Whatever is built independently is very difficult to destroy for it is built on oneself. What is built upon another’s words requires trust in the goodness of the other, a sort of faith that only can be offered to Jesus Christ. It is illogical to trust another so deeply that you may build upon his words, for if you could discern that he is good, you wouldn’t need him. Discernment of character is the highest form of discernment. If one cannot discern then the faith required is too great, making it not only illogical but irreverent towards Christ.
What is built based on one’s own discoveries, prayers, thinking, and studies is very difficult to lose. Further, being based on one’s best presuppositions make it tied to one’s conscience, God holding you accountable based on these due to the lack of a higher source of wisdom than himself, the access to which is the conscience itself, or another, the access to this being a total abandonment of one’s own reasoning capacity. Rather, than placing faith in another, which adds a component of conscience that involves trusting the other and the interplay of both your consciences, further complicating your decision making - which leads to either a conflict of conscience or a total giving to the conscience of the other, a faith that can only be placed in Christ, one ought to establish himself on basic truths, knowable easily, and advance towards what is higher through his own thinking, prayer, and studies.
Dr. Kurt Brenner stole this piece of wisdom.