An Experience Over Facts

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, men of learning argued whether or not some diseases were caused by the microscopically small creatures known as “bacteria.” The champion of the bacteriologists was Robert Koch, and that of the skeptics was Max Joseph von Pettenkofer.

To prove his point, Koch sent Petternkofer a tube that swarmed with virulent microbes that were said to be the cause of cholera. Pettenkofer—to the great alarm of microbe hunters—swallowed the entire contents of the tube. Then he said, “Now let us see if I get cholera!”

Now there were supposedly enough cholera germs in this tube to infect a regiment but Max Joseph never got sick. Thus, he proved forever the mistaken notion that bacteria could cause infection.

Expect he was completely wrong. The failure of the Pettenkofer to come down with cholera remains to this day an enigma, maybe the vial was not tainted as thought, maybe he just got lucky but one thing is for sure he was not right. Just because he seemed right in this one instance, didn’t mean what he thought was true.

Many religious folks today will take a singular experience as the end all and be all even when the totality of facts show something different. A singular verse rather than the whole console of God. One bad experience with a particular preacher rather than the consistency of the entire church. A moving time when they felt in their heart a way was right rather than the reasoned study of the Scriptures. A brief misspoken exchange rather than the bulk of all that has been explained. One experience trumps the overwhelming evidence

I think we can miss out on what is right by overvaluing experience over facts. One bit of knowledge might not be all there is to know. What is seen one time might not be all there is to see. How we feel might be factual.

Make sure you have not proven something to yourself that is not been proven.

Comments

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission. It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14).

The Right to Arm Bears

In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head. As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25 It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by Elisha but not

The Mighty Gulf

It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding. To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two. Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God? In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. To understand why we

Ecclesiastes 12:10

Search This Blog