Monday Morning Music Ministry

11-10-25

There is knowledge and there is belief. If we are humble enough we believe what we know, and that we don’t know everything. And people should – but many do not – know what they believe.

Many of us actually are aggressive about their lack of beliefs. When Jesus, on the cross, asked His Heavenly Father to forgive the tormentors and executioners “for they know not what they do,” the Romans and the Jews actively sought His blood. But today there are people who are indifferent about their beliefs: which translates to not having core principles. Can such a thing be? You better believe it.

In contemporary America, society’s standards certainly have been lowered from previous times, and a swath of the population is content about that… or, again, indifferent about the consequences. No standards of right and wrong in society, or for themselves. The virtual absence of standards results from the lack of basic convictions, and of selfishness and self-indulgence. The lack of self-respect, diminished morals, indifference to others’ concerns, and (let us say essentially) the loss of faith, complete the ugly picture.

Back to “knowledge.” Does the accumulation of knowledge, of accessible facts, replace beliefs? Surely it does in the sense that “nature abhors a vacuum,” however as magpies acquire random shiny objects to pile in their nests, newly formed or discernible facts are abstract and not pertinent to most of us. Scientific knowledge, we are told, doubles every five years; if that is a fact, it presumably advances civilization, but represents mysteries to most of us everyday folks.

I was prompted to think about these things and share my thoughts (yes, I believe you can know that I have a point) because of Internet pop-ups and other news I have noticed lately. I realize that certain stories come my way because of algorithms. I discuss the Thanksgiving dinner with my wife, and the next day I receive posts advertising vacation packages to Turkey. This portends a New Paranoia that ought to be the subject of another blog essay, no?

In the meantime, I open one site and others follow like ducks in a row. For the moment, the current e-onslaught is actually interesting to me. I will not promote the sites nor go into detail, but I have been learning (knowing? believing? at least my interest is piqued) –

• The Webb telescope estimates ever more and more stars. There seems to be a trillion galaxies, many of which contain trillions of stars and planets. Matters pertaining to the formation or collapse of galaxies, their rotations, and such, contradict the Big Bang hypotheses.
• More evidence accumulates for the existence of a great flood several thousand years ago. We know Noah, no? Geological signs point to evidence of a Biblical flood based on physical evidence.
• In similar regards, anthropological and biological discoveries are pointing away from the theory (remember, theory) of evolution and its Old-Earth claims. The co-existence of animal species and mankind, the fossil record of giant life forms, the tarnished reputation of carbon-dating… are upsetting the apple carts of scholars. Or should.
• Archaeologists are almost routinely unearthing things from chards of clay tablets all the way to foundations of entire cities that confirm Biblical accounts. What scientists and historians once dismissed as Scriptural allegories now confront them. “Legends” are now acknowledged as facts. A 2700-year-old cuneiform message from Assyrian invaders demanding treasure from the king of Judah exactly parallels a Biblical account to the last penny, so to speak. This was unearthed in a drainage ditch under construction near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

I have not cited news stories nor academic journals about such things; my purpose here is not to enroll any of you in Biology 101 again. Refer to Mr Google. But I have been impressed that many things we (humankind) “knew” or thought we knew… we should be intellectually humble about. Review the dogmatic assertions of history’s experts about the earth being the center of the solar system; the efficacy of bleeding sick patients; the wisdom of infant sacrifice.

It is baffling how people can be dogmatic about, say, the “prehistoric eras” and age of earth when few of them were around “millions” of years ago as witnesses; but they fiercely refuse to accept tangible signs of a creator God’s work and inspiration and signs and wonders; of fulfilled prophesies; of confirmed miracles. They will trust bogus science and disgraced theories, but ridicule our counterpart: faith. The definition of faith? — “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

I have a little method I rely on when I consider such questions or anomalies, contradictions, theories, dilemmas (let the world can take its pick) . I believe Jesus was God-in-the-flesh; He was sinless but sacrificed Himself as a means to assume the punishment for our sins and rebellion; that He rose from the dead to confirm His divinity. If Jesus believed in a six-day Creation; if He believed in Adam and Eve and the Flood and the prophets of old… who am I to contradict Him?

He knew because He was present in all those cases. If He was mistaken about those things of which He taught, He surely could not have been correct, about anything else. He had knowledge and belief as well as trust and faith — all things that He desires us to embrace.

I believe the incarnate God. What else can I do?

When we rely upon “facts” and knowledge to be the bases of our beliefs – instead of faith as a foundation of our worldviews – our standards, values, passions, loyalties, and actions are not reliable blueprints for living. Many facts and even scientific theories change; they have changed; they will change. God’s Word is unchanging; His promises are everlasting.

“Y’know, God, I believe You, except for what that guy on TV said. No, not him; he admitted he was wrong. I mean the guy on Facebook last week…”

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Click: I Believe; Help Thou My Unbelief