It is amazing how many folks who seldom bother to open the cover of their Bible, who have not been in church for a zillion years, and who either cannot recall or never went through catechesis think that they have a definitive knowledge and understanding of God. I am sure every pastor hears it and everyone else reads it on social media. My God would never say this or do that. How secure they are in their shallow understanding or complete misunderstanding of the Christian faith! Yes, I know that in America we have a right to our own opinions, no matter how foolish, stupid, or wrong they might be. There must also be a right to share your opinions with anyone and everyone you encounter. At least, that is how it seems.
We live in an age of your truth and mine as if there was not one truth or a truth to span the ages. We live in an era of presumption and that presumption is that we do not need any instruction or guidance to know anything and everything. It is quite literally the incarnation of that old TV commercial which said "I am not a surgeon but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night." Apparently, everybody has stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last time.
C. S. Lewis is spot on. We can all have our opinions but outside the realm of Scripture and the living tradition of creed and confession, we have only opinions and not fact and truth. But fact and truth are in short quantity all over the place. Religion, specifically Christianity, is not alone in elevating thought to fact and opinion to truth but if you are wrong elsewhere it may not steal eternity out from under you. In the Christian faith, it is precisely eternity that is at stake. You can think what you want to think but why would you think that your uninformed opinion has as much validity as what Scripture says and creed confesses.
Okay, I feel better now. Tune in tomorrow for a more reasoned meandering opinion.
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