Criteria for Truth

Here's a question for the masses:

When it comes to 'big-deal' questions, how do you decide what is true? Do you have a set of criteria or a certain place to look for truth? Who do you trust?

I'm not asking in order to indict people who find truth differently than me, nor is this a rhetorical question. I'm genuinely curious how other people do this.

I'm reading a book now called "Surprised by Hope" by N.T. Wright (recommended and lent to me by my marvelous cousin Libby). The book is about death and what comes after from an orthodox, Biblical perspective. I'm only two chapters in-- partly because I'm slow, and partly because I've decided not to let the book pass me by. I really want to understand what's being said and what my responses are, so I'm only reading it when I really have time to think afterward.

So: I was thinking about chapter two, in which Wright lays out some of the many ways in which he says that modern people, Christian and non-, are confused about what really happens after death. It appears that his argument is for resurrecting the belief in resurrection, although I haven't gotten far enough yet to really know what that means.

What bothers me about his argument in this chapter is the implication that none of the various prevailing philosophies on the nature of death have much of anything constructive to offer, since they are rooted in something other than scripture and ancient Christian tradition. He is especially disdainful of those trends in belief that tend towards the incorporation of non-Christian systems of belief-- cremation seeming Buddhist or Hindu, for example. It seems that the argument that some propositions aren't Christian is enough to discredit them for him.

Alas, it is not enough for me.

So we come back to my original question. If Christian scripture and tradition are not my criteria for truth, then what is?

Well, I think I judge any proposition on three basic criteria:

1. Whether or not a proposition makes logical sense in conjunction with other things that I know or believe. Of course, this is a limited criteria since I do believe in some things that, while perhaps not exactly illogical, can't be explained with mere logic.
   
2. Whether or not a belief is ultimately life-giving. What does this belief do for reality? Does it mean physical or spiritual 'death' for myself or anyone else if I choose to believe this? Does this belief contribute to the betterment of this world? This too is a limited and subjective question, since what is 'good' is up to a lot of debate, but I think that, no matter what their concrete beliefs, most people will agree that something which makes a person more 'alive', either physically (food, health-care, etc.) mentally (good education) or spiritually (loving community, personal freedoms) is 'good'.
   
3. This is perhaps the most important criteria for me: a proposition or belief must resonate with me. It has to make some kind of sense beyond the logical, it has to jive with my real experience, it has to in some sense feel true for me to believe it. I know that this is very subjective and impossible to pin down. It could even be argued that it is selfish or prideful to say that something is true or not true simply because I feel like it, but I don't think its unreasonable. Would anyone throw the force of their belief and energy behind a proposition that ultimately feels wrong or untrue? Certainly not! Don't ask me to try!

I recognize that this is a flawed system-- I believe that every human system of belief is flawed. I'm ok with my system being flawed. BUT I would like it to be the least flawed possible. So what do you think? How do you decide what you believe?

Perhaps we can help each other out on this question. Are you willing to dig around in it for a while with me?