I love to debate contoversial
issues, especially philosophical, theological, and political. And
when I enter a debate, I am fully prepared and confident in my beliefs and my ability
to defend them, and hopefully persuade others through logical
explanation. After all, as much as I value and love the Truth, I am
determined to make sure that my beliefs are well researched and contemplated
before I decide to believe them. And since I am as confident as I can be
that my beliefs are in what is True,
then I am willing and obligated to promote what I believe because its always
good for as many people as possible to know the Truth. Along with the
importance of my believing the Truth, it is a very serious
responsibility to present what I believe to be the Truth to others and attempt
to persuade them that it is indeed the Truth.
But as confident as I am in my beliefs, I still see the value
of scrutinizing and testing them on a continuing basis. God
is infinite, and so, therfore, must be
knowledge. And through all the scrutinizing and testing, I may become
persuaded that something I believe was incorrect after all. But once I
have decided to believe something, it will take some VERY
convincing logic to convince me to change my belief. And because my
interest is always in establishing the Truth, I always keep an open (but
extremely cautious) mind.
My beliefs can be switched, altered, or just
enhanced.....whatever is necessary. But the only way I can insure that my
beliefs are in the actual Truth is by realizing that the Truth is objective
rather than subjective. In other words, it would be foolish to blindly
and desparately hold onto my beliefs for dear life
because I have a lazy mind and am more interested in the fact that they are MY
beliefs rather than if I am actually believing the Truth. And it would be
even more foolish for me to broadcast my beliefs to others if I didn't have
enough respect for knowledge to make sure my beliefs are well researched and
that I was able to give a reasonable explanation of them.
God gave us an organ in our bodies that has immense
potential when it comes to our quest for knowledge....its called a BRAIN.
And I am quite sure that He expects us to use it. And the Christian has a
very huge advantage when he or she uses the enlightening
power of the Holy Spirit to aid them in discovering the Truth.
The purpose of our brain is not to simply house our
convenient conclusions and our favorite assumptions....or to house what others
or tradition has told us to believe. Rather, the purpose of
our brain is to continually explore the vastness of God and His Word (the Bible
and beyond).
I am confident that as long as I continually seek the Holy
Spirit's guidance in my thoughts and quest for knowledge, understand the Truth
to be objective, and continually scrutinize and test my beliefs either
personally or through debate, then I am using my brain properly.....to
understand, appreciate, and glorify God.....who is
the Absolute Truth.