Building One Another

ONLY Vol 9 No 25

July 27, 2010

Dear Friend,

One day I was talking with a woman about God who told me that she believed that all religions worship the same God. I knew that any serious study of comparative religions reveals that all religions do not have the same understanding of God. So, I asked her how she "knew" that all religions worship the same God. She told me with obvious sincerity, "I learned it from National Geographic Magazine."

Epistemology is a word of significance we rarely hear. It is the concept that deals with the question," "How you know what you know?" It speaks to the basis of what you know about anything. Thus we may speak of the epistemology of what we believe about God. The epistemology of the woman I was talking to when it came to her understanding of God was National Geographic!

So what is the epistemology of your understanding of God and of how you are to live a life that pleases God? Is your epistemology the Bible? Is it how you feel at any given moment? Or what your friends say? Or what you read on the Internet or see on TV?

An old expression in the life of the church is that scripture is the only rule for faith and practice. The pivotal word here is "only." Only means only. Not scripture plus - plus National Geographic or plus my feelings or plus what everyone is saying.

A serious question in a day when there are a great many claims to truth and what we should believe and how we should live is, "Exactly what is your truest basis of belief?"

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17*

Building One Another

Dear Friend,

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