© 2013 Meredith J. Sprunger
© 2013 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
The fundamental forms of universal reality—matter, mind, and spirit—are recognized in the cognitive form of things, meanings, and values, and give rise to the disciplines of science, philosophy, and religion. The gathering and accumulation of the facts of knowledge takes place at the scientific level of intellectual activity. The study of the relationships, meanings, and soundness of knowledge is a philosophical function that engenders wisdom. Experiencing the spiritual reality of truth, devoting oneself to following the guidance of the Inner Spirit, living by faith, and producing the beauty and goodness of the fruits of the spirit, is akin to the practice of religion. Human existence involves the use of reason and wisdom to integrate into experience, facts, truth, and faith. The quality of our lives is determined in large part by the correctness of our scientific facts, the coherence of our philosophical perceptions, and the fact that our religious values are grounded in reality.
Sources and types of knowledge
We possess three basic types of knowledge: perception of the material world, information inherent in the nature of the human mind or consciousness, and the value of perception. This triune basis of knowledge is a complex, endless intraassociation. Any experiential understanding that does not take into consideration all these sources of knowledge invariably becomes distorted. Spiritual growth is linked to the mental expansion provided by the sources of knowledge. Religious progress is stimulated by the exercise of curiosity and love of adventure, the coordination of skills in self-realization, and a sense of humility that stimulates the desire for knowledge and wisdom.
The contents of the human mind are largely the result of our perception of the physical world. As material beings with five basic senses that provide the forms of physiological perception accompanied by the mind that operates through the material brain, most of our experience centers around empirical knowledge. These tangible data have the advantage of being objective, having common verifiable control, and lending themselves easily to quantitative analysis. Science is rooted in our empirical perception. However, science is handicapped by the limitations of material reality; therefore, it is possible to be empirically correct in our observation of facts but erroneous in our judgments of truth.
The nature and quality of our mind determine the form and limitations of empirical and spiritual perceptions. The inherent characteristics of the human mind refer to the patterns and categories in which sense data are ordered and organized as well as the quality of the reality of our perception of values. These genuine and verifiable cognitive abilities that we possess by virtue of the nature of the human mind are known as rational abilities. Some types of rational thinking are relatively independent of the specific forms of empirical perception. Such inherent rational knowledge is known as a priori or noetic perception. For example, one category of a priori knowledge is the “law of non-contradiction” which states that two contradictory propositions cannot both be true.
Rational perception has the advantage of being applicable to both empirical and spiritual knowledge. It binds and integrates facts and values into experience. Mathematics, logic and reason are useful tools for both science and religion. However, by itself rational knowledge tends to end in sterile abstractions or crystallize into static concepts which often hinder human progress. Its theories, its rigid and narrow dogmas usually have a limited correlation with the reality of material and spiritual life. It is only with empirical observations and its connection with existential problems and value judgments which direct it towards the important goals of human existence, that rational knowledge achieves its highest expression.
The perception of values largely determines the quality and purposes of human life. Our perception of truth, beauty, and goodness contributes to the spiritual dimension of life. Just as our knowledge of objects or facts is the product of matter-mind interaction, so too our perception of values is the result of mind-mind interaction. The deeper aspects of value consciousness, such as the nuclear world of matter, must be studied deductively, since our direct awareness of spiritual reality is extremely limited.
People capable of creativity in the realms of spiritual realities seem to possess a superior perception of values that has the advantage of perceiving key factors in our rational-empirical experience and combining them in such a way that they bring about the optimal good in human life. Spiritual knowledge, however, is itself subject to distortion and illusion. Objective knowledge is as fallible as subjective knowledge. We must constantly test our perception of values by rational analysis and empirical experience. True values are never irrational or inharmonious with scientific fact, although they usually transcend both rational thought and empirical evidence.
