How do you determine truth?

4/22/18          Diego
 

My question gave Diego, a nursing student, reason to ponder in the middle of our conversation while I was at a Panda Express to pick up supper. He had looked like he might have some time to talk, so I had asked if he would be willing to tell me what he thinks happens after this life and how he has arrived at his beliefs.

I asked how Diego determines truth because he had just finished describing how he had joined a good friend in a meditation exercise in order to have a spiritual experience. As a nursing student he is committed to discovering truth through the scientific method, but I think he might have been thinking that searching for spiritual truth in this way didn’t seem exactly “scientific”.

I would argue that they do, in fact, have much in common.

In science, one determines truths by conducting tests in controlled environments. In meditation or a séance, one also attempts to conduct tests in a controlled environment. Diego told how his friend lit candles, put on special music or YouTube videos, and led them in a chanting exercise that seemed to affect his perception of time.

But God is not to be put to the test, as if we were in the judge’s seat.

Scoffers criticize God’s command that he not to be tested. But this is because, in their man-centered thinking, they view God as if he were no more than a fellow human trying to act like a god, much like the Wizard of Oz trying not to be seen behind the curtain. But Deut. 6 reminds us that God is not to be tested, but is to be feared and obeyed:

“Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.”

So how can we determine spiritual truth if God is not to be tested?

I explained to Diego that since man is unable to determine truth when it comes to God, then it would be up to God to reveal truth to man. We must not rely on our own limited abilities when we can and should trust in God’s ability and willingness to reveal Himself to us.

We don’t have the capacity to take in all there is to know, but God knows best how to teach us and what truths we need to learn. Our ability to systematically use the tests and reason of science to find truth has its limitations; the major one being that the One who gave us our logic and reasoning ability is so far beyond them.

We are warned in Deut. 6 and repeatedly throughout scripture not to make and worship false idols. In much the same way, science, magic and meditation can be man’s attempt to define God; at best on our own terms, but at worst on the terms of whatever evil influence or spirit we are opening ourselves up to.

If we truly want to determine truths about God, we need to allow God to define Himself to us on His terms, and in the ways, such as His written Word (the Bible) and His incarnate Word (Jesus), that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us.

(see our conversation at https://youtu.be/YOfwJEFpSUU on my YouTube channel)