When Anxiety Attacks
7 years ago
Sunday, September 14, 2008
One of the most common responses to, “Why I’m not a Christian…” is the lack of belief in a knowable, universal Truth. This is a faulty position that is actually rather prevalent in our society today. And it does no good, in our discussions with people who don’t believe in knowable, universal Truth to tell them that it exists, “because the Bible says…” Before someone can accept that the Bible is God’s record of Truth, they must first recognize that Truth exists and can be known. Now, I can’t give a full argument here for the existence and know-ability of Truth, but based on things I have learned from others I can at least provide a basic outline from which to start us thinking.
Let’s define Truth (with a capital “T”) as an accurate expression, statement, or perception that corresponds to reality, the way things really are.
So, the first question about Truth is whether or not anything even actually exists. Is there even a reality? The only other option is that everything is an illusion… nothing actually exists. However, this would be nonsensical because I could not be writing these words if nothing actually exists. Philosophically speaking, I could potentially be a figment of someone’s imagination, but then that would require a reality in which I was being imagined. The simple fact that there is any level of thought or perception in our lives indicates that some form of reality actually exists somewhere. Reality, in some form, must exist. It exists outside of me, and I am, in some way a part of that reality. So the next question about Truth would be, “Is it universal?”
Truth must be universal, and here is why… because reality exists. Reality is simply what is. It does not change from person to person. Perceptions change from person to person, but not the reality that has been perceived. Truth is simply the accurate expression or representation of reality. The simple fact that reality exists means that things are one way and not the other. When we speak about the way things are, we are either right or wrong. Our statements either match the reality that exists or they do not. There may be differing amounts of Truth in my beliefs or perceptions about reality, but there are not different Truths. By this I mean that different statements may be more or less in line with Truth, but there are not different realities by which to judge the Truth of those statements. So Truth is universal, even if our statements, beliefs, and perceptions are not always perfectly in line with it. So can Truth be known?
In short, yes, at least in part. We have already basically shown that at least some aspects of Truth are knowable in just a few short paragraphs. For starters we know that reality does exist, so Truth must likewise exist, after all it is simply the accurate expression of reality. We know that Truth is noncontradictory – two opposing claims cannot both be true… only one can accurately correspond to the way things actually are. We know that Truth is absolute or universal – it applies to all reality, regardless of person, place, or time. We know that Truth is discovered – it exists outside of us, in relation to reality, not just within our own minds, created by us (those would be perceptions). We know that Truth is descriptive – it accurately describes the reality that exists. We know that Truth is inescapable – someone cannot claim Truth does not exist without making a statement about the way reality truly is, thereby claiming Truth. That’s a short list of things that we can know about Truth, simply in a short amount of time. Given more time and effort, there are plenty more things about Truth that we can discover. So, suffice it to say at this point that Truth is knowable, even if it is not exhaustively knowable by us finite beings.
At this point we’ve briefly answered to the common objection to Christianity given above. Truth is knowable, and universal. We should expect that people can know and seek Truth. Not only that, but it is reasonable to conclude that people can find Truth. I suspect, however, that the real universal Truth people wish to deny in objecting to Christianity is moral truth. The answer to this objection is a simple one that I’ll address next.
Let’s define Truth (with a capital “T”) as an accurate expression, statement, or perception that corresponds to reality, the way things really are.
So, the first question about Truth is whether or not anything even actually exists. Is there even a reality? The only other option is that everything is an illusion… nothing actually exists. However, this would be nonsensical because I could not be writing these words if nothing actually exists. Philosophically speaking, I could potentially be a figment of someone’s imagination, but then that would require a reality in which I was being imagined. The simple fact that there is any level of thought or perception in our lives indicates that some form of reality actually exists somewhere. Reality, in some form, must exist. It exists outside of me, and I am, in some way a part of that reality. So the next question about Truth would be, “Is it universal?”
Truth must be universal, and here is why… because reality exists. Reality is simply what is. It does not change from person to person. Perceptions change from person to person, but not the reality that has been perceived. Truth is simply the accurate expression or representation of reality. The simple fact that reality exists means that things are one way and not the other. When we speak about the way things are, we are either right or wrong. Our statements either match the reality that exists or they do not. There may be differing amounts of Truth in my beliefs or perceptions about reality, but there are not different Truths. By this I mean that different statements may be more or less in line with Truth, but there are not different realities by which to judge the Truth of those statements. So Truth is universal, even if our statements, beliefs, and perceptions are not always perfectly in line with it. So can Truth be known?
In short, yes, at least in part. We have already basically shown that at least some aspects of Truth are knowable in just a few short paragraphs. For starters we know that reality does exist, so Truth must likewise exist, after all it is simply the accurate expression of reality. We know that Truth is noncontradictory – two opposing claims cannot both be true… only one can accurately correspond to the way things actually are. We know that Truth is absolute or universal – it applies to all reality, regardless of person, place, or time. We know that Truth is discovered – it exists outside of us, in relation to reality, not just within our own minds, created by us (those would be perceptions). We know that Truth is descriptive – it accurately describes the reality that exists. We know that Truth is inescapable – someone cannot claim Truth does not exist without making a statement about the way reality truly is, thereby claiming Truth. That’s a short list of things that we can know about Truth, simply in a short amount of time. Given more time and effort, there are plenty more things about Truth that we can discover. So, suffice it to say at this point that Truth is knowable, even if it is not exhaustively knowable by us finite beings.
At this point we’ve briefly answered to the common objection to Christianity given above. Truth is knowable, and universal. We should expect that people can know and seek Truth. Not only that, but it is reasonable to conclude that people can find Truth. I suspect, however, that the real universal Truth people wish to deny in objecting to Christianity is moral truth. The answer to this objection is a simple one that I’ll address next.
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