Choosing authority

"The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17)

In high election season it is well to remember this principle of judgment. Few of us are smart enough to hear just one side of a policy or philosophy argument and be able to judge its merits accurately. There is always something you have overlooked --- that will be brought out by the opponent of that view.

A person might well despair of arriving at a good decision --- for president, or for health insurance or mutual funds or cell phone plans --- when he often has several factors going against him at once: (1) the intrinsic complexity of a issue; (2) his own limitations as an evaluator; (3) the deceptions and dissimulations of each side presenting its case.

The Bible tells us to examine everything thoroughly (Deuteronomy 13:14; 17:4; 2 Corinthians 13:1;). But at some level in the investigation we must put our trust in one authority or another. Everyone does that, no exceptions. Practically speaking, no man can examine firsthand all the empirical evidence, which leaves us forced to make decisions not only about the presenting issue, but about which "authority" we will believe in.

All knowledge is a question of authority in the end.