Hi, I'm David Bercot, and today we're going to be starting a series of lessons entitled " How to Arrive at Truth Through Critical Thinking. " When it comes to knowledge about God, we have only one ultimate source, and that's the Bible. So, this series of lessons will be primarily focusing on how to arrive at God's truth by applying critical thinking to the study of Scripture. Sermons, commentaries, and other Bible aids are valuable only to the extent that they shine authentic light on the text of Scripture.
So we will also be talking about how to accurately assess what is said about Scripture in sermons and books. Now, I need to state at the outset that I believe that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, that it is inerrant, and that it is the Word of God. I also believe that it is the only book that can make that claim. So in this course, I'm not going to try to prove those fundamental propositions. I would need to do a separate course on apologetics to discuss those claims.
But I'm mentioning them so that you'll know the framework from which I'm working. We need to approach this study of Scripture prayerfully, asking for God's guidance and for the illumination of the Holy Spirit when we read and study Scripture. The Holy Spirit is never going to guide us to a different understanding of Scripture than he gave to the first century Christians. Yet when it comes to obtaining the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it's not automatic.
There are several principles of which we need to be aware that many Christians overlook. And the first principle is that we must be an earnest, honest seeker of truth. After all, Jesus declared, " The hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. " God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. That's from John 4: 23 and 24. So we must worship God not only in spirit, but also in truth.
And if we're not a truth-oriented person, we can't expect much assistance from the Holy Spirit. That's because we will end up brushing aside any help he will try to give us. The only thing he can guide us towards is truth. But if we have closed our minds to what is true, we'll end up quenching the Spirit. Not only that, if we aren't open to truth, then we're not the type of person God is looking for. He is looking for lovers of truth.
The huge problem is that we may think we're a lover of truth, but unless we're willing to honestly apply the standards of truth, then we may be unintentionally hindering the work of the Spirit in our lives when it comes to correctly understanding the Scriptures. And that's the reason for this course on how to arrive at truth through critical thinking. Now, in this context, when we speak of critical thinking, we're not talking about fault finding. We're talking about thinking honestly and analytically.
We're talking about avoiding biases and fallacies and just plain lazy gullible thinking. The second principle is that we must recognize that the fundamentals of the faith were once for all handed down in the beginning, and they aren't negotiable. Jude writes, " Beloved, while I was very diligent to write you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. " That's Jude 1:3.
So the faith was once for all handed down. It didn't develop over time, and it doesn't keep changing to " keep up with the times. " We Christians in the 21st century need to make sure that what we believe and practice today is the same thing that they believed and practiced back in the beginning. Now the third principle for truth seekers is that the Christians who lived at the end of the first century correctly grasped the faith. And I'm not just saying this as an opinion.
We have the direct testimony of the Apostle John. In his first letter written around A.D. 95, the Apostle John declared, " I have written to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. " That's 1 John 2:14. So Christians at the end of the first century correctly understood the Christian faith.
And John commends them because they know God, they are spiritually strong, and the Word of God abides in them. And we should rejoice in this fact because it makes our job a whole lot easier today. We simply have to discover what Christians believed at the end of the first century. We don't have to figure out everything from scratch as though we are the first ones to come across the New Testament.
And happily, this will tie us back into the Holy Spirit because the Spirit is not going to lead us to a different understanding of Scripture than He gave to those Christians who lived at the end of the first century. In other words, critical thinking and examination doesn't lead us away from the Holy Spirit, it leads us back to the Holy Spirit. So let's talk about steps to interpreting the Scriptures critically and honestly. The first step is to start with a blank slate.
A century or so ago, school students often had a small chalkboard or slate on which they would write school assignments and take notes in class. Now imagine trying to write on such a chalk slate if it was already full of writing. You couldn't do it. Back in the old days, you'd have to get an eraser and erase all of the writing off of it before you could write something new. Well, it's the same with studying Scripture.
If we're already certain in our minds that we know what a particular passage or verse means, or that we know everything fundamentally that the Scriptures teach, then it's next to impossible to learn anything that would contradict that. And it's very difficult for the Spirit to teach us anything new or to correct any errors because our minds are made up. Now, the huge problem is that when it comes to Scripture, very few of us have a blank slate. And this isn't because of anything bad.
No, if we had Christian parents, they should have instructed us in the faith, at least what they believed the faith to be. And churches should instruct their members and potential members in the faith. The person who brought us to Christ should have instructed us in the basics of Christianity. So the fact that we don't have a blank slate isn't because of something bad. But that doesn't change the fact that our prior indoctrination is probably the biggest single obstacle to finding God's complete truth.
