Before there were newspapers and institutional people who we trust to vet information to certify it is true or at least thought to be true by those we hold in high regard, there was an individual responsibility to vet information for himself or for his family (if he was head of the household). Now we have just reached the tail end of the age of newspapers and trusted institutions and what are we to do? Shall we return to the middle ages approach?
In conjunction with this is the role of the Church because middle ages people trusted the church (in varying degrees) to vet information for its safety and truth whenever it dealt with matters of eternal life. Who do we trust now? Just ourselves? Or are there some institutions we trust and if so which organisations do we trust and are they really trustworthy?
What of the scriptures? We, as Christians, acknowledge them as the inspired oracles of God and as such as trustworthy but we must admit to ourselves that holy scripture is difficult to interpret at times, and even those passages that seem easy to interpret may contain allusions to past revelation and revelatory events or even to cultural "memes" that a modern reader doesn't understand or know. So despite the trust we invest in the scriptures we are left with a task of interpretation that is inherently complex, who do we trust to help us with the work of interpreting the holy scriptures? We might appeal to the Holy Spirit, and that is excellent, yet how can we know what he is saying or if it is he who is saying it? Many men and women have claimed the Holy Spirit told them such and such, are we obliged to believe them, and if not shall we be as sceptical of our own "leadings from the Holy Spirit"?
Who can we trust, if anyone?
In conjunction with this is the role of the Church because middle ages people trusted the church (in varying degrees) to vet information for its safety and truth whenever it dealt with matters of eternal life. Who do we trust now? Just ourselves? Or are there some institutions we trust and if so which organisations do we trust and are they really trustworthy?
What of the scriptures? We, as Christians, acknowledge them as the inspired oracles of God and as such as trustworthy but we must admit to ourselves that holy scripture is difficult to interpret at times, and even those passages that seem easy to interpret may contain allusions to past revelation and revelatory events or even to cultural "memes" that a modern reader doesn't understand or know. So despite the trust we invest in the scriptures we are left with a task of interpretation that is inherently complex, who do we trust to help us with the work of interpreting the holy scriptures? We might appeal to the Holy Spirit, and that is excellent, yet how can we know what he is saying or if it is he who is saying it? Many men and women have claimed the Holy Spirit told them such and such, are we obliged to believe them, and if not shall we be as sceptical of our own "leadings from the Holy Spirit"?
Who can we trust, if anyone?
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