The dreaded -ologies

I find it strange that I struggle so much to grasp the concepts of ontology and epistemology. Part of this is due to a lack of usage -  we learn what words mean by using them. But even when people explain these two words to me I just cannot grasp their meaning. Or can I. With a  little help I have put this together for inclusion in the thesis. I hope it works, makes sense and uses those two words correctly. Please note this a draft - it may well change through a number of iterations!

And we’re the corner-stone of Christianity. We demonstrate it through separation from the world, and there’s nothing more wonderful, there’s nothing more beautiful or wonderful or attractive than the truth of separation.

Fellowship Meeting in Sydney, Bruce Hales. 17 November 2012)

The Hales Exclusive Brethren, like most high demand groups whether religious or secular, believe that they have The Truth. This truth is absolute. Doubting or questioning this, considering other perspectives is frowned on and leads to damnation. There can be no questioning.

A doubt will lead to darkness. If I have some doubt about where the Lord is in the testimony, some doubt about the truth of separation, some doubt about the glory of the Lord's Supper and our assemblings, and our stand by the truth, that doubt could lead to a darkness, then the darkness overtakes you.

Fellowship Meeting at Barbados. Bruce Hales. Friday, July 27, 2012

The ontological position of the brethren is that God exists and God demands separation from evil (as interpreted by them). This position is based on a fundamental belief in the absolute inerrancy of the Bible. These ontological and epistemological positions were inculcated into me during my formative years. It took me many decades to break free from them. My stance now is that there is no absolute truth, God does not necessarily exist and from my learning via many sources, modes of thinking and experiencing,  ‘He’ certainly does not demand separation from all non-Brethren - a far cry from what I was taught as a child. I now take a constructionist-interpretive stance. I am interested in how meaning comes into existence and believe that experiences are shaped by cultural, historical and social influences. Retrospective accounts are not absolute facts therefore, though the individual doing the story telling may see them as real and absolute. This epistemological stance leads naturally to a qualitative methodology and combined with the natural tendency for former members to tell stories, also led me to the narrative approach.

So readers  - comments welcome.