Opinions

February 10, 2024

You probably aren’t really interested in my opinions. Whether or not I am interested in yours depends…

First, let’s decide what we mean by “opinion.” Here’s our choices from Merriam Webster.com :

1 a: a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter

2 a: belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge

b. a generally held view…

Let’s go with those, emphasizing, “2a. somewhere between a first impression and positive knowledge.” The first, an impression, makes assumptions which can result in audacious and presumptuous assertions. The latter, positive knowledge, is achieved through studious research…

What is a person’s opinion based on? Someone else’s opinion? I cannot think of anything worse than giving weight to an opinion of an opinion. It is like trying to walk across quicksand.

So, where does the opinion come from? And how is it possible to discuss opinions of opinions and get to any conclusive resolution or agreement? It’s like skipping rocks on a pond, in which every time the rock disappears, never to be seen again.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with having opinions. In fact, the Scientific Method starts right there. You observe something going on and immediately analyze it and form a first opinion — what the Scientists call an “hypothesis.” However, there are additional steps — the who, what, why, where, and how.

If anybody’s opinions can be used to build a foundation for living or, for that matter, doing anything about anything, some testing and a little bit of research needs to be done. That added step can move an hypothesized opinion into the realms of theories and positive knowledge.

Opinions aren’t strong enough to make a basket to carry all your eggs in. Opinions of opinions are even more precarious… That is like trying to carry all your eggs in your arms all the way from the chicken coop to the kitchen. Good luck with that! There probably won’t be any eggs for breakfast that way.

Now, before I write and publish essays, I do some research at online sites with “.gov” or “.edu” and with other reliable “.org” and hardcover resources like Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. I always try to cite my sources to give at least some weight to my opinions.

The one source which I use most, is one a lot of people refuse to count as a reliable resource, the Bible. They consider God, Jesus, and the Bible with little esteem and account them strictly as opinionated myth and fable — even though it is attested to by historical and scientific research and meat and potato results, experience, and reality. I can think of no other literature that has been tested so extensively.

The problem is one of the mind and the definition of opinion.

So, the obstacle to understanding God, Jesus, and the Bible is that it is much like this parable from Jesus: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” — Matthew 13:44 Then there is this: “Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.” — Mark 4:33–34.

God does not hide his valuables in a Bank, behind closed doors, in a high security vault, in a chained lock box. We are the ones preventing ourselves from discovering God’s treasures.

We have closed doors in our own Private Bank. We have walls of stubborn pride. We keep everything in a burglar proof safe in a lock box with chains of prejudiced opinions, and falsehoods, and hurts, and discouragements.

It’s hard to wrap your mind around, I know. Yet, if you are willing to learn, just like His followers, you can knock on Jesus’ door… In fact isn’t the verse cited below ironic? Become an amateur treasure hunter.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” — Revelation 3:20, New Living Translation.

So, you see, the inverse is also true: Jesus is knocking on your door, too! It’s a mutual endeavor.

Whether or not you are looking for God and Jesus or from anything in the Bible, Jesus is looking for you and waiting to unlock the Bible and all its hidden treasures for you.

“I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see.” — Amazing Grace by John Newton, 1779.

It all begins with the choices you make and from where your opinions come, and from the significance you decide to give them.

Something else to consider is that God created Mankind with a free will… Otherwise love wouldn’t be love, neither could you decide for yourself what to believe in nor who to trust.

Notwithstanding, “Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.” (Good News Translation) or “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” (New Living Translation) — Romans 10:11.