In today’s skeptical society, the phrase “Nullius in verba” (loosely translated as “take no one’s word for anything”) seems like the active slogan of our age. We hear one television commentator describe something for us, and then a quick flip through the channels brings up another commentator’s totally different perspective. Politicians present competing budget proposals. Economists offer contradictory forecasts about how things are going. Military analysts talk about “enhanced techniques of interrogation,” which unfortunately sound far too similar to what used to be called “torture.” Is this a new by-product of the 21st century, Internet age?
In truth, you can go back 350 years and discover another time when “Nullius in verba” was taken as a word to the wise. A new book by Edward Dolnick (The Clockwork Universe) describes how bad things were in London, England back in the mid-17th century. Adults only lived to about age 30 and the plague of 1665 killed up to 6,000 people a week. Then in 1666 a huge fire burnt the city to the ground, even melting the bells of St. Paul’s Cathedral. People thought that the terrible voice of God was wreaking judgment across the land.
It was then that a group of scholars, led by Isaac Newton, formed the Royal Society, believing that behind God’s universe was a mathematical and logical order able to be glimpsed, if one pursued it scientifically. Hence “nullius in verba.” Ideas should be tested through experiments. Results must be able to be reproduced before being accepted as proof. This scholarly model would eventually blossom into the Enlightenment, the foundation of the political and cultural revolution that led to modern Western society.
“Take no one’s word for anything” is not a seed of truth able to bear fruit if it is taken to be a cynical rejection of everyone’s opinion (especially when it differs from your own). Its value comes when, like Isaac Newton, we commit ourselves go beyond superficial appearances and easy, accepted answers whenever we face important decisions in life. The New Testament regularly tells us to ask questions and work hard at discerning what is true and virtuous. Paul writes “Test everything; hold fast to what is good” (I Thess. 5:21) and I John 4 begins with the admonition “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
Important decisions always require sincere, spiritual deliberation. Salesmen and telemarketers have a vested investment in quick decisions; God in Christ has a vested interest in helping us make righteous decisions. At important crossroads in life, pause for prayer and reflection. Ask the Lord to open the way forward, while closing off those options that are contrary to God’s will. Listen for the whispered leading of the Holy Spirit. Trust that the living Lord, like a good shepherd, has come that we may have life, and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10). In place of “Nullius in verba,” hold on to the phrase “Soli Deo Gloria” – To God Alone be the Glory.