Gold Nugget 336 - The Remedy of Credulity
When a person is too hasty in believing without sufficient reason, and especially when he accepts statements on slight authority in opposition to a rational view, we call him credulous. Credulity is just a disposition to believe without sufficient ground.
It springs from mental weakness. It is a mark of childishness, while faith is a sign of childlikeness. The feeble mind is credulous. Faith is virile, credulity anile.
It is favoured by prejudice. The credulous person is unduly ready to believe according to his desires. So men say, “The wish is father to the thought.”
It is increased by fear, which paralyzes the reasoning faculties and inclines people to believe in the most absurd impossibility. The terrors of superstition ensnare the credulous. …
It dishonours truth. When a person shows indifference to the vital question as to whether what he believes is true or false, he displays a fatal disloyalty to truth. For truth will not endure an admixture of falsehoods. Therefore those very people who vainly imagine themselves to be the loyal and humble servants of the whole round of truths are the very persons who undermine the sanctity of truth itself.
It tempts to fatal acts. Men act according to their beliefs. If they believe lies, they will have the practical side of their lives flung into confusion. Truth is a beacon-light; error sheds a false glare, like that of a wrecker’s lamp on a rock-bound coast. It is dangerous to accept delusions of superstition with fatuous credulity. Life is real and earnest, and men need true lights to guide them safely. …
Note the remedy of credulity. This is not to be found in unlimited skepticism. The sceptic is often the slave of foolish fancies. Escaping from Christian faith, perhaps he falls into spiritualism or some other equally wild delusion.
Unbelief is not the remedy; for unbelief is but the reverse of faith. Indeed, it is negative faith. It is believing the negative of those propositions concerning which faith believes the affirmative.
Agnosticism is not the remedy; for agnosticism is more than a confession of ignorance; it is an assertion that knowledge in certain regions is unattainable. Thus it is dogmatic and possibly credulous.
The remedy lies in well-grounded faith. We must learn lessons of patience, and be willing at first to creep along step by step. We need not wait to say, with Abelard, “Credo quia intelligo,” for we may accept mysteries which we cannot explain. But we need to be satisfied that we have good ground for doing so. Fundamentally, a wise Christian faith is trust in Christ, resting on an intelligent ground of assurance – that he is trustworthy.
The Pulpit Commentary, Proverbs p. 280, Proverbs 14:15, (W. F. Adeney)
Gold Nugget 336
The Remedy of Credulity
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