© 2013 Meredith J. Sprunger
© 2013 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
There are three approaches to the critical evaluation of the validity of facts, meanings, and values: the scientific method of validity of facts; the philosophical method of consistency of validity; and the religious method of intuitive truth. These three tests use all sources of knowledge, but each emphasizes only one facet of reality.
The main steps of the scientific method are: observation, hypothesis, experimental intention, experimentation, evaluation and verification. It is intersensual and intersubjective, objectivity is of fundamental importance. The observation-based aspect of the scientific method is rooted in our empirical perception of potentials.
The two rational procedures of deduction and induction are important scientific tools. Mere correlation, realization or association are not adequate criteria for establishing cause and effect relationships. Rational thinking is also fundamental in the areas of experimental design, control and evaluation. The value of perception largely determines the area that is investigated and creative insight is primarily responsible for the nature of the hypothesis projected. The value of insight also plays a significant role in evaluating experimental evidence. All sources of knowledge and skills used by scientists function adequately only in a composite and holistic unity. Because of the objective nature of the scientific method, there is generally agreement in its results.
In the evaluation of meanings, a more complete test of validity is provided by the philosophical method of coherence. The method of coherence is dialectical but it is a process of reasoning rooted in the three main sources of knowledge of perception. The philosopher considers our total knowledge empirical-scientific, but does not completely identify validity with scientific facts. Philosophers use the higher forms of rational thought, but do not confuse authenticity with the logic of validity alone. The coherent method uses our total capacity for creative thought and understanding of values, but does not equate truthfulness with mere mythical or intuitive perception. Our highest philosophical wisdom is realized when our total knowledge is weighed and evaluated in a dialectical process that culminates in relevant decisions. The philosophical method does not bring uniformity of opinion because the mind and experience of each person is different, therefore differential importance is given to the basic sources of knowledge. Nevertheless, it tends towards unity in philosophical research because common sources of knowledge and cognitive disciplines are recognized and used.
The ultimate human approach to reality is the religious method of intuitive truth. Those who hunger for knowledge and spiritual growth will seek truth and divine guidance. Knowledge is the acquisition of the mind which has the restrictions of finite experience; truth is a spiritual perception of reality which transcends intellectual limitations. The soul’s perception of truth strengthens philosophical reasoning. Intuitive spiritual sensitivity creates visions of truth which faith supports and transmutes into living reality. Truth is dominant in the spiritually endowed mind. Above and beyond the facts and reason which govern our daily lives, we have intuitive glimpses of spiritual reality and supreme values. Our noetic experience of truth, beauty and goodness is superior to all other knowledge concerning the direction of our lives. It is the foundation upon which faith is established and developed. It is a personal experience with the Truth, the Way and the Life.
However, human beings have no infallible way to distinguish between intuitive truth and other forms of inner knowledge and guidance; therefore, all our feelings, attitudes, and actions should be checked and verified by consistent philosophical reasoning and scientific facts. Experience is the definitive test of truth. As experience builds faith in the spiritual foundations of the universe, we are able to face defeat, suffering, and the unknown future with courage and confidence.
Truth is dynamic, it is a living spiritual reality. It transcends knowledge and other purely material levels of reality. Truth cannot be captured or defined by words but can be known through living experience. Because human beings are spiritually indwelt, we can know truth, live truth, experience the growth of truth in the soul, and appreciate its liberating influence on the mind; but truth cannot be imprisoned in creeds, dogmas, or theology. Truth can be transmitted from person to person through interpersonal communication; but when we attempt to place living truth in impersonal, static forms such as the written or printed word, which is inherently material, it is degraded to the intellectual level of human knowledge or wisdom. Truth is then transmuted from living spiritual power into its intellectual material shadow. Only dead truth can be captured in theological concepts. In this way, religious experience is reduced to religious philosophy.
It is possible for a person reading this dead or static truth to assimilate it on the intellectual level of knowledge or to transform it back into truth—the living spiritual power. Knowledge and truth both have a place in human life; they are complementary. However, physicians do not confuse living human beings with the static nature of corpses. Similarly, religious people should not equate the dead formulas of theology with the living power of truth. But just as the practice of medicine is greatly aided by the dissection of corpses, in theology the analytical study of the static forms of truth can be of immense value to the living practice of religion.
There are two basic types of religious experience. Religious activities based on fear, emotion, tradition, institution-building, and theology are intellectual-humanistic religious functions. Those religious devotions centered in personal experience and fellowship with the Indwelling Spirit of the Universal Father and the realization of the fruits of the spirit in daily life are spiritual-divine religious expressions. Intellectual religion is dominated by second-hand knowledge of God, theological beliefs, and institutional service. Spiritual religion is motivated by first-hand experience of God, living faith, and service to humanity wherever you are and in whatever activity you find yourself. The first emphasizes intellectualization or indoctrination of dead forms of truth that have been degraded to the level of human aspects of knowledge or wisdom; the other lives by spiritual truth that is spontaneous, dynamic, and creative in its expression in the human personality. All planetary religions are a blend of humanistic and divine religious orientations. Each individual expresses a unique combination of these forms of religious experience.
Summary of the presentation: Spiritual psychology is guided and validated by the fundamental sources of knowledge. Facts, meanings and values are interrelated in human experience. Invariably, the failure to include any of these sources of reality distorts the outcome of thought and action. The materialist, the rationalist and the mystic fail to understand the depth of universal reality. All human knowledge is relative but reasonably certain.
Ordinary tests of truth lack validity. Scientific, philosophical criticism and religious evaluations of truth are all necessary and interdependent. Truth has a dynamic and living spiritual quality that cannot be captured by impersonal language and creeds. Religious experience is a blend of intellectual-humanistic functions and spiritual-divine experience. Spiritual psychology is primarily concerned with personal spiritual experiences. This is the only religious experience having a direct relationship with the Ultimate Reality that has the power to transform life and society.
Meredith J. Sprunger