What is behind the recent deluge of social media posts, internet-based podcasts and publications attempting to dismantle almost everything our society has been taught about the creation of the universe, its human inhabitants, and our roles?

Many pronouncements are accompanied with anecdotal evidence from individuals with public credibility, and about “new discoveries” generated with Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing theory. In light of the information being spread in the digital media, ought we to discard all traditional precepts we learned?

Often, the most deceptive pronouncements are those that mix falsehood with sprinklings of truth. Note the Biblical accounts of Satan, the Enemy, deploying this tactic to promote unbelief and to shake the faith of believers.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman was convinced. When she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. . . . Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ” Genesis 3:1-13

In these situations, differentiating truth from falsehood calls for Biblical discernment to avoid falling for clever deceptions in our pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. Before falling for such traps, recall what our Creator teaches.

Christian believers can access “light from the Lord,” which light within them produces “what is good and right and true.” (Ephesians 5:8-9) In Christ “lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3) Thus, we ought not to fall for new philosophies and “high-sounding” nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” (Colossians 2:8-9)

 ^“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1:5-7)

Believers are to use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down “the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.” (2 Cor 10:4)