10.12.2011

What is Truth?

What is Truth? Ask this question to a variety of different people and you will get a variety of different answers. The man with an urban upbringing would possibly refer you to modern day philosophers like Tupac Shakur. If we flip it over to the country side of things, people look to Keith Whitley as someone who speaks the truth. 


It seems everyone is looking for somebody to lead them in the truth. For my generation many people looked to John Lennon. I have a friend who is to this day is obsessed with Jim Morrison. Another friend of mine who is into punk looks up to Sid Vicious. Another friend of mine is really into Bob Marley. Many younger people look to Kurt Cobain as someone to look up to. Why do we obsess over these dead poets? Could it be because today people are grasping everywhere for something that has meaning? Something that is true?


How did we get to such a place where people follow after the philosophies of drug and alcohol induced reasoning, and where such shallow worldviews replace the absolute Truth found only in the word of God?


For the first few centuries of the Church God was sought as the giver of the absolute truth. Absolute truth was regarded as something given from God and people sought after Him to reveal it to them. Inevitably as we crossed into the medieval ages, the Church took over the authority of being the Truth. People were denied direct access to the word of God and only the Church had the interpretation of God's word. As the Church held this power it, as man always does, became corrupt. Men did wicked things in the name of God. 


Thankfully from the 14th to 17th Century the world went into an era known as the Renaissance, which in essence means rebirth. During this cultural movement, there was an interest for literaturescience,artreligion, and politics, and a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, including the Bible. This later set the stage for the Reformation. It was during this time that William Tyndale (1494 – 1536), was first to translate parts of the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew into English, and then later be martyred for it at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. Also Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), a contemporary of Tyndale's, was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. Thanks to Luther the authority of Absolute Truth shifted from the Church back to the Bible. God's word was once again in it's rightful place as the Standard of Absolute Truth. 


Although God's word was again revered as the Absolute Truth during the Renaissance, there was another truth emerging called relative truth. Although the Protestant Reformation took place, what is known as the "Age of Reason" also developed. Out of the Age of Reason, Existentialism and other Secular Humanist philosophies came into play.


Existentialism is a philosophical term used for the belief that an individual has the sole responsibility for giving one's own life meaning and with living life passionately and sincerely, in spite of the many obstacles in life. These obstacles include sickness, pain, despair, absurditychoiceboredom, and many other things that may be deemed as a hindrance to achieving one's quest for meaning in life. Among these things is "having a belief in God." The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is regarded as the father of existentialism. Philosophers like Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and others also shared these views. 




Jumping back to our day now...


Unfortunately existentialism is alive and well today. So we have in our modern culture a war going on between Absolute Truth and Relative Truth. Also known as the New Age Movement, the idea that "all truth is relative" or "what's true for you may not be true for me" has plagued our world. To have an "all are right" or "tolerant" viewpoint of the truth can produce painful consequences in our individual lives, and in time destroy families and communities. 

If something is black, it can't be white at the same time. If something is white, it can't be black at the same time. This is an absolute truth. We now live in a world however where everything has become various shades of grey and everything is wishy washy. What is true for one person may not be true for another. If you try to share the Absolute Truth, then you are viewed as intolerant.



This philosophy has invaded the church as well, but it does so incognito. We say things like, "Well, I know that particular thing may be something that a weaker Christian can't handle, but I personally feel no conviction in doing it." Whether it be an R rated movie, or drinking alcoholic beverages, or whatever the sin may be, we rationalize it and dance around it trying to justify our own involvement. All the while the Truth is the Truth, Good is Good, and Bad is Bad, and Sin is Sin no matter how we attempt to spin it. 




So now onto Absolute Truth. What did Jesus say about Truth?




Jesus made this claim about Himself...

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 
                                                                      John 14:6

Jesus made this claim about His word...

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
                                                                               John 17:17


Jesus also spoke about you...
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
                                                                              John 4:23 


Jesus also spoke about how we can benefit...
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
                                                                             John 8:32 




The battle over truth is not a new one. Ever since Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, came into this world the devil has tried to hide us from the Absolute Truth of Jesus Christ. Our human reasoning is not a truth, for it is not THE truth. Pilate wrestled with this as well...



Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.
                                                                              John 18:38





Jesus Christ is the Absolute Truth, Absolute Way, and Absolute Life. 
Accept no Imitations.... Accept no Relative Truth...