my truth doesn't matter!

"In seeking absolute truth we aim at the unattainable and must be content with broken portions."

William Osler

The Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ intersecting a human life is all the Truth I can lay claim to, and even that is beyond my capacity to fully comprehend! 

"Quid est veritas?" So lamented Governor Pilate 2,000 years ago when faced with Truth incarnate. That he then followed that question with a cold calculated act of political expediency that was to become infamous, does not remove the profound depth of his question.
in·fal·li·ble 
/inˈfaləbəl/

Adjective Incapable of making mistakes or being wrong. Never failing; always effective: "infallible cures".

Synonyms unerring - inerrable - unfailing - sure - certain

I've been prodded lately by some fellow Christians who believe that because our Sacred text is infallible  that also means that our understanding of that infallible text is immune from the normal human condition of fallibility.

I have never met a person who seriously claims to be perfect. I've never met a human being who seriously claims to have never changed their mind from one belief to another. Except when it comes to religious sacred text. Then the most open of people suddenly transform into the most closed minded. certain that their current understanding of their sacred text must be as infallible as the text itself.

Christianity lays claim to possessing the entire transmitted communication between "The Christian God" and humanity. We are convinced it is to be trusted and contains exactly what God wanted to share with us. We have also warred between ourselves about which of our multitude of explanations (interpretations) is the "right" one. We authoritatively quote the original language and human writer's intent as if we had lived in that time and place as literary experts and quote God's intent as if we had stood at his shoulder as he dictated the communique we call The Bible.

I am certain there is only one True way to accurately understand The Bible. But I'm also pretty certain  no one has ever actually stumbled upon 100% comprehension of that accurate understanding.

It constantly baffles me that sincere men and women will fight to the death for their interpretation of Holy Writ while utterly missing the fact that their inappropriate Behavior counteracts their stated Beliefs.

This week one denomination within Christendom chose a new Bishop. She is married to a priest from a different denomination. I wrote a quip on Facebook that perhaps this ecumenical marriage might inspire a more ecumenical approach between to warring denominations. I was almost instantly rebuffed by a young man who explained that their union was only possible because they had forsaken Truth.

"In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials liberty, in all things Charity." 

Rupertus Meldenius

In the early 17th century this unremarkable Lutheran theologian coined a phrase that was to outlive him and become a war cry for those who would seek a more harmonious family life within Christendom.

Today in large swaths of Christianity it seems that the "Essentials" are everything written within Scripture, and there seems to be no "Non-essentials" within that Holy Script, and saddest of all is that Charity is something to be retained solely for people who agree with you.

God alone knows how to explain His Word to humanity and while He walked this earth for 33 years He singularly refused to do more than generalize some key Truth and paraphrase the remainder through parables.

Jesus Christ was probably the most obscure teacher of theology that ever lived. His answers were clouded in complexity and mystery yet demanded adherence to some very key elements within His teaching. One of the most central tenants of His teaching is that human beings are incapable of attaining perfection! Another is that only God is perfect! In fact the only group He interacted with who claimed to possess all God's Truth were condemned out of hand as being of the Devil.

My Divinely induced righteousness should outshine the self-righteousness of those who claim to possess Truth exclusively. Perhaps if enough of us ignorant, fallible Christians would shine forth divine righteousness more clearly it might eclipse the self-aggrandizing claims of those who possess a "truth" that becomes meaningless among so many other tawdry human possessions. I possess nothing but my fallibility and corruptibility! But because of my neediness I find a compulsion to go to God for instruction knowing that in many instances I will either ignorantly misunderstand or else deliberately disobey what God says to me.

I'll leave you with a fallible man's profound question:

"Quid est veritas?"