An Acquired Taste

I think beer tastes disgusting.  The smell of durian is gross.  The way rambutan looks is quite freaky.  Perhaps you disagree with these 3 opinions...no problem.  Certain things grow on us over time.  It may even be that most foods that we eat, perhaps even enjoy, are part of our lives simply because we grew up with them being eaten in our homes or have been shoving them down our cake holes for so many years.

It makes one wonder about the way we develop an acquired taste for other things, like truth.  Truth is an acquired taste.  With around 27,000 religious groups around the world, there are plenty of different flavors to choose from, but logic would tell us that not all groups can be correct about all points of doctrine.  Someone is wrong, and maybe someone is right about something(s).  If something is truly true one could expect it to remain true and to stand the test of time.  If it is a factual truth (like the earth orbits the sun) then it will remain true until, and unless, something substantive changes.  It is not false simply because someone decides they do not agree or even like the particular fact that is true.

Many people have developed an acquired taste for atheism.  One rather famous example is Richard Dawkins.  He believed in the existence of God for the first decade of his life and then chose to acquire a taste for evolution, though he would probably qualify this by saying that the "facts" left no alternative.  People who are atheists feel that, since we cannot see God and there is so much suffering in the world, God is dead--nonexistent.

Even more people have developed an acquired taste for agnosticism.  The confidence that exudes from a number of atheists is too bold for those who simply resign themselves that we can never know if God is real or not.  They see the same problems around the world and wish that peace was a reality for all humans, but they do not have enough proof to commit to God's existence or nonexistence. 

The largest number of humans, however, have developed an acquired taste for theism.  One could show, admittedly, that most would not ascribe to the God of the Bible, but they are pretty sure that a "higher power" exists.  Some of these people are famous, and some are not (like me). 

When it comes to food, an acquired taste may not be a big deal.  When it comes to truth, it makes all the difference.  All humans ask 4 questions in various ways:
1. Who am I?                            The quest for significance.
2. Where did I come from?       The quest for origins.
3. What is my purpose?            The quest for meaning.
4. Where am I going?               The quest for assurance.

Having read the Bible many times, it seems to me that those who have acquired a taste for atheism, agnosticism or anything other than the Bible's version of truth have simply not tasted long enough.  It sounds convenient for me to say this, but I have made it a practice to study more thoroughly the least understood and seemingly contradictory passages of the Bible.  Time and time again I have been surprised by the extreme attention to detail which the biblical authors demonstrated.  The timeless truths which have been recognized as axiomatic by a multitude of people are still relevant in 2014 and beyond.

More than this, the truth of the Bible, which I believe is God's message for all people, has changed the course of my life for the better.  Having read most of the Quran, the entire Book of Mormon, some Buddhist and Hindu scriptures and a fair amount of ancient texts, nothing compares to the clarity and subtlety of the biblical text.  I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good.  It's an acquired taste for sure, but it has never left a bitter taste yet.  Perhaps it is time for you to try a taste of the Bible.  What if the Bible really does contain the truth?  What if Jesus really is the way?  What if you die without even a nibble?