All Information is not Equal

We live in a society that values all information as equal. It often doesn’t matter if the information is accurate. If someone ‘puts it out there’ we tend to give it equal value to other information. The problem is not all information is accurate, and not all information should be valued equally. This is most important when it comes to faith.

Brethren, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.  But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know that I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.  Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father.  He who confesses the Son has the Father also.  Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.  If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.  And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. I write this to you about those who would deceive you; but the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.  If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him. See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you.  He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous.  He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

1^st John 2:18-29;3:1-8

It is obvious from Saint John’s letter that this was a problem from the very beginning. There have always been people claiming to be Christian, clergy even, who teach something different than what Christ and the Holy Apostles taught.

Historically speaking we call them heretics. The ones who believed incorrectly and refused to correct their teachings. We don’t often use the term to describe modern Christians, but the essence is the same. There are still Christians, clergy even, that believe differently from Christ and the Holy Apostles, and they still refuse to correct their teachings.

That wouldn’t be a problem if we were better versed in the truth of the Church. It wouldn’t be dangerous if we trusted the Church has the truth “once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1.3) It is a problem because our ‘western’ brain treats all information as equal. All information is not equal.

The Church has always protected the truth by being loyal to the teachings of the Holy Apostles. Other Christians are not committed to this ‘litmus’ test. Clergy, since the very beginning, have always traveled with credentials to prove they are part of the Church.

Every priest has a canonical bishop to whom he is accountable. Every bishop has a synod to which he is accountable. Every synod has the other Orthodox Churches to which it is accountable. This is a very delicate balance, but truth is worth the effort.

The truth doesn’t change. In the Church we call that doctrine or dogma. Doctrine is always about the truth of God and our salvation. In each generation the Church must apply that unchanging truth to ‘real life’ circumstances. Application of the truth can and often does change.

The Church is constantly responding to life with all its challenges. Some generations are more ‘kind’ to the Church, while others are violent. The Church responds differently to each situation. The situation of divided Christianity today isn’t a matter of differing application, but doctrine.

That is what makes 43,000+ denominations more dangerous than outright persecution. In a society where all information is equal, each denomination offers variations of the truth to anyone who will listen.

If we aren’t careful, we can take the information without vetting it and risk straying from the truth. The first step in remaining loyal to the Truth of Christ and His Church is to test everything we hear against the teachings of the Church, through history. If we believe what Saint John is warning us about in today’s reading, false teachers come from within just as much as from outside.

The second step in remaining loyal to the Truth is to remember the difference between doctrine and application. Applications can change. Doctrine never changes. Is what we are hearing a change in doctrine? Then run. If it is a change in application, it may have some merit.

So long as we remember that not all information is equal we have more than half the battle.