest — “Well, ‘everyone’ believes it.”
    . . . Again, can ‘everyone’ be wrong?  Counting noses is never a good means of determining truth.
6. Pragmatism — “It works for me, therefore it must be true.”
    . . . However, almost anything can ‘work’ for a time.  Truth works overall.  For instance, a belief may ‘work’ at ridding oneself of guilt by denying it rather than absolving it.
7. Significance — “It gives my life meaning.”
    . . . Is the meaning simply the result of wish-fulfillment or is it connected with reality?

But these often lead to false beliefs and teachings being believed as the truth.

Instead we need to apply logic and discernment to spiritual truth statements to see if they fit rationally with the bible's teachings.

Let's look at such 2 truth statements and put them through this test.

• Jesus Was God Incarnate
• Jesus Was Not divine but just a man

We know the some aspects of the nature of sin from other parts of the bible.  We know the following points.

• The wages of sin is death
• That death is eternal
• That death was passed to all men when Adam sinned

The things we know about Christ's death on the cross.

• Christ died to pay for our sins
• Not only our sins but the whole world's sins
• He rose again on the third day

First let's run the second truth statement through the test.  Jesus was only a man sent from God and not divine.  This would mean that he could not have risien on the third day if he paid the price of eternal death.  It would also mean that he could have only given his life as a ransom for one other man and the rest of the world is out of luck.

This truth statement is not internally coherent.

Let's run the second statement through the test.
.
Jesus was God incarnate.  God is infinite and has infinite life.  This means he could divide that life into as many other infinite lives as he chose to do.  Yes, he could pay for all the world's eternal damnation and still have an infinite life left over.  This means he could still rise the third day even after suffering eternal death for all.

This statement passes the truth test with flying colors.  Therefore I discard the failed truth statement and adopt the one that passed.

This is only one of three truth test which can help you filter the BS from the real word of God and divide the scriptures rightly.

Great study approach. Back in the day my Grandma would write notes in her Bible with cross references, concordance and her interpretations. I still have some of her Bibles and she was really in the spirit all her life. She taught me about Revelation starting when I was 4 or 5. I do the things you listed above, most of them, but I have written only pages of verses and what they're about. I have filled many pages but I put them all to the side when they fill up and they are just in a pile somewhere.

So basically, I do the studies in my head as I read and absorb scripture. I could and should study and read more and I always plan to. My memory isn't as good anymore either so I stay in the scriptures online. Most of my study has been in Paul's epistles for the last 5 years. That makes the OT easier for me to understand. I love Jesus' words the most though.