Absolute truth

Truth is that which corresponds to reality. God is the ultimate reality and that which He creates is real and cannot exist apart from Him. Truth corresponds to the way things really are, whereas falsehood does not correspond to reality. Christianity has always held to the idea of absolute truth, because truth is rooted in the absolute nature of God. In other words, truth is absolute in that it has always been true, and it will always be true regardless of whether humanity accepts or rejects it. When we believe something to be true, that does not make it true. Absolute truth is true whether we believe it or not. We cannot create truth nor can we destroy it. We can only choose to believe it and that is the mark of a mentally healthy person who is in touch with reality.

Other philosophies have tests to determine whether something is truth or false. According to the coherence theory, something is true if it is logically self-consistent. A string of lies could be logically consistent, but they are not truthful. The pragmatic view says something is true if it works. Demonic activities work, but they are rooted in the father of lies. These tests of truth offer no explanation for the nature of truth itself, and they are rooted in human perception and reasoning.

Post-modernism argues that truth is relative. What is true for you may not be true for another. At the heart of post-modernism is the rejection of absolute moral truth. It is a philosophical rebellion against God. Post-modernists have depersonalized God, because an impersonal God doesn’t have to be served. They prefer to decide for themselves what is true and what is false and thereby become their own moral standard.

The New Age movement twists reality in a different direction, arguing that we are god or a god. We don’t need a Savior to die for our sins; we just need to realize that we are gods. Being god, we can create reality with our own minds. Truth then becomes what we believe it to be, and if we believe hard enough it will become true. Recall that Satan deceived Adam and Eve with the same lie in the garden.

Christians have chosen to follow the Wisdom of Solomon who wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” Prov. 3:5). We reject the notion that we are a god and humbly submit to the One who is the Truth. We have a personal relationship with the “author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2), and we choose to acknowledge Him in all our ways (Prov. 3:6). “For the word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth . . . For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations” (Ps. 33:4; 100:5, KJV).

Dr. Neil

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