Honest Inquiry and Cynical Skepticism

Honest Inquiry and Cynical Skepticism

The following quote may be found in a previous post.

"The point is that some things have to be believed in order to be seen. The reverse is also true! Some things have to be doubted in order not to be seen. The argument that God is illogical is only logical to the one who steeps his mind in such skepticism and doubt."

What is most interesting is that those who fail to give an honest look fall into the black hole of cynical ignorance or an ever increasing apathy.  As to cynical ignorance it compounds exponentially in such a mind with the result that such a person basks in the skeptical, positing that it is some kind of intellectual achievement or higher plain of understanding. 

Assumptions

Of course the basis for such ignorance lies in the assumptions that one is prepared to accept and as well what one is prepared to dismiss due to skepticism and doubt.  Of course some skepticism and doubt are healthy in that such is what fosters inquiry.  Often such it title as curiosity.  However when extreme skepticism and unchecked doubt run rampant through the corridors of one’s thought processes and conclusions the outcomes are most dire.

Rampant Skepticism

When rampant skepticism thus become too ingrained in one's basic assumptions then one goes to the extreme.  Such a skeptic in its extreme form then questions all reality.  Such a person asks, "Is the chair upon which I sit real or a creation of my mind/imagination?"

Studying the Bible and Textual Errors

Now to the main point which is this.  If a person could at least acknowledge that the Scripture might be valid and based upon that acknowledgment then make a serious and honest inquiry into those Scriptures, such a person might then discover a whole new world of vistas.  "No" not in a casual reading but studying and reading the Bible for all that is there.

What about the supposed errors in the text.  Please note that no other book is subject to such criticism.  In reality, every day more and more of these are being put to rest as archaeologically, linguistically, and culturally more and more is discovered about the times and cultures in which the Bible is set and the languages in which it is written.

English Text and Errors

When a person chooses to conclude that the Bible is full of errors and therefore not be trusted based upon their assumptions about the English text very simply such a person is incredibly naive or they are not intellectually honest.  Such is likely birthed of a cynical critical attitude rather than honest scholarship and genuine academic pursuit of the truth.

It takes no particular talent to go to the web sites, hosted by skeptics, cynics, and critics and thus bolster one’s negative attitude about the Bible and the God of the Bible.  Problem is many if not most of their supposed problems do not stand up under genuine scholarship.

At best they are "hack" students of the Bible who are loaded down with agenda and erroneous assumptions, and who if they took the trouble to do research, would find that their arguments can be easily disassembled even by those with a smattering of understanding of the previous referenced culture, language, and times of the Bible.

The Bible is Uniquely Treated

The final point is this.  People reserve the Bible for special treatment.  You hear of virtually no one who subjects any of a number of other subjects (e.g. science, psychology, sociology, human anatomy and physiology, and higher mathematics etc.) to the same rigorous scrutiny, negative criticism, extreme skepticism, and pessimistic cynicism.  Yet history is replete with examples of these and other subject failing when subject to serious academic scrutiny.

Honest Inquiry

Again go back to where this started.  While some cynicism and skepticism is necessary to further inquiry, one cannot bring complete cynicism and extreme skepticism to any discussion for there to be honest inquiry. The problem is that little else beyond Christian faith and its Scriptures is subject to the same cynicism and criticism.  As well, notice that such biases result in flawed assumptions which compound the problem and bring a further intellectual downturn. 

However when one seeks genuine reality/truth the outcome is far different.  Consider then that one must at least in some degree be willing to hear the truth to in fact hear the truth.  Such is never more so than in matters which pertain to the following of Jesus Christ.