The Opening Statement

A Discussion of Life, God, and Our Natural Order

Knowledge Search

After my first encounter with what I believed to be God, I found myself long on faith and short on knowledge.

I immediately dug in, spending every spare minute studying the Bible and anything else I could find. At first, it seemed to be going well. But slowly and steadily, the opposite happened. The more I read and listened to sermons, the more uncertain I became. Before long, I was back to reading what felt like a foreign language, and my faith was going, going—gone.

And yet, despite the turmoil in my understanding of God and the meaning of life, all the unanswered questions in the world could not dull the sense of peace I had experienced that one afternoon. That peace never left me, even when my understanding of it did.

Decades passed.

During those years, I discovered certain pieces that clearly mattered. I knew they belonged, yet the final piece that would bind them into symmetrical order remained elusive.

These were not puzzle pieces that, once assembled, would reveal a single, magnificent image. Instead, they were the foundational tenets of a belief system—principles against which the most complex questions of life could be tested.

A grand idea or naïveté? Quite possibly both.

Important Note

The conflicts between knowledge and faith became my second major revelation.

I feel compelled to go into some detail here, not to go too deep into the weeds, but to explain the obstacles I faced. In hindsight, had this process been easier, I might never have discovered some of the ways of thinking that later proved valuable—not only in matters of faith, but in life more broadly.

Knowledge, Faith, and the BS Filter

During my search, I found conflict everywhere—conflict between knowledge and faith, and even more conflict with knowledge itself.

I will begin with the simpler of the two.

I discovered a direct conflict between knowledge and faith. They do not play well together. They cannot seem to occupy the same space.

• With absolute knowledge, no faith is required.
• Faith appears to exist only in the absence of knowledge.

The real and most controversial conflict was with knowledge itself. In matters of faith, there is no shortage of information to support any biases you may have. Convincing arguments for opposing viewpoints can sometimes be found on the same page, often written with equal confidence.

That led me to question the very definition of knowledge itself. What do we truly know?

When I separated what I thought I knew from what I could honestly say I really knew, there wasn’t much left in the latter category. I’m reminded of the generations of people who once knew, with absolute certainty, that the Earth was flat.

The answers I was searching for began to emerge from unexpected, and not always the most trusted, sources. As an amateur in all things spiritual, I had made assumptions based on the only voices available to me at the time—that certain voices or sources should never be questioned.

It had escaped my notice that scholars and historians have debated this topic for centuries.

The direct words attributed to Jesus were not written down until decades after they were spoken. The printing presses of that era were human scribes, hand-copying each manuscript.

Over centuries, language translations, editorial decisions, and disputes over authorship accumulated. Church leaders debated for generations before settling on the twenty-seven books included in the New Testament—a decision not finalized until nearly four hundred years after Jesus’s death. Then, it was decreed that all other documents, teachings, or even their mentions, should be burned at the stake and never considered.

There seemed to be a lot of loose ends to square. This includes the notion that, based on Scripture, creation is dated just a little over six thousand years ago, while there is evidence of human religious practices that date back over a hundred thousand years. (!!!)

The symbol above, “(!!!),” indicates a pause, allowing time to reread the preceding section or recover from its impact. I may need to use this symbol a few times.

I am not sharing this to denounce Scripture. Rather, this realization forced me to acknowledge that faith has always required judgment, not blind certainty.

It is my belief that a Spirit resides within each of us. It’s that little voice in our heart that tries to influence our decisions.

When we examine information with an open heart, we do not assess its validity alone. This inner spirit is always present.

I believe most people recognize this voice, even if they do not name it.

Ask yourself:

1. Do you sometimes sense this inner nudge?
2. Does it tend to guide you toward what feels like the right thing?
3. Do you experience guilt or remorse when you knowingly act against it?

If so, you have validated the spirit within.

I came to believe that I am free—indeed obligated—to challenge everything, provided I do so with both an open mind and an open heart. This is the process I used to gather what I call my “nuggets”: studying, arranging, reconsidering, and rearranging them repeatedly.

When faced with new information, the conflict between our intellect and our heart serves as a BS filter—unBelievable Stuff filter.

Sometimes, we are asked to believe things that do not pass this “BS filter.” Our heart may want to accept them, but our intellect refuses to cooperate. This internal conflict creates doubt, which is often that little voice screaming “beware!”

You should apply this “BS filter” when evaluating this discussion and my work as well.

Many people spend a lifetime believing what they do because of how they were taught or a desire to belong. We have a deep need to belong. Yet, beneath the surface, doubt can persist.

I came to believe that just because something is written in a textbook or spoken by a teacher does not automatically make it true. Similarly, just because something is written in Scripture or proclaimed by a spiritual leader does not automatically make it so. (!!!)

The moral of a story may ring true, while the facts of the story may not be true at all. You must admit that the reverse could also be true: the facts of a story may be accurate, while the conclusions derived from them may not be.

This realization made one thing clear: I would have to learn—and unlearn—many things before I could align my intellect with the voice in my heart.

Do Facts Matter?

We seldom have definitive answers to questions based purely on facts; otherwise, they wouldn’t be much of a question. When faced with difficult issues, I often respond by asking two simpler ones:

1. What level of faith do I have in this answer?
2. Does it matter?

Many faith-based questions seek a moral answer. Does it conflict with your belief system? Many questions that are posed as moral questions have no relevance to my belief system at all. It is easy to get hung up on things that are not relevant to my faith. In those cases, a quick “It doesn’t matter” allows me to move to the next question.

Question: Did we evolve from monkeys or Adam and Eve?

Answer: I cannot know, and it does not matter. This is a question of history, not morality.

Question: Can I stop paying my taxes for religious reasons?

Answer: Legally, you might want to consult an attorney—or have bail money handy. Morally, based on my belief system, doing so would place an unfair burden on others. That makes it a “no.”

I offer this important disclaimer.

Regardless of how convinced I may be in what I know or believe, my heart must remain open to future enlightenment. I must be willing to examine and reexamine my positions when new or opposing views are presented. I must welcome challenge, respect differing perspectives, and change course when warranted. I must suspend my beliefs at times in the interest of finding truth.

Changing one’s position in light of new understanding is not a sign of weakness or defeat. It reveals strength of character and is evidence of integrity.

I should stand willing to place the following disclaimer on every page:

I reserve the right to be wrong.

Discussion Recap

The following are the intended takeaways to this point in the discussion.

1. If we are truly seeking enlightenment, we must sometime suspend our biases.
2. Faith can only exist in the absence of knowledge.
3. If you know the truth, no faith is required.
4. How much do we really know compared to what we only think we know?
5. Is there certain knowledge or sources that we are not free to challenge?
6. Most people recognize the Spirit inside us which points to what is morally right.
7. We should examine everything with both Spirit and intellect, our BS filter.

Being wrong can often be right which reveals strength of character.