In my last two essays, I introduced a concept of “presumptuous certainty,” which refers to the twin human tendencies to believe what we wish were true rather than what is actually true and then to invest those convenient beliefs with manufactured certainty. I also argued that this pattern of believing is a kind of counterfeit salvation that leads towards pernicious extremism. It is also a pattern of belief that is wrong even when the object of its belief is correct.
In Areopagitica, Milton described how being correct doesn’t save a person from being a heretic:
Read Full Article »Aman may be a heretic in the truth, and if he believe things only because his pastor says so, or the assembly so determines, without knowing other reason, though his belief be true, yet the very truth he holds becomes his heresy.