It's not that our prior indoctrination was all false. I doubt that that's ever the case. In fact, sometimes people's prior indoctrination, let's say, is 90% true. But from what I've found, most of them will resist to the bitter end. If what they have been taught is 90% true, they will resist to the bitter end any effort to persuade them that maybe they're wrong on that remaining 10%. No, you know, nope, they're not wrong in anything. So, how do we deal with the fact that we aren't each starting with a blank slate?
Well, the first thing is to acknowledge that we aren't starting with a blank slate. In other words, we need to recognize that we have a problem. We shouldn't pretend that we are honestly and openly examining Scripture when we have all these preconceptions about what the Scriptures already mean. Now, second, we should analyze what our biases are.
I mean, for most of us, we already have firm beliefs on what the Bible teaches about God, about Christ, about salvation, baptism, life after death, and various other topics. I mean, that's fine and normal, but we must acknowledge that we're not starting off or that we are starting off with those biases. All right, the third step is probably the hardest part.
Once we've acknowledged we don't have a blank slate, and once we acknowledge what our biases are, we need to recognize that what we believe on these various subject matters concerning Scripture may be wrong, at least in some areas. And that's the hard part. Of course, at the same time, what we've been taught to believe may well be right in most areas, and certainly it's going to be right in many areas. But we can't know that unless we're willing to critically examine our beliefs.
And we can't critically examine our beliefs if we think there's no possibility that we could be wrong on any of the fundamentals of the faith or any of the important matters. I'll give you an example, just a life experience. I think as most of you know, I've mentioned it in many of my messages. I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness.
Now, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that their governing body, the ones at the top of their organization who put out all of their teaching and make all of the governmental decisions, they don't believe that they are infallible, but they believe that the individual members cannot have spiritual light that the ones at the top don't have. And so the only spiritual light that we can have is what is revealed through the pages of the Watchtower and their other publications.
And again, it's possible that some of those things are wrong, but you're not going to know if they're wrong until God reveals it to the governing body and then they change it in one of their Watchtower articles or in one of the books that comes out. So when you're a Jehovah's Witness, everything that's given to you, you have to accept as being true. You're not allowed to question it, even a little part of it.
And you do assume that everything you believe, for the most part, is exactly what is true, that you have a complete understanding of the Bible. And so, yeah, how can you make an examination of what the Scriptures actually teach? You couldn't as a Jehovah's Witness. I remember one day when I was out knocking on doors, and I had another brother my same age with me. I was, you know, maybe 21 at that time. And we were talking with somebody at the door. He was the one doing the talking.
And he told the lady, I forget what led up to it, but he told the lady, you know, a couple of years ago, I did an examination of all of the different churches, what they teach, and I compared it with the Bible, and I came to the conclusion that what Jehovah's Witnesses teach matches the Bible better than what any other churches teach. And I forget where the conversation went from there. But when we left the door, I turned to him and asked him, " I thought you grew up a Jehovah's Witness. " He said, " Oh, oh, I did.
" And I said, " So when did you make that examination? " And you know as I said, he said it was just a few years ago. I said, " Well, how could you examine? " You already believe I mean, were you doubting that Jehovah's Witnesses were true? He said, " No, no, I was just comparing what all the churches teach. " Well, that's not an honest examination. I mean, your mind was already made up that you had the truth and that everyone else, you know, was in darkness.
So, if you have that kind of mindset, don't think that the Holy Spirit can teach you anything. And if you're in a church that doesn't allow you to question things, then it's going to be very difficult to make an honest search for truth. Particularly if you believe there's no possibility that your church or denomination could be wrong.
Now, if all of this is making you a little bit nervous, and if you're thinking, David, are you suggesting that the Christian faith might be totally different than what I've always believed? Well, if you're thinking that, let me give you some reassuring news. No, I'm not suggesting that at all. In fact, I want to read to you the Apostle's Creed. It's the oldest statement of faith we have, and in various forms, it would date back close to the time of the Apostle John.
And I mentioned that John said that both the older men and the younger men, and this is at the time of his death around the year 95, that they were strong in the faith, that the Word of God abided in them. So when we look at the Apostles Creed, I think we can feel pretty confident, yeah, this reflects what the Scriptures teach and what Christians believed at the end of the first century. And I want to read it to you.
Some of you will know it already by memory, but for those of you who don't or just need a refresher, I'm going to read it. It's very short. It says, " I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended to Hades.
On the third day, rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there, He will come to judge the living and the dead. It continues, " I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Universal or Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. " And that's it.
Now, unless you belong to a really far out church somewhere that I've never heard of, I'm sure you believe all those things that I've just stated. There may be a few things in there that maybe you don't understand at the present moment, but I don't think there was anything in there like, " No, I don't believe that. " And I would say that maybe there are four or five other doctrines that aren't included in the Apostles ' Creed that the early Christians would have also viewed as fundamentals of the faith.
