A relatively short post... being that I am strongly inclined to write quite long posts, perhaps a rest for these arthritic fingers -- Ross River virus induced -- would be in order now and then, especially because a very large part of my work involves CAD and coding.
Anyway, it is all very simple and quite scientific. In science, as any sagacious sapient (yes, I used an adjective as a noun... please don't shoot me) would understand, all meaningful theories must be logically self-consistent and, being that they operate within a closed system, the universe, must be logically consistent with all other theories of things, within that same universe, that are themselves still standing so that the theory of everything must ultimately be ONE consistent and logically perfect theory. (I say "closed universe" because, regardless of whether or not it has or has not infinite spatio-temporal extent, it is closed in that the laws of nature do not change and are consistent throughout, so all physical phenomena must operate within the confines of those laws.) This is what one may term the "world view", whether it be based in science, philosophy, religious beliefs, whatever. To disprove any theory, all that is necessary is to find a single logical inconsistency and the whole edifice collapses. One can never prove a theory true because, even though some experiment may seem to validate a certain aspect of a theory, there are an infinite number of possible scenarios within which the theory, or aspects thereof, must be tested and must not fail in every single case. It is easier simply to find just one thing that is wrong and discard the theory (often, theories are not actually completely discarded but are revised, but this is in essence the same thing since the revised theory is logically different from its predecessor and is, therefore, a different theory that merely bears some similarity to the previous one). The success of an idea depends on how well it has withstood the onslaught of assaults from testing. Tests must be such that they test a unique aspect of the theory which would result in a discernibly different outcome for other known theories of the same phenomena. However, this does not ever rule out the possibility of a new and different, as yet unknown, theory that would produce the same results in this test as that theory currently under investigation, thus the impossibility of proving a theory true. Nevertheless, the more such tests a theory does not fail under, the more trusted the theory becomes in spite of its imperfections (there are no perfect man-made theories of anything), though it is never to be accepted as indisputable fact. It is ALWAYS disputable. There is no room for consensus in science. Scepticism, with an enthusiastic desire to test and discover, putting aside all expectations, is the only honest scientific approach. A single fact can topple a theory that has stood up to thousands of tests over thousands of years but no amount of success can establish a man-made theory as perfect. Note that scepticism does NOT equate to doubt or denial. Scepticism is merely the initial acceptance of the null hypothesis until said null hypothesis is sufficiently well demonstrated to be in doubt.
Moving on...
Moving on...
So, what has all this to do with discerning the deceiver? Quite simple, really.
Truth is such that every aspect of it is an aspect of the perfect theory of everything and, therefore, must be absolutely logically consistent and all-encompassing. It must be ONE. Too many Christians make the mistake of trying to discern the lies of the deceiver by learning about all of his tricks in a vain attempt to spot them all. The devil has thousands of years of experience in this matter... how foolish we are to think that we can outwit him. The problem is that there is no end to the number of possible tricks that can be used to beguile one into believing nonsense, illogical scenarios couched ever more deeply in seeming truths. That is, there are an infinite number of possible lies buried in an infinite variety of frameworks of apparent truth. Obviously far too much to deal with.
So, rather than waste precious time trying to know all of the tricks of the deceiver, why not simply spend that time getting to know the truth? That is tantamount to spending all of that valuable time getting to know Christ. Once you are saturated with truth, with His Spirit (the assumption being made here that you have already received that first seed of truth, you are already born again of the Spirit, for without that seed the tree cannot grow), any lie that comes along will become apparent, not always in a direct sense but often as a deep sense of suspicion, even if you do not immediately understand why your "gut" feels that way. Do not misunderstand, I do not speak here of basing a decision on an emotional response but merely that hidden information can trigger emotions. It is a deep-seated sense of suspicion, a kind of scepticism, a knowledge that something is amiss without immediately knowing exactly what is wrong. Essentially, it is the result of a deeply buried neural response to a complex pattern which has, possibly, never been directly consciously linked before. It takes time to dig it out. Emotional responses, as decision-makers, tend to mislead and cannot be trusted but must be carefully analysed so that only decisions based on the logical outcome of such an analysis, which takes into account all external factors, can be trusted. An emotional response may alert you to your deep seated suspicion but, without careful analysis, no sensible decision can be made. In any case, you will be on guard against every possible manner of deception even without knowing how it works. Untruth will "smell bad" in a spiritual sense. The words may appear all very flowery and appealing, even flattering (an oft-used snare) but the flowers will smell bad, if you are so immersed constantly in truth that it becomes, as they say, "second-nature". You will sense something is wrong even if it takes you a month of Sundays to work it out later. More importantly, becoming completely imbued with the Spirit of Truth will lead to developing the precious fruit of the Spirit which is treasured in the citizens of the eternal kingdom of God. That fruit cannot grow if the tree's growth is stunted by a lack of proper nutrient and clean water... which is what would happen to those whose focus is always on the enemy and his schemes.
Don't waste time discovering the wiles of the devil... spend your life getting to know God and, as you draw nearer to God, the devil will flee further from you. Soon enough you will see the deceiver coming while yet miles away. The problem with science, as we know it, is that it is never certain of the truth. The beauty of knowing God is that He is the truth.
Mat 6:33 KJV But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things (everything you actually need) shall be added unto you.
