According to Oxford Dictionaries, Post-truth was the word that best epitomizes the social discourse for 2016. It must be understood that once a society sets itself on a particular course, that course does not waver. Each year the society will have another word or phrase which characterized it, but the previous character-defining words will still remain in force. Therefore, Post (after)-truth will apply to the Western World’s mental set until Christ returns.

According to the source, Post-truth is defined as “Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” In Texan, this means that one’s opinion, desire, wishful thinking, etc. will always trump facts. In conjuction with the Oxford Dictionaries characterization of modern day thinking, acting and doing, the June 6 edition of the Guardian featured an article titled “Why We Can’t Trust Academic Journals to Tell the Scientific Truth.” The publication exposed a trend that has many scientists, along with those who depend on them, very concerned. For example, it has been found that 72% of scientists know of other scientists who have fabricated results of experiments and studies to make their findings fit their beliefs.  Fourteen percent have concocted entire sets of information, methods and outcomes for the same reason. Fifty percent of life-science research cannot be replicated, meaning that no one can conduct the same study and get the same results because the information found in the original study is unreliable. Fifty-one percent of economic and forty percent of medical studies suffer from the same malady. The Guardian called such scientific findings “fake news.”

Alas, the so-called “church” suffers from the same informational dysfunction. However, the outcome of faulty information carries much more deadly consequences. As is the case in the scientific world, the question relative to professing Christendom is, “Who do you trust?” Who is telling the truth? In John 17:17 Jesus answered the question when He said to the Father: “… Thy Word is Truth.” End of conversation, that is, for those who want to know the Truth. It has been my experience that those who do are few in number. The vast majority, when confronted with God’s Truth, deny it, choosing to go with “… what I’ve always been taught.” Translation: “What I want to be the truth because if what I want is not the truth, that means that I have been wrong all along.” Pride is at stake and must not be attacked. See the Introduction to this website to revisit some of the things we’ve “… always been taught” by church leaders. Only the truly humble will admit their error, turn and embrace the Truth. There is only one standard for spiritual Truth–God’s Word. L.J.