Accepting truth

[Bouncing Bill]

I accept truth wherever I find it. 

[HappyChristian]

If said "truth" is anti-biblical, it's not truth...

[Jim_Alaska]

And therein lies the problem, it comes out sooner or later.  

[Bouncing Bill]

8 hours ago, HappyChristian said:

If said "truth" is anti-biblical, it's not truth...

I have no problem with your statement. 

8 hours ago, Jim_Alaska said:

And therein lies the problem, it comes out sooner or later.  

What is the problem? Truth will not conflict with the Bible regardless of where you find it. Right?

[Jim_Alaska]

6 hours ago, Bouncing Bill said:

I have no problem with your statement. 

What is the problem? Truth will not conflict with the Bible regardless of where you find it. Right?

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

[Bouncing Bill]

1 minute ago, Jim_Alaska said:

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

I am not sure why are you saying in your reply. Please elaborate. Thanks.  

[NotAshamed]

 

15 hours ago, Bouncing Bill said:

I accept truth wherever I find it. 

 

As long as it’s true!

(See what I did there?  You said “truth” and then I said “true”....get it?

Ha!  I kill me!)

But, yeah...there’s truth in various places. In a way, it’s a lot like M&Ms and Skittles...more about that later.

We do know that Paul did make reference to truths derived from “natural revelation”:

Romans 1:19,20:

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

We also see where Paul even used statements from Greek poets and incorporated them into his teachings, as he did in his sermon at Athens:

Acts 17:28:

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

There is even the reference Paul used, citing an external source, to describe the Cretians:

Titus 1:12:

12. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

The funny thing about that last verse is that Paul was quoting Epimanedes, who was a Greek writer/philosopher from around the sixth century BC.  What makes it funny is that Epimanedes was also from Crete!  
 

So, yeah. There’s truth all around.  But, they say even a blind squirrel can find a nut.  The dilemma facing our poor, hapless squirrel friend is that while he may find a nut on the ground, not everything on the ground is a nut!

So, this brings us to M&Ms and Skittles.  
 

You see I like M&Ms, but I don’t like Skittles. M&Ms are awesome - nice and chocolatey.  Skittles are a sicky-sweet, fakey-fruit flavored thing.  Yucky!

Now, suppose I had a bowl of M&Ms and Skittles mixed together (I’d never do this, but my wife might do it to play a joke on me).  If I had that bowl beside me and I was nibbling out of it, I’d have to examine each little morsel every time to be sure I had grabbed an M&M, and not a nugget of Skittles yuckiness. Even then, there’s the possibility that my luscious little piece of M&M yumminess would be fouled by the scent of all those Skittles around up and around it.

Now, if I had just a bowl of M&M...well now!  I could just dive in and not have to worry about any Skittles stank!
 

The point is, yeah...we may find evidence of truth in various places, even outside the Bible.  But, if someone thinks he or she has run across truth elsewhere, each and every thing must be examined carefully to determine if it is, indeed, true.  Even, then there may be some corruption of it.  A person can’t just dive in and freely accept it.

I’ve seen people led astray because they found something with some truth, but made the assumption that everything else taught by that teacher or movement must also be true.

[Bouncing Bill]

1 hour ago, NotAshamed said:

 

 

As long as it’s true!

(See what I did there?  You said “truth” and then I said “true”....get it?

Ha!  I kill me!)

But, yeah...there’s truth in various places. In a way, it’s a lot like M&Ms and Skittles...more about that later.

We do know that Paul did make reference to truths derived from “natural revelation”:

Romans 1:19,20:

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

We also see where Paul even used statements from Greek poets and incorporated them into his teachings, as he did in his sermon at Athens:

Acts 17:28:

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

There is even the reference Paul used, citing an external source, to describe the Cretians:

Titus 1:12:

12. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

The funny thing about that last verse is that Paul was quoting Epimanedes, who was a Greek writer/philosopher from around the sixth century BC.  What makes it funny is that Epimanedes was also from Crete!  
 

So, yeah. There’s truth all around.  But, they say even a blind squirrel can find a nut.  The dilemma facing our poor, hapless squirrel friend is that while he may find a nut on the ground, not everything on the ground is a nut!

So, this brings us to M&Ms and Skittles.  
 

You see I like M&Ms, but I don’t like Skittles. M&Ms are awesome - nice and chocolatey.  Skittles are a sicky-sweet, fakey-fruit flavored thing.  Yucky!

Now, suppose I had a bowl of M&Ms and Skittles mixed together (I’d never do this, but my wife might do it to play a joke on me).  If I had that bowl beside me and I was nibbling out of it, I’d have to examine each little morsel every time to be sure I had grabbed an M&M, and not a nugget of Skittles yuckiness. Even then, there’s the possibility that my luscious little piece of M&M yumminess would be fouled by the scent of all those Skittles around up and around it.

Now, if I had just a bowl of M&M...well now!  I could just dive in and not have to worry about any Skittles stank!
 

The point is, yeah...we may find evidence of truth in various places, even outside the Bible.  But, if someone thinks he or she has run across truth elsewhere, each and every thing must be examined carefully to determine if it is, indeed, true.  Even, then there may be some corruption of it.  A person can’t just dive in and freely accept it.

I’ve seen people led astray because they found something with some truth, but made the assumption that everything else taught by that teacher or movement must also be true.

Yes, half a truth is not a whole truth. Just because rain is wet does not mean that everything wet is rain. 

Thanks for your most interesting reply. 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Bouncing Bill

[Jim_Alaska]

4 hours ago, Bouncing Bill said:

I am not sure why are you saying in your reply. Please elaborate. Thanks.  

It is simply that truth is found in the word of God, not just "wherever". I took what you wrote to mean anywhere you think you found it. But truth resides in God's word. Perhaps I am being to "picky", you may have meant the same thing, it just didn't come across to me the same way.

1 John 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

[Bouncing Bill]

13 minutes ago, Jim_Alaska said:

It is simply that truth is found in the word of God, not just "wherever". I took what you wrote to mean anywhere you think you found it. But truth resides in God's word. Perhaps I am being to "picky", you may have meant the same thing, it just didn't come across to me the same way.

1 John 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Are you saying that you can find no truth outside the Bible?

[Jim_Alaska]

No, of course not. But truth outside of the Bible is "hit and miss" and open to the interpretation and the cognitive ability of the hearer.

Since this is a Christian message forum I assumed we were talking about spiritual truth, which is only found in God's word.

[Bouncing Bill]

I see spiritual truth every time I walk outside and see beautiful clouds, the wonders of God's creation, the stars in the heaven, Canadian geese flying north in the spring and south in the fall, in the incredible engineering of a Miranda's spider web. I see spiritual truth all around me. God is so awe inspiring in his creation of which we understand so little. God  surrounds us with spiritual truth. 

 

[Jim_Alaska]

Thank you for your observations Bill, I am sure that they are a great comfort to you.