The Interior on the Fallacy of Private Religious Discovery

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 2, 1873

The Interior on the Fallacy of Private Religious Discovery

The Interior meets a common fallacy in the following terms: “The frequent assumption that every man has the ability to settle all religious questions by examinations and discoveries of his own, is a cause of skepticism and shallowness of thought. Why not tell him that he should not use watches, reaping machines, and telegraphs invented by men of more genius than himself, until he has devised some of his own equally efficient? The fact is, that in earthly science and labor we are wisest when we make the best use of other men's studies and discoveries. To act upon the same rule in matters of religion is wisdom. It is common sense.”