Authority and the "Truth"

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to how we "know" things. I guess it is more accurate to talk about what we THINK is "true". We can have a subjective belief that we "know" something and still be wrong.

I would be curious to know what % of our information is derived from sources beyond our own personal observations. The information that most of us obtain through personal experience is fairly limited. This is especially true when we consider what we learn about various ideas during our education. For example, I have been taught that the earth orbits the sun, but I'm not sure I would even know how to begin to go out and prove that for myself. I still accept that as "truth".

Why?

We learn quite a bit from those considered "authorities". How does one get to be an "authority"? Typically, one becomes an "authority" because others say it is so. Again, we are acquiring this information from an outside source. The "logic train" runs in two directions. First, we can say that "X says R is true, and X is an authority, so the likelihood is that R is, in fact, true." Or we can go in the opposite direction. We can say "X has said A, B, and C. A, B, and C, either through my own observations or through the opinions of others, appear to be true. Therefore, X must be an authority."

Things get really tricky when X says "I am an authority". How does one evaluate that? You could listen to J, K and L, who might also say X is an authority, but then you are just substituting their opinion for X's. Things get even trickier when X says "I am an authority, and I say Z is true." If I can't determine independently that Z is true, what am I supposed to do?

This last example is (albeit in an oversimplified state, perhaps) the Bible. The Bible proclaims itself to be the "authority". It is "the word of God". It also says that God is omnipotent and beyond error. If we decide that God is omnipotent and that the Bible is the "word of God", then we can reach no other conclusion except that "the Bible is the authority". The problem, from a purely logical standpoint, is that God and the Bible prop each other up in what is essentially an exercise in circular reasoning. The Bible says God is omnipotent. The Bible says God is beyond error. The Bible says that the Bible is the word of God. Therefore, we must believe what is in the Bible because it was created by an omnipotent, error-free God. In a sense, they begat (to use a good Bible word) one another. Again, purely from the perspective of logic, that is cheating.

I don't intend this to be an attack on the Bible or on God. If you have read any of my other blog entries, you will appreciate the fact that I am a question asker. I am a searcher. The quest for understanding, to me anyway, is just that. A quest. I don't think we are ever supposed to get done. Humility and a realization of our own limitations empower us to say "I don't know" so we can keep looking.