Foundational Ideas: Absolute Truth

Increasingly, Western culture promotes a relativized view of truth. In other words, as Greg Koukl says, some people believe that truth is like ice cream. I may like rocky road, but you may prefer vanilla.  Neither of us is wrong, because this truth is subjective (i.e., based on the subject). In this case, what is true for me may be different that what is true for you. 

However, on issues that matter, truth is objective. Questions like, is there a God?, does Hell exist? Does abortion take a life? These questions do not depend upon my subjective interpretation, but are objective (i.e., based on the object). Greg Koukl says this type of truth is like insulin.  Failure to heed this type of truth has very real, even painful consequences.

Operating from a perspective that truth does exist and is objective affects how I view the world. Life is precious. Evil exists. Those who do not turn to Christ will go to hell forever. If this were merely a relativistic truth, then it would not matter if I told others about Christ, but its not ice cream, its insulin.

I would again direct the interested reader back to www.str.org, but I would also recommend Francis Beckwith and Greg Koukl’s book Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Midair as well as Don Carson’s the Intolerance ofTolerance for those who want to read more.

Coexist: Religious Tolerance or Religious Pluralism?

More and more often, I see these coexist bumper stickers. Surely, you have seen them as well. They feature religious symbols ordered in such a way that they spell out "coexist". In case you are wondering, the letters represent Islam, Peace, Male/Female, Judaism, Wicca, Taoism/Confucianism, and Christianity.

On the one hand, the concept of co-existence is admirable. We live in a society where religious tolerance is increasingly under attack. Recent decisions--especially in the judicial and executive branches of the federal government--negatively affect religious freedom. A few days ago, I shared some thoughts from Francis Schaeffer about the purposes of First Amendment. One of these stated purposes is government is not to impede upon the free practice of religion. We should be in the habit of openly advocating for the free practice of religion in the United States. Of all places, the United States should be a safe haven for individuals to practice their religion, even if we happen to believe they are wrong (and vice versa).

On the other hand, I am not sure that is the intent of these bumper stickers, at least not the full intent. I suspect that the intent is to suggest that there is no such thing as an exclusive truth claim when it comes to God. In a relativistic, pluralistic society, whatever you hold to be true is true. What you believe is true for you and what I believe is true for me. We are expected not only to tolerate and respect the other person, but the other person's ideas as well, because for them, whatever they believe is truth.

But here's the rub--truth is not relative. Truth, objective truth, is what best explains reality as we know it. There are many different systems of thought, most don't fit with what we know about the universe. One does. In this regard, truth is exclusive and the idea promoted by these bumper stickers is patently false. We may both have ideas about what offers the best explanation, but either we are both wrong or only one of us is right. We cannot both be correct and hold opposing viewpoints.

Furthermore, individuals who put these bumper stickers on their cars are often champions of "tolerance" and peace, but what they fail to realize is how offensive these bumper stickers are to individuals of faith within certain traditions. For example, orthodox Christians hold strongly to the notion that Jesus is the Messiah and is the only way of salvation. Orthodox Jews hold strongly that Jesus was not the Messiah and therefore cannot be the way of salvation.

Rather than encouraging a culture of cheap and ineffective acceptance of all ideas as equally valid, why not encourage a respectful culture where every person can advocate for their ideas and face counterarguments? In this type of culture, people would be respected even if their ideas were not. We must return to a culture where we fight to know objective truth because in a society where everything is allowed as truth, it ends up that there is nothing is worth fighting for.

For more reading:
The Intolerance of Tolerance by DA Carson
Is Jesus the Only Way Stand to Reason

Whither is God?

Most Americans, if they are honest, go about their days without much regard for the world around them. They may feel small microtremors of brokenness, but rarely do these events shake them out of their complacency in any real way.  After looking up and wondering what they just experienced, they turn back to playing Angry Birds, the already faint memory fading quickly. 

Unlike these microtremors, earthquake stories about the brutal murders in Aurora and the years of depravity and cover up at Penn State have shaken many Americans out of their blissful unawareness of the daily tragedies that surround us.  Once people recover from the initial aftershocks of stories like these, they begin to ask questions.  "How could this have happened?" "Why did this tragedy occur?"  "Where was God?" People are searching for answers, but secular answers leave people wanting, at least for a season.  Eventually though, the stories fade from the limelight, people stop asking why, and they slowly fade back into their blissful slumbers.

As I thought about these events, Friedrich Nietzsche's Parable of the Madman came to mind. He begins,

"Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: 'I seek God! I seek God!' -- As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated? -- Thus they yelled and laughed.

"The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. 'Whither is God?' he cried; 'I will tell you. We have killed him -- you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him"

The atheist philosopher understood that to "kill God" would lead to nihilism, relativism, and amorality. Though he welcomed the death of God, he would not have been surprised at these tragedies occurring today.

When you seek to kill God and rely solely upon naturalism, morality is no longer grounded in a moral law giver. When relativism prevails and there is no objective morality, people can no longer claim that something is morally right or wrong in any objective sense. For the relativist, the outrage over tragedies like this merely represents personal preference. Nineteenth century philosophers understood the consequences of killing God, but most people today do not. Indeed, many are on a conquest to do so.