But that's it. So, in other words, most people already hold to what the Christians back there at the time of the Apostle John, what they thought were the essentials of the faith. So most of the doctrines that Christians argue about today were considered by the early Christians as non-essentials. I mean, our problem isn't that we don't believe enough, is that we're dogmatic about too many things. I mean, compare the Apostles ' Creed with most statements of faith that you see in churches today.
I mean, we have these long, detailed doctrinal statements. Sometimes they have 30 different points to them or something like that. Whereas the Christians, back close to the time of the apostles, they had this really short statement of faith. On the other hand, what's missing in the lives of most professing Christians today are the lifestyle teachings of the New Testament. Because most Christians today have been taught that they can safely ignore many of the New Testament commandments.
And that's one reason it's so very important that we read the Scriptures in an honest, objective manner. Otherwise, we may be overlooking important commandments that will greatly affect our relationship with God. And of course, there may be some key doctrines there outside of the Apostles ' Creed that we may be overlooking as well. So, let's talk about how to read the Scriptures honestly and objectively.
The first rule, and these are rules for reading the Scriptures objectively, honestly, is to take the first rule is to take Scripture at face value. In other words, read it for what it says. Don't try to read something into it. And when I say take it at face value, it doesn't mean we ignore the fact that the Bible contains different types of material.
I mean, some of the literature in the Bible is instruction, some of its history, some of its prophecy, some of it is parables, and other parts are apocalyptic writings. And so not all of those can be taken literally, but certainly the instruction can be in most of the history. And the commandments, in other words, when we are reading commandments, well, they mean exactly what they say, and that's how we should take them. We shouldn't try to get around God's commandments by various artful means.
Unfortunately, that's what many professing Christians today do. They minimize or skirt around the teachings of Jesus and the apostles by different very artful means. I mean, one of them is they claim they were using hyperbole or exaggeration when they gave this commandment or that commandment. People say, " Oh, they didn't intend their commandments to be taken literally. " At other times, modern Christians will say that, " Oh, well, those commandments only applied back there in that culture.
They don't apply today in our culture. " And those are just a few examples of the clever way people try to get around New Testament teachings. But as I said, rule number one is to take Scripture at face value. Don't try to skirt around what it says. Rule number two is don't cherry pick passages of Scripture. And what we mean by cherry-picking Scriptures is to selectively quote only those passages that fit our position or our viewpoint while ignoring those scriptures that contradict our beliefs.
It's sometimes called proof texting. And when we do it, we are being intellectually dishonest. When we're honestly researching what the Scriptures teach on any given subject, we need to look at what all the Scriptures have to say on that particular subject. We're not going to find truth by picking and choosing only those verses we like. We can bolster our position, but we're not going to find truth.
Now, when we do look at all the verses that pertain to a given subject, we'll often find that many of them say one thing, but then other verses seem to say the opposite. And what do we do in a situation like that? Well, we definitely don't want to ignore the scriptures that we don't like or that don't fit maybe the bulk of the Scriptures. Now, I'm assuming that most of you, like myself, believe that the Scriptures are inerrant or infallible. Therefore, the Bible does not contradict itself.
There might be verbal contradictions between various verses, but there's always an intellectually honest way to harmonize those verses. Now, right now, I'm not talking so much about historical difficulties. I mean, I'll give you an example. Matthew says that Judas went out and hanged himself after betraying Jesus, but Acts says that Judas fell headlong and burst open in the middle. Now, seeming contradictions like that do need to be explained, but that's not what I'm talking about today.
I'm talking about conflicts that concern doctrine. And I'll give you probably the most classic example. James writes, " Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? " Do you see that faith was working together with his works? And by works, faith was made perfect. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, " Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. " And he was called a friend of God.
You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. That's James chapter 2 verses 21 through 24. Yet in Romans, Paul writes, " For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. But what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt.
But to him who does not work, but believes on him, who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. That's Romans 4, verses 2 through 5. So on the surface, those verses say the exact opposite. And yet they both quote the passage in Genesis to support what they are saying. And those two passages are not alone on talking about the subject of works and salvation. There are many scriptures that clearly teach that works or obedience are essential for salvation.
Yet, there are plenty of passages that clearly say we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. Now, from what I've seen, most churches take either one or the other of those two groups of scriptures, and then they ignore the other group.
In other words, they'll take the group that talks about works and they try to ignore the ones that talk about salvation through grace, or other ones want to take all the verses that talk about grace or faith, and they want to shove under the rug all the verses that talk about the need for obedience. But that's not an honest approach to Scripture, and we'll never find God's truth by doing that kind of thing. Now, happily, when we examine the context of the various verses we're looking at, we often find
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