I spent some time thinking about how I would begin and really could not decide on a starting point until a few minutes ago. I was reading something and it made me think about truth and it just clicked. Truth is why I or anyone is able to believe in anything.
I looked up truth in the dictionary to use as a common reference here and what I found was interesting. According to Webster, one of the definitions is “a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true.” Before you give me the title of Captain Obvious, I also looked up the definition of true and this is where the interesting part is found.
Webster has all kinds of words to define true and the following is the list: “Steadfast, Loyal, Honest, Just, Truthful, Ideal, Essential, Consistent, Legitimate, Rightful, Accurate, Narrow, and Strict.” As my uncle pointed out in a blog entry of his, words do have meaning.
I find it interesting because in John 14:6, Jesus says, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life.” In His matter-of-fact statement, He claims to be truth. And I can find hundreds of more verses in the bible where these words are used in reference to God or by God. It would seem that truth has not lost its meaning.
For many, however, truth has lost its meaningfulness. Relativism has downplayed the significance of truth and used it to mask many things like opinion, political correctness, moral justification, and cowardice. Those who are drunk on the poison of relativism have exchanged truth for lies, freedom for chains.
When dealing with truth, relativism is the ultimate imposter of the absolute. Think of it like Tofu. By itself, Tofu is bland, nearly tasteless. But Tofu is prized for its ability to be flavored to mimic most any other kind of food. So if you don’t want to eat meat, but must have a food that tastes like meat, you can eat a meat flavored Tofu substitute. In the end, however, it is not meat.
Relativism allows you to have the comfort of a pseudo-truth without having to acknowledge the absolute. All you really need is to find the group that provides the appropriate context—those who share your truth—and you can remain safe and sound in your own little Tofu paradise.
Now of course, you can adopt relativism in all its glory and believe that all points of view are equally valid. Where I am from we have a word for that; cowardice. Even worse, it is impossible to operate under that philosophy because no matter how you try to hold to that position, it utterly falls apart when confronted by someone who believes that your philosophy is wrong. If you concede that the previous statement is valid or “true” based on your philosophy, then how can you also believe that your philosophy is also true? You just admitted that yours was wrong by validating the other position.
Since that word cowardice is still hanging out there, let’s address that next. It is a cowardly philosophy to concede your beliefs because you feel yours is not the only truth. Would you stand there and do nothing while your loved one was being beaten because the attacker believed he was wronged in some way by his victim? Would you allow someone to take your home because they believed that they needed it more than you do? Do you agree that it is ok to murder thousands of people if the murderers believed that it was their duty to punish those they feel are wicked? If so than I would submit that you are a coward and your belief structure is founded in fear.
A relativistic philosophy only exists as the byproduct of rejecting absolutes. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. An often overlooked principle is the fact that everyone has a belief system. Even those who claim otherwise are establishing a belief system on their claim. Since you and I are not absolute, our truths cannot be absolute, so if we reject absolutes we are relegated to the realm of relativism.
You may have noticed that I said that because we are not absolute, our truths cannot be absolute. And it may be confusing because if we cannot create absolutes, how can there be any; relativism must prevails as the only means to divining the truth. If you have reasoned that, then your reasoning is faulty. Just because we cannot in and of ourselves create absolute truths, does not mean they do not exist. What it does mean, however, is that the source of the absolute truth must be external to man.
Enter God.
Yes, you can reject God and yes, you are left with relativism. Good luck with that! For the rest of us, God is the ONLY source for any absolute truth. His claim that He is “the truth” should be sufficient enough for all of us. But we must also acknowledge that he is also external to Man and therefore cannot be influenced by man. That leaves only one or three but one will. Regardless, there is nothing relativistic in one. There is no consensus, deliberation, majority vote, or protest. There is only the absolute.
It does not matter if you agree with the absolute truth. It does not matter if you want to put a spin on it. Nothing we can do invalidates or changes it because we have no part in shaping it. It just is.
The fact that we can do nothing except accept or reject it is a real problem for some. Absolute truth means that anything contrary is absolutely wrong. If the absolute truth is “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” no amount of good deeds, rituals, suicide bombs, praying to dead people, sacrificing animals, or social standing will ever save you.
But people try. They claim that the Bible is in error because men wrote it. Or they claim that so and so is misrepresenting the text and it actually means something else. Or a million other reasons why it must be wrong so that their sin remains hidden, their intellect remains superior or their ultimate fate remains positive. All have their reasons and all will come to understand what absolute really means.
Understand that it all begins here. You are not absolute, but there is one that is. If you are willing to reject that in order to show your superiority or hide your shame then you will never know the perfection that awaits you. Instead, you will come to know what is meant by “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: Than no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Well stated, grasshopper!
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