The next time a tragedy like this occurs (and it will), stop and ask why you are morally outraged. The next time you find yourself asking "whither is God?", let your answer be "We have killed him--you and I." Rejecting God not only has grave salvific consequences for the individual; on a societal level, rejecting him destroys cultural morality and goodness. If you don't believe it, turn on the news. 

Occupy folks oppose those opposed to child sex trafficking

Gene Veith shares a link about occupy protestors protesting a conference focused on stopping the childhood sex trade.  This should not surprise us in a culture steeped in moral relativism.  He begins, "There was a conference on stopping child sex trafficking.  So the Oakland branch of the Occupy Wall Street protested on the grounds that such efforts are 'racist' acts of oppression against 'sex workers.'"

Read the rest here. 

Those dogmatic relativists

Doug Wilson writes about the importance of having faith in our message, particularly in a society so steeped in relativism.  He writes,

A relativistic age is sure of nothing, except for a dogged commitment to the necessity of that relativism. When they tell us that they “just don’t know,” and they use the word “ennui” a lot, this is an invitation for us to declare to them what we in fact do know. We ought to take it that way, in the same way the Apostle Paul took the inscription to “the unknown god”: Well, if they admit they don’t know, then maybe I should tell them.

 They don’t want it to work this way because our relativistic age has its hidden dogmatisms. They claim to not know, but they are also quite assured that you don’t know either, and that nobody can know. There may or may not be a God, and we can’t know anything about him. But we do know this—if he exists, he is incapable of revealing himself. But how do they know this? They have just said, “We can know nothing of God, and here, let me tell you something about him.”


For them, the most important claim they are making is that you don’t know. They want you to put your belief away. This trick is what the effective apologist and evangelist will insist on rejecting, but not by descending into a foolish quarrel (“Do too!”), but rather by truly and actively believing the grace of God in his heart, in his prayers, and in the presence of God.

Read the rest here.  

Book Review--Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air

I just finished reading Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Beckwith and Koukl (1998). Written 13 years ago, this book was at the height of post-modern relativism. Although the clay feet of relativism are becoming increasingly evident, it's tendrils continue to influence many people today. Relativism is the idea that truth and morality are relative to the person--in other words, subjective. The basic idea is that whatever feels right to me is what is true and correct, if they acknowledge truthfulness at all. However, relativism cannot live consistently within its own system.

In the center of the book, the authors point out seven fatal flaws of relativism:

• relativists cannot accuse others of wrongdoing.
• relativists cannot complain about the problem of evil.
• relativists cannot place blame or accept praise.
• relativists cannot make charges of unfairness or injustice.
• relativists cannot improve their morality.
• relativists cannot hold meaningful moral discourse. 
• relativists cannot promote the obligation of tolerance.

The authors rightly point out that if relativism is true, if morality is truly self-governed, the hero of the viewpoint is a sociopath who has no regard for absolute morality or moral oughtness.  As you talk with people who claim this viewpoint, it's flaws are easily revealed by attacking their hot-button issue through a process of "taking the roof off."

All in all it was a good book. Some chapters were better than others, but if you are looking for a book to better understand the problems with relative morality, this is a good place to start. 4 stars.

Are your ears itching?

If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," he would be the preacher for his people!-Micah 2:11  

When I read this verse during my quiet time this morning, I was reminded of Beer Church.  Yes, beer church is a real thing--they celebrate, perhaps even worship, beer.  You can even become ordained by Beer Church--I have a friend who has his ordination through this organization.  According to the prophet Micah, it is no wonder that something akin to Beer Church has taken off.  When overindulgence is promoted as acceptable or even righteous, people will gladly respond.

Sadly, many churches are much more insidious.  2 Timothy 4:3 reads, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions."  The largest church in America teaches that God's primary goal in your life is to make you rich, healthy, and happy and people flock to him.  One of the fastest growing "churches" in the United States is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Mormonism.  They promote the idea that you can become deity.  They sooth itching ears by preaching lies and people follow.

It seems to me that itching ears are one of the most unfortunate problems associated with postmodernism.  People assume that truth is relative. People assume that whatever you believe is true--just don't impose your beliefs upon anyone else.  It is no wonder that churches that teach truth from the Scriptures, addressing God's holiness and wrath as well as his love and mercy, are so criticized by modern culture.  People don't want to hear that they are sinful.  They do not want to hear that God hates sin and punishes sinners eternally apart from Christ.  They want to continue to believe what their parents, their schools, and the media have told them all along--that no matter what, they are good people and that they deserve always to be above the national average with regard to happiness, income, and image. When pastors tell them what they don't want to hear, they just leave rather than continuing to wrestle for the truth. 

There is absolute truth. There is a God.  He is holy.  We are separated from Him because we are unrighteous. But there is hope. Jesus Christ. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

Find a church that preaches truth--absolute truth, Scriptural truth--the truth of Jesus Christ.