TRuth Vs. Beliefs: Would you Read a Book Whose Back Cover Said This:

• This Book explains the one singular “Methodology” all people use to hold fast to anything they “want to believe” “as” truth.
• This Book explains what is necessary to cut through all of the lies to get to truth … eventually.
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• “Belief groups do not exist to get anyone “to” truth. They exist to teach, promote, defend, evangelize … their beliefs “as” truth.”
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• “Everyone loves either the truth or their beliefs. That which you love least is always forced to conform to that which you love most.”
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• “The Methodology you habitually use proves which you love.”
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• If you love what you believe, if you are a fan of ANY “Belief Group”, avoid this book.
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• Habitual applying of the material taught in this book destroys erroneous beliefs.
• If you are willing to pay ANY price to get “to” truth, and avoid believing lies, this book is for you.

Interesting approach.

How do you distinguish "truth" from "beliefs"?

I probably wouldn't read it since I'm not a big fan of modern self-help books.

Don’t you believe the truth when you apply it? You might say that you know the truth, but doesn’t belief take a step of faith or an application of the truth?

A belief isn’t inherently a lie. We ask people, “What do you believe?” What do you ascribe to? Belief is the reached conclusion, is it not? This is what I believe to be true.

Now you may want to ask yourself the difference between knowing the truth and believing it.

As for your “belief groups do not exist to get people to truth” but to “evangelize”, how does proselytizing make void the truth?

You, yourself, could be considered a “belief group” by means of methodology. You believe your method of reaching the truth is accurate, and are now teaching people what you believe to be true, thereby doing exactly what you criticize the “belief groups” of doing. Teaching, defending, promoting, and evangelizing your beliefs as truth. In this case, your methodology.

The premise of the book seems to be how to get to the truth. Being anti belief group focused seems irrelevant, since such a belief group (Christianity) could (and does) have the truth. What if a belief group has the truth? A flawed assumption to instantly oppose belief groups as erroneous.

As a Christian I know the Words of God to be truth. That is the foundation for all other beliefs.

• If you love what you believe, if you are a fan of ANY “Belief Group”, avoid this book.

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  [*]Habitual applying of the material taught in this book destroys erroneous beliefs.
  [*]If you are willing to pay ANY price to get “to” truth, and avoid believing lies, this book is for you.

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So my question is what does the author view as truth. Are they implying that faith groups are erroneous? What price are they wanting the reader to pay? It sounds like if you want to know truth, I'll tell you how to believe my truth.

The beginning words made it seem as if it were a Christian book, but as I continued to read, it felt atheistic. Just me?

Is it eternal? It is true. Isit temporal? It is a fact maybe but no necessarily true.

It sounds like a covert method to re-educate it's readers into the belief system they wish to promote. It probably would be good to know the author.

And can a truth be believed? And can a belief be the truth? 😄 Or maybe you can believe a truth that is the truth of a belief? 🤔 Truthfully, what do you believe? 😁

What a fun thread!

I'm sure no one is interested in what came to my mind when reading the OP, but I'm gonna place it here anyway (maybe there's a reader out there somewhere, some day, that might have a flicker of interest)...

... this came to mind:

The phrase used in Scripture "THE faith" (with definite article) refers to "that body of TRUTH [as found in the NT following Christ's death and resurrection]"...

like what we see encapsulated in the following passage, for example:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4,5-8 -

1 Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, 2 by which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I proclaimed to you; otherwise you have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you in the foremost what also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Thereafter He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, the greater part of whom remain until now, although some have fallen asleep. 7 Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 And last of all, He appeared also to me, as to one of untimely birth.


[note to readers: to "believe in vain" means, to leave off the vital TRUTHS concerning His "resurrection," per the later parts of this context further down in the text]

I don’t know why but I was reading this thread as if the OP was the one who wrote the back to this book, but it actually might be that he is truly inquiring about the decision to read a book that has this backing (that he didn’t write).

I say this because I looked at his profile and he says he is a Christian.

My initial thought was that the book in the OP is the bible.

we're big fans of be up front from the get go -
we're past the age of playing guessing games...

Jesus Christ's 'belief-group' bases it's foundation
on bringing people to His Truth and His Truth only...

