The Problem Of Finding Spiritual Truth

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© Confident Christians – www.confidentchristians.org

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Can you truly find absolute spiritual truth?

Do consequences exist if you don’t?


Sp

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Sp

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Truth

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Can it be


Sp

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The Questions/Assertions…

Why so many religions?

All religions teach the same thing…

Belief in God means checking your brains at the door…


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The most common belief systems:

Which, if any, are really true?

• Agnosticism (Hard and Soft)

• Atheism

• Cultic systems (Mormon, etc.)

• Deism

• Finite Godism

• Pantheism (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, New Age, etc.)

• Pluralism

• Polytheism

• Postmodernism

• Skepticism

• Theism (Judaism, Islam, Christianity)


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A look at the oldest (bad) analogy of spiritual truth

Six blind men approach an elephant. One believes it to be a snake (grabs

the trunk), one believes it to be a fan (grabs an ear), another thinks it’s a

tree (grabs a leg), and so on. Notice…

• They were all wrong.

• Someone knows enough to know it was an elephant to tell the story.

• The absolute truth is known and it exists (it’s an elephant).


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All religions have similarities, right…?

Yes, but so does a counterfeit and real $50 bill

• Just because something looks right on the surface doesn’t

mean it is the real thing.

• Differences matter and must be uncovered to find the truth.

• Fakes aren’t acceptable.

How do spiritual claims differ – just in the small stuff?


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Some voices claim no God and others many gods…

Some similarities but they differ in areas of…

• The person of God.

• The person of Christ.

• Areas of personal morality.

• The way of salvation.

• What happens after you die.

They differ in the things that matter – and matter greatly


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Are there consequences for making a wrong choice?


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So if differences exist, and those differences matter,

then all roads cannot lead to the top of the mountain.

Bottom line: Spiritual truth exists – we need to find it. But

how?

• From Culture? Some cultures act kindly toward their neighbor, but

other cultures they eat them.

• From Majority Rule? The majority can be wrong.

• From each Individual? We call people crazy who lose touch with

what reality really is and just invent their own.


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The Importance of a Systematic Methodology

Does the scientist go into the lab and haphazardly throw

stuff together in the pursuit of scientific truth?

Why think the pursuit of spiritual truth should be treated

any differently? The study of God – Theology – must be

approached in a systematic way.


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Arriving at error does not mean the truth does not exist

Sit a group of students down and give them a challenging

math problem – it’s a fair bet that many will get the answer

wrong. But that doesn’t mean a correct answer doesn’t

exist.

Just because many faiths may have different answers to

the question of God doesn’t mean that one true answer

doesn’t exist.


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Navigating the worldview maze to spiritual truth requires:

And just what are the right questions…?

• Asking the right questions

• Thinking logically

• Examining converging lines of evidence

• Excluding what is false

• Embracing what remains


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Steps/questions that lead to spiritual truth:

1. Does absolute truth exist?

2. Do reason and religion mix?

3. Does God exist?

4. Can we know God?

5. Is Jesus God?

6. Does God care about me?

The end result is a coherent set of answers to the big four areas of life:

origin, ethics, meaning, and destiny.


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Finding spiritual truth answers the big four questions

• Origins – where did I come

from?

• Ethics – how should I live?

• Meaning – what is the purpose of

my life?

• Destiny – where am I going when

I did?


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1. Does absolute truth exist?

If it doesn’t, then we can be sure of nothing and

cannot go any further. But if it does, then we

can continue through the maze…


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2. Do reason and religion mix?

1. Law of non-contradiction – something cannot be “A” and “non-A”

at the same time and in the same sense.

2. Law of the excluded middle – something is either “A” or “non-A”.

3. Law of rational inference – e.g. All men are mortal, John is a man,

therefore John is mortal.

4. Law of identity – “A” is really “A”.

Logic is critical in rational thinking – recognizing that the opposite of true

is false.


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3. Does God exist?

If a supernatural Creator does not exist, then

atheism is true and we can stop. But if we can

show that a Creator does exist, then we need to

find out what that Creator is like.


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4. Can we know God?

Can we discover what God is like? What kind of

God exists? Has He revealed Himself to us in

some way? If not, then we can stop.


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5. Is Jesus God?

Jesus stands as the central spiritual figure in all

of history (no matter the faith). Who is Jesus? Is

He just a man, a prophet of God, or is He God

Himself?


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6. Does God care about me?

If God exists, then does He actually care about

me? Does this supernatural Creator have a plan

and purpose for my existence?


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Working through the maze:

Absolute

Truth?

Yes

No

Yes

No

God

Exist?

Yes

No

Know

God?

Yes

No

Jesus

God?

Yes

No

God

Care?

Yes

No

Agnosticism

PluralismAtheism Deism

Christianity

Reason/

Religion?

Agnosticism

DeismVarious


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Answering Life’s Questions:

Absolute

Truth?

Yes

No

Reason/

Religion?

Yes

No

God

Exist?

Yes

No

Know

God?

No

Jesus

God?

Yes

No

God

Care?

No

Agnosticism

PluralismUncertainty

Agnosticism

DeismDeism

Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Origin EthicsMeaning

Destiny

Various


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Hard question: Do you want to know the truth?

“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up

in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and I

show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. I’m only

offering you The Truth… Nothing more.”

“It is our preference that decides against Christianity, not arguments.”

- Nietzsche


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Why spiritual truth matters

Simply because…

“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if

Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your

sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If

we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be

pitied. ”- The Apostle Paul

Eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong.


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Do all roads lead to God?

… Actually, they do…


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Because God exists, when you die you will meet Him.

Whatever road you’re currently on… Whatever path you’ve

chosen… You will meet God.

But what then?

Yes, all roads lead to God. But only one road leads to His

forgiveness and eternal life – Christianity – whereas all the

other roads lead to His judgment and eternal separation from

Him.

D o

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Yes, it can.

Can it be