“Let the wise hear and increase in learning.” Proverbs 1:5
The World Wide Web has forever changed the means of acquiring knowledge. Encyclopedia Britannica was first published as a 3-volume set in 1768 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Over the years it grew, until in 2010, it was comprised of 32 volumes and 32,640 pages. But 2010 was the last year that Encyclopedia Britannica released a printed version of their historic volumes. The only encyclopedia still in print is the World Book Encyclopedia.
There are many dangers within the internet, not least of which, is that anybody and everybody can share their ignorance and pass it off as truth. In such an atmosphere we do well to research and analyze what we are reading, so that we do not become deceived. Every ridiculous, conjured-up theory can be “proven” with information from the internet. Apparently, extraterrestrials have landed on earth, harvested organs and drained the blood of herds of cattle, but the U.S. government has covered up this event, and hired “men in black” to allegedly “silence the witnesses”. An alarming profusion of such theories can be found and validated on the internet.
It is vital, in the midst of such an onslaught of information, that we be discerning in what we accept as truth. We are warned repeatedly in Scripture to judge between true and false prophets (Deut. 13:1-5), to search the Scriptures to see whether what is being taught is true (Acts 17:11), and to test the spirits in order to reveal the false teachers (1 John 4:1). Never in the history of the world, have we been assaulted with such a barrage of information as we are today. How important it is to be astute in every area of our lives!
Yet, part of the reason for the steady advance of absurd theories on the internet is an alarming, growing distrust in all authority. While it is vital that we be discerning in what we accept as truth, at the same time, we must not discard centuries of gained knowledge, believing that we have become the sole adjudicator of all truth! Some have even twisted Scripture to support outlandish premises!
May we be found faithful in handling the Word of truth rightly! And most of all, in our study of the Bible, may we see more clearly, and come to love more dearly, the Word made flesh! The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the centrepiece of Scripture, the centrepiece of the gospel, and the centrepiece of human history! Hallelujah! What a Saviour!