Every person whose goal it is to prove their beliefs true and hold fast to them, regardless of belief groups uses the exact same method to do so. Ergo, if you can hold fast to anything you want to be absolute unquestionable truth, or hold to the exact same thing as unquestionable lies using the same methodology with 100% success, although every group uses it, all it does is guarantee you can hold fast to what you "want to believe" "AS" Truth.

Are you talking about presuppositions? Or a world view, a lens by which you look at all evidence and interpret it through that lens?

I Agree. Most people believe that you can't jump off a 20 story building with nothing on and count on a safe landing, for example.

And believing anything with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, even to the point where you strap bombs to your kids doesn't guarantee truth even though no one can doubt their zeal for God in accordance with their beliefs.

Proselytizing regardless of the beliefs, has nothing at all to do with whether or not what is proscelitized is truth. It's simply that that's what all belief groups exist to do ... teach, promote, defend, evangelize ... the groups beliefs "as" truth.

If my focus was on beliefs, and not on how to avoid the methods every belief group uses to hold fast to their beliefs "as" truth, I would agree. For me, beliefs are a far second. If you aren't habitually doing what it takes to eventually get to truth, you won't ever get there. Everyone may go through numerous beliefs before arriving at truth. But it is only those that keep on habitually seeking, as a habit and way of life, and never stop that God guarantees will eventually get to truth. The problem ... every belief group already KNOWS their core beliefs ARE truth, and they have stopped doing what it takes to make sure they really do have it.


The problem is that every belief group holds fast to their core beliefs "as" truth. They have closed their eyes and ears lest they even consider anything else. THink about it, which people from which belief group are ever going to consider exchanging their absolutely unquestionably true beliefs for anything else/ By definition, everything else is a lie.

And there are entire groups of thousands of people who have the exact same level of vehement belief that it is a lie. As abn ex evangelical Atheist, I can tell you that is a fact. But the book is based on what the bible says is truth, so, so far we are in agreement. I however am open to changing my mind in the light of the fullness of all the facts available rightly divided and combined in such a way as to make God, God's people and God's word 100% consistent. Plus having examined over 10,000 supposed bible errors the best the Atheists like I myself used to be, and having found that about 9900 of them aren't really errors at all, it's rare that my old camp comes up with anything new ... but still, when everything that might pertain is cut straight, I am open to considering that the bible is not inerrant. So far the bible holds water far better than the oppositions arguments against.

There's the rub. If you agree with all my current beliefs, only one thing is guaranteed. You are wrong. My beliefs are secondary to the Two Methodologies that every person either uses to hold fast to their beliefs "as" truth or they use to get TO truth. THere really are only two methods. 95% or more of the people use the first to hold fast to whatever they "want to believe" "as" truth.

The focus truly isn't on the beliefs, although some are definitely present in the book. The focus is on the two Methodologies, and avoiding the first while habitually applying the other as a habit and way of life for the rest of our lives.

Everything in the book is based on what the bible has to say about it. I was an evangelical Atheist who had very good success converting Christians to what I Knew was truth ... Atheism. I was wrong. That said, for the Atheists out there, I am open to altering any or all of my beliefs in the light of the fullness of the truth on any topic with every fact that "might" pertain, cut straight.

All truth is His truth. He is the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Him. The problem, every person who believes anything believes they have the truth. Next problem, since Jesus is the truth, if you missed the truth you missed Jesus. If you do not love truth more than ANY of your current beliefs, you do not love Jesus. You just believe you do.

The problem is that there are only 2 Methods to go at the truth verses beliefs issue. If your goal is to hold fast to any belief, if you have ANY unquestionably true beliefs, regardless of the beliefs or belief group, you are doing the exact same thing every other belief group does to hold fast to their beliefs "as" truth, and to reject every opposing belief. The problem is with the pride and arrogance every group has that their core beliefs are unquestionably true. Ergo, every "valid" fact, interpreted properly must either prove the groups beliefs true, or at least not contradict them.

Every belief group interprets everything in the light of their unquestionably true beliefs. If we love, and truly want truth, that Methodology must be avoided like the plague itself.