It is important to remember that all sources of our knowledge are interdependent. The one-eyed materialist scientist, the rationalist intellectual, and the religious mystic are unable to visualize correctly and adequately comprehend the depth of universal reality. Truth can be handicapped, but not invalidated, by its association with distorted science and obsolete theology. It can support human experience even when it is bound up with inaccurate facts and erroneous thinking. When both science and religion become less narrow and dogmatic, philosophy will be able to make a unified universe more comprehensible. When facts, truth, and values are holistically better understood, great strides can be made in spiritual growth. In the development of experience, we normally proceed from facts to meanings to values. Consequently, in the emphasis we give to hierarchy in human culture, science gives way to philosophy and ultimately philosophy recognizes the priority of spiritual experience and the Reality of Spirit.
The limitations of the mortal mind and the evolving nature of reality make all human knowledge relative. As the scope of knowledge expands, the boundaries of the unknown expand with it. Truth itself is relative and expands, finding new expression in each generation and in each person. Nevertheless, human knowledge is generally reliable. As we make decisions and take actions based on our best information, we gradually acquire wisdom. Our behavior becomes more and more harmonious with existential reality.
Common tests to know the truth
During centuries of experience we have unreservedly followed various and pragmatic shortcuts to the discovery of truth and the rules of our behavior. One of the most common is to make decisions on the basis of intuition-sensation. Obeying emotional inclinations is characteristic of immaturity. Too often, feelings are determined by misinformation, illusions and defense mechanisms with their endless forms of unconscious and irrational motivations. The Inner Spirit makes contact with our lives not through feelings and emotions but in the higher realms of superconscious and spiritualized thought.
Whenever we, as individuals, feel threatened by our self-centered behavior, we often take refuge in the safety of the customs and mores of our society. Although group opinion tends to be more balanced and diverse than our individual inclinations, it is subject to the selection of all the distorted perceptions, emotional illusions, and irrational assumptions that characterize individual feelings and actions taken without discernment. The customs and mores of culture, although bringing stability to society, are even greater obstacles to moral and spiritual growth than the prejudices and ignorance of the individual. These traditional orientations are the cause of a fallacious rightness through mass approval and sometimes provoke atrocities in the name of social or religious justice.
During the millennia of the historical process, contemporary societies have undergone periods of instability, mass suffering and social crises. During these critical periods, leaders emerge pointing to “the wisdom of the fathers” as the path to recovery and prosperity. These touchstones of antiquity - the sacred scriptures, the words of wisdom of great leaders or the courageous deeds of martyred heroes - become the criteria of society. Thus, tradition and authority become the arbiters of all behavior or belief. The experience of centuries is an excellent test of human knowledge and values. Over the years, society acquires wisdom. Along with this wisdom is associated much that is non-essential, illusion and error. The truths, half-truths, misconceptions and the literary forms of the culture through which they are transmitted are inextricably tangled. And contemporary situations always involve new and unique conditions for which traditional wisdom is not applicable.
Since we cannot become experts in many areas, we depend on people of competence and integrity to advise us in almost every discipline of life. This is why authority is the most widely accepted pragmatic shorthand for truth in society. The use of expert opinion becomes so widespread in a complex society that the conventional mind assumes that authority is an adequate criterion for truth. This assumption is obviously fallacious. Even when experts give us the most trustworthy information available, the discerning individual will still realize that the judgment given is not true because an authority has declared it true, but because they refer to sources of authentication that other qualified people could confirm.
When this valid social basis for the use of authoritative opinion is forgotten or placed in a secondary position, authoritarianism results. This intellectual bigotry paralyzes growth in all areas of knowledge. The history of all intellectual disciplines demonstrates that often new ideas or discoveries are accepted when the old experts or authorities disappear. It is an ironic paradox of life that authority, although the most useful shortcut to the most trustworthy knowledge, when it is corrupted by becoming authoritarian appears in the position furthest from an adequate philosophical criterion of truth. It is a common weakness of the conventional mind to depend on the use of tradition and authority.
Religious authoritarianism is a major obstacle to spiritual growth. It is very tempting for religious institutions to substitute historical facts and sectarian authority in their theology in place of spiritual truth. Zealous and pragmatic religious people translate high spiritual truths into specific rules of life whose legalistic form is devoid of the truth and spiritual power that inspired their development. Understanding the truth frees us from all enslaving legalistic rules and invites us through spiritual principles into the supreme freedom of life.
Meredith J. Sprunger