{"id":96605,"date":"2026-07-11T17:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=96605"},"modified":"2026-07-11T17:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:11:15","slug":"a-center-of-certitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-center-of-certitude\/","title":{"rendered":"A Center of Certitude"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tfrom A Place to Stand <\/em>by Elton Trueblood
\nvia\u00a0Sentry Magazine<\/em>, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995\n

The most pragmatic reason for seeing that Christ is the most dependable reality is the evidence of changed human lives. When we consider Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, we are in the realm of the empirical rather than the merely speculative. Saul said it was the Living Christ who had met him, and the person who seeks to deny this is confronted with the fact of a permanent change in Saul’s character. We cannot, of course, know whether a man is lying when he says ‘I believe,’ because belief is intrinsically internal and personal, but the evidence of changed lives is something which other people can observe. In Saul’s case, the change was so radical that it led to the production of some of the finest literature of the world, a literature which would not have been produced apart from the crucial encounter.<\/p>\n

The evidence of lives changed by contact with Christ is so abundant that the full story can never be told; it is, indeed, of a kind not matched anywhere in any culture. The changed lives have come about, not primarily by a set of ideas or by acceptance of a doctrine, but by commitment to a Person…<\/p>\n

The Christian takes his stand on the fact that lives can be made new through fellowship with Christ, and he knows of no other source of change and renewal equal to this. With George Fox, the Christian of each generation hears an inner voice which says, There is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to thy condition.’ We have learned that a mere inner direction, no matter how frantic or obsessive, is not sufficient for the new life we sorely need, for we do not have the power to save ourselves. My own life cannot be unified except by that to which I am devoted. But where shall I turn? A mere ‘ism’ will never suffice. Because persons are superior, in kind, not only to all things but even to all ideas, I need a person to whom I can give myself and thereby find myself. But not just any person will suffice…The Christian who uses the phrase ‘the mind of Christ’ is not using language in the same way as if he were to speak of the mind of Plato or Marx. We know something of the minds of these men because we can read what they wrote, but we mean something different in reference to Christ. We mean that Christ can be in us, and that His mentality can come to dominate ours. ‘Do you not realize<\/em>,’ asks Paul, ‘that Jesus Christ is in you?<\/em>‘ (II Corinthians 13:5). Shocking as it sounds, it is really possible for a finite man, as he responds to Christ’s call, to have a measure of the spirit of Christ. The central purpose of the gospel is that Christ may be formed in us (Gal. 4:19) and that He may dwell in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from A Place to Stand by Elton Trueblood via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995 The most pragmatic reason for seeing that Christ is the most dependable reality is the evidence of changed human lives. When we consider Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, we are in the realm of the empirical…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[201],"tags":[390,709],"class_list":["post-96605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notes","tag-conversion","tag-evidence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":96605,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? Answer: Registering for the draft is a government law that does not violate any teaching of God. \"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-boy-girl-relationships-not-advisable-at-a-young-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":96605,"position":1},"title":"Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age Answer: Youth is a time of impatient desires. They want the things available to adults, but adulthood seems so far away. The typical teenage boy enters puberty around the age of 11. The typical teenage girl enters puberty around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32196,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-take-out-insurance\/","url_meta":{"origin":96605,"position":2},"title":"Is it a sin to take out insurance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin to take out medical insurance or legal insurance? Are we rather expected to put our faith in the Lord to take care of those things? Answer: We were taught to pray, \"Give us this day our daily bread\" (Matthew 6:11), but God still commands us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-lost-the-surprise-somewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":96605,"position":3},"title":"We Lost the Surprise Somewhere","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I remember watching Mayberry RFD and related shows most of my childhood. Poor ignorant Gomer Pyle who worked as an auto mechanic was a notable character. But I can still recall my shock when I found out that Jim Nabors, who played Gomer, could sing --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Gomer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-book-of-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":96605,"position":4},"title":"The Book of My Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Job 19:23-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each week the paper publishes its list of top selling books \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the books are biographies, fictional stories, or fiction placed in historical settings. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They hope that others will also purchase the books, if for no other reason than curiosity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many author\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-passages-that-refer-to-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":96605,"position":5},"title":"Are there passages that refer to THE Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have been studying the Lord's supper issues and one of our main concerns is about a second offering in which only a few partake, for the reasons you listed in your article (not doing it together). We have been questioning the idea of everyone taking it a second\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96605"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96608,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96605\/revisions\/96608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}