The idea is nothing new. The French mathematician and philosopher Rene DeCartes questioned everything because he surmised that insane people cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy—and maybe we are all insane. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had the ability to doubt. That meant his only certainty was that he alone existed. Everything else was uncertain.
Pilate asked the famous question of Jesus when confronted with Jesus’ messianic claim.
“What is truth?”
Post-modernism is built on earlier deconstructionism that—while not always denying that truth exists–did deny that it was attainable with any certainty.
But with AI and social media, the level of doubt and denial has hit a new level.
I was golfing (if you can call what I do on the golf course actual golfing) with a few friends from church last Saturday when someone mentioned the social media memes about Tiger Woods. If you are not following, he has had a history of getting in car crashes while under the influence of various substances. There are very convincing short videos out there that show a Tiger Woods driven golf cart crashing onto a tournament green and Woods stumbling out to put. The AI fakes look very realistic but are intended to be comical.
One of the men in our group—all of us late Boomers or early GenXers—said.
“It all looks so realistic and it’s getting better all the time. In the future, our kids are not going to believe anything they see or hear.”
It’s true. The younger generation today doubts everything. Nasa says that 36% of Americans think the moon landing was faked, and 37% think the WW2 Jewish holocaust is blown way out of proportion. The number is over 50% among young men. This despite the mountains of evidence purposefully collected and preserved to document both for future generations. The evidence for the moon landing is so great that it would be much easier to actually go to the moon than perpetuate such a broad fantastic conspiracy and all the evidence that exists to document it. Allied governments were so overtaken with the breadth of the holocaust against the Jews that meticulous evidence was preserved and is on display at multiple museums as proof. There were in excess of 6 million Jews killed by the Nazi’s and their ilk during WW2. There are only 15.8 million Jews in the world today according to World Population Review. There is no way such a crime can be overblown. I know there are some of you reading this that are in the doubter category. Christian, beware.
What should a Christian think of all this? What should a Christian think of the conspiracy theories that abound?
Remember that Satan’s lie is to tell you that others are lying.
That is what he did in the Garden with Eve in Genesis 3:4.
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
In fact, Satan not only accused God of lying, but blamed it on selfish motives that God kept secret from Adam and Eve. The first being in the history of the universe to propose a conspiracy was Satan.
And yet we know that liars do exist and we must be wary of them.
The story of the Man of God and the Old Prophet in 1 Kings 13 is an example. God gave specific instructions to go prophesy against King Jereboam. He was also instructed not to eat, drink, or stay anywhere along the way, but to return home by a different route. The Man of God did as he was told and refused to disobey even under pressure from the King. But he succumbed to the lie of what should have been a respected man—an older prophet.
and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16 And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”
18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) 1 Kings 13:14-18
The man of God went, and was later killed by a lion because he believed the words of the Old Prophet and disobeyed the direct command of God.
Not only do liars exist, Paul says that every human being is a liar (Romans 3:4). This leaves us in a dilemma. Should we doubt everything? Not exactly.
God is always true.
God not only does not lie, He cannot lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). It is contrary to His nature. In a world full of lies, this is more precious now than ever. Jesus, who is God in the flesh is true as well (John 14:6). Jesus said it and history has proven it.
God’s revelation is always true.
Because God cannot lie, His creation, which is part of His revelation to us, cannot lie either. We might misunderstand it because our knowledge of it is limited or faulty, but the created universe is true and real. I am not saying that created beings, like human beings, do not lie. I am saying that the world we see around us is created by God and is real. It is not a figment of our imaginations or a simulation as some would contend.
The very specific revelation of God to us in the Word of God is also true. It is God-breathed according to 2 Timothy 3:16, coming from the God who cannot lie to a world that is desperately seeking truth. Jesus declared very clearly “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
We should lean toward believing people.
I know this seems to be at odds with Romans 3:4. However, Christian love impacts how we view the truth according to 1 Corinthians 13. Remember that love is the obligation of believers toward God and toward our neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). 1 Corinthians 13 is the standard set for believers in how we interact with individuals in the culture around us.
Christian love loves the truth.
Love . . . does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (1 Corinthians 13:6)
Believers might discover lies but should not luxuriate in finding them and exposing them. Believers must expose lies, but it should not be our entertainment, pastime or joy. We should find our joy in the truth and in those who express it. We should exult in truth and commend it. All too often, we completely ignore truth-tellers while obsessing on the infamy of liars.
Love . . . bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Believers should be a trusting bunch. Yes, that’s what believe all things is communicating! If we are not called naïve from time to time, we are probably not obeying this command. It’s not that we are naïve, it’s just that we are commanded by the scripture to give our fellow human beings the benefit of the doubt. We even hope for something better knowing that God can change the human heart.
This does not mean that we are foolishly trusting like the Man of God was in 1 Kings 13. We never trust the word of man over the word of God, for instance. However, Christians should not be cynics, seeing nothing true anywhere. Even Jesus ate with publicans and sinners. Even Jesus found friends and loved ones in this world (John 15:15). He did not hold them at bay calling them all liars. There is a difference between being wise and being cynical—this is especially true with Christian brothers.
I suppose I have to include a few exceptions here. If you receive an email from a Nigerian Prince asking you to help him get his money out of the country, or get a phone call from someone with a foreign accent (or not) telling you your Microsoft Tax is due–please do not give them the benefit of the doubt or a penny of your money. The same goes for AI generated content of any kind. Verify, verify, verify.
If in doubt, research credible sources and do not abandon wisdom.
And when an individual has a history of lying, we do not abandon wisdom. If we are concerned, we must work to uncover the truth ourselves, not just believe everyone who cries out “liar, liar.” When you combine cynicism with laziness, you get a world that is an intolerable dwelling place.
Our faith is our greatest comfort in this world of doubt and denial.
Audio version of this post here: Who Can Believe Anything Anymore?
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