Truth is a precious commodity that should be handled carefully, but today's culture teaches otherwise in one form or another. Relativism claims that truth is always changing. Morality is by majority. If everyone says something is good, then it simply becomes good. Subjectivism suggests that something may be true for you, but not necessarily for me. Existentialism argues that the only truth is that which you can experience. Rationalism makes a god of logic, allowing the individual to decide what is true or untrue. Pragmatism forgets all about truth and simply searches for what works.
These and similar philosophies teach that there is no absolute truth relating to morality or doctrine, allowing for no definitive standards of belief or behavior. It is no surprise that secular society values pluralism and diversity higher than truth, but the same attitude has sadly infected an increasing segment of the church...As a result, many individual believers, churches, and denominations as a whole have forfeited biblical clarity in favor of moral and doctrinal error...
The temptation to embrace deception is great, and believers often accept it too much with too little discernment...Only as the church maintains a passionate love for truth and an intense hatred for error will it manifest its power in society. In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 the apostle Paul issues an unmistakable call to discernment. This book by Dr. Marsha Rano addresses:
• The disastrous results of the indifference of the church in the face of the current trend toward moral, doctrinal, and political corruption
• The desperate need of the church to practice biblical discernment
• The practical lessons in cultivating discernment in the Christian life
• How to equip serious readers with a foundation for biblical discernment that will enable them to make careful distinctions in their thinking about truth.
Dr. Marsha Rano is president of Paraclete Ministries, a ministry that promotes Truth; Paraclete Television Productions, a network television production company that spotlights issues in search of Truth; and Paraclete Marketing Agency, a consulting firm that advises in the discipline of theology. Rano holds a BTh, MTh, MDiv, and DTh, Christian Life School of Theology; a DMin, Beacon University; and is currently enrolled in a PhD research program, Middlesex University, London School of Theology, where her field of study is applied theology and ethics. Born in California, Marsha Scudder Rano grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Married in 1965, she and her husband, Tom, have two married daughters, and five grandchildren. God called one of their precious grandsons, Anthony, to his eternal home June 29, 2009. The couple has made Loveland, Colorado their home since 1978. They are members of Resurrection Fellowship, an interdenominational church through whom Marsha is ordained to minister.
