What is Wikipedia? – LaGrange Baptist Church

This is the third in a series of “What Is …” (see also Website Tips for more of this series). You may have heard Pastor Tony use many Internet based terms in his sermons and had no idea as to what he was referring. This series is designed to help everyone understand these terms and their relevance to today’s world.

Since we have been quoting Wikipedia for this series, it might make sense put it in the microscope to better understand this source of information.

According to Wikipedia:
Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia (IPA: /?wiki?pi?di.?/ or /?w?ki?pi?di.?/) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. With rare exceptions, its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit this page link. The name Wikipedia is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference Web sites.
In every article, links will guide you to associated articles, often with additional information. Anyone is welcome to add information, cross-references or citations, as long as they do so within Wikipedia’s editing policies and to an appropriate standard. One need not fear accidentally damaging Wikipedia when adding or improving information, as other editors are always around to advise or correct obvious errors, and Wikipedia’s software, known as MediaWiki, is carefully designed to allow easy reversal of editorial mistakes.
Because Wikipedia is an ongoing work to which, in principle, anybody can contribute, it differs from a paper-based reference source in important ways. In particular, older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced, while newer articles may still contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation that has been recently added and not yet removed. (See Researching with Wikipedia for more details.) However, unlike a paper reference source, Wikipedia is continually updated, with the creation or updating of articles on topical events within minutes or hours, rather than months or years for printed encyclopedias.
Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which has created an entire family of free-content projects. On all of these projects, you are welcome to be bold and edit articles yourself, contributing knowledge as you see fit in a collaborative way.
If you’ve not done so, we invite you to take a few moments to read What Wikipedia is (and is not), so that you have an understanding of how to consult or contribute to Wikipedia. Further information on key topics appears below. If you can’t find what you are looking for, try the Frequently Asked Questions or see Where to ask questions. For help with editing and other

Please see Wikipedia for more information.

The bottom line for Wikipedia is that just like virtually everything else in this world, some measure of discernment must be applied when reading it’s contents. Only the Gospel can be taken as gospel.