See the Scripture in my signature:
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good
As everybody knows, there is a lot of conflicting stuff that is put forth as Spiritual truth. My question how do you verify something put forth as spiritual truth.
That’s why we have apostolic authority. One of Christ’s statements was that He would “guide into all the truth”. And at the time He was talking to the apostles. That authority has been handed down through the centuries.
He also declared clearly to Peter that what he bound or loosed on earth would be bound or loosed in heaven. That’s a lot of authority to give a man. That became understood with the passage of time (although the church fathers also stated) that the Bishop of Rome was the eminent authority, as the See of Peter. Peter died in Rome, as did Paul. Christ was establishing an authoritive office, with the power to bind and loose. And Christ said it. It’s not a figment of the Catholic church’s imagination.
If you’re just going to use the Bible, plus your own reason, without any other authority, you run up against the problem of differing personal opinions. Thus we have SDA’s for example who insist that Saturday is the Sabbath, and should be adhered to because it was an OT law, despite the fact the Church was in the habit of meeting on Sunday’s from the earliest days.
We have fundamentalists who insist Rome is Babylon, and when Saddam Hussein was in control, some insisted it was the literal Babylon based in Iraq. Some say it simply stands for any world system which opposes Christ.
We have those who insist the KJV Bible is the only version, despite the fact it didn’t exist for 1500 years. And so on. Some insist on a version of communion close to the C****atholic; others insist it is purely symbolic. Most Protestants have two sacraments; the Catholic Church has seven.
Some insist on a literal 7 day, 24 hour creation; some say evolution; and some say a mixture.
And that’s why we have what might be called Catholic teaching. Or to quote my old
Protestant pastor, “When it comes to theology, Protestants couldn’t agree how far to spit!” And that was from a wise, prophetic old Protestant pastor.
Without central authority, guided by the Holy Spirit, you *can’t * have certainty that any particular “spiritual” truth is in fact, true.
And I can also tell you from personal experience that what might be called “personal spiritual experiences” are also equally uncertain - at first glance you don’t know if they’re from God or the devil.
))…the title “How do You verify spiritual truth?”…you want something more than to have the question answered?
