Experience: The Basis Of Our Faith

We demonstrated that the commonalities of evidence covering a widespread area and over a period of time, plus artifacts from the event are adequate basis for establishing the truth of the event. Its mathematical probability being so great means for us that it becomes a certainty, 'truth'.

All of the above factors combine to demonstrate to the one whose five senses perceive the event that what he perceives is 'true'. Simply put, it answers his question.... "Is what I am sensing happening out there?" But it is his personal experiences that he verifies.

What about his children, who never sensed those experiences, but who know about them only from the tales their father related to them? How do they know it is 'true'?

The remainder of this essay is dedicated to answer that question.

Assuming I opted to maintain my position that there was no ship, that it was a mirage. I presume everyone thinks I am a raving lunatic. I refuse to discard my loincloth on this tropical island; I'm not going anywhere, but am going to live my life out on this beautiful island. I hone my skills for fishing, trapping, building canoes, and making fire from flintstone, skills needed for survival. I will not waste my life anticipating the arrival of rescue ships... that will never come. I will not waste my time as the others are doing, teaching my kids how to build elevators, tailoring suits and fancy dresses, creating electrically operated appliances, bulbs, washing machines, since I have no electricity.

In short, the 'truth' of my perceptions determines the choices I make in life for my survival and the survival of my children. That is equally so for the rest of the islanders. Their 'truth' convinces them that there was a ship and that they will soon be saved. They have, therefore, chosen a course of action to prepare for their survival in a world of high tech, arts, science, and literature.

If they do not have steel now, they can at least bequeath to their children the knowledge, the theory of mechanics and physics. It's prudent to teach them the skill of tailoring clothes they will need in the New World. They can teach them the concepts of circuitry so that when they have electrical power they will be able to live with it. It doesn't mean that they must immediately abandon the loincloth and flintstone; that's the only way they survive now. But they will be ready to abandon this entire temporary 'survival kit' for the life to come.

Now what if the ship does come?

The probability of the above scenario developing is far, far remote for two reasons. Either I am sane and I realized the weight of the evidence in favor of the 'truth' of the ship and directed my life accordingly, (I analyzed that in Part 2), or if I were insane, then the society of islanders would have cared for me and also cared for my children and guided them according to the emonstrated 'truths'. They would have been exposed to the truth in any event.

Having in fact come to realize the 'truth' of the ship, I certainly would not intentionally misguide and lie to my children. Their survival and their future are at stake.

I love my children; I want the best for them. I nurtured them from the moment of birth, protected them from all harms, and gave them all that I know how to give. I would readily give up my life for their safety and security. Would I then intentionally do anything inimical that would threaten their survival and future?

That isn't in the nature of the human species as G-d made man. The instinct for self-preservation is not merely a personal one, but each individual seeks to perpetuate himself through his children. That's the way G-d made Man.

On the basis of this fundamental characteristic our Rabbis distilled a basic principle of human nature that... "ain adam morish sheker l'vanav"... a man does not bequeath a lie to his children. If he knows the 'truth', then that is what he will transmit to the next generation, and the next generation to the one following... ad infinitum.

This innate, basic human behavior is the basis for our trust in the words of our fathers, our predecessors.

Given all the evidence, corroboration, probability of that 'truth', we have a very firm foundation for relying on the testimony of our fathers, even though we, ourselves, did not experience the event.

This concept is so fundamental to our very existence that we take it for granted without realizing its operation. We accept the testimony of witnesses in court; we accept the universal knowledge of George Washington's existence; we accept the word of a friend... a trust, all without the surety of a 'chazaka', a natural presumption that THEY are motivated by OUR best interests.

How much more, then, are we compelled to accept the testimony of our fathers, who, we know by their innate nature, have a vital vested interest in our survival and in our well being! Their motivation is the basis for our trust in the integrity of their reports as 'truth'!