Christianity and truth
You may be thinking...
“There’s no absolute truth. What’s true for one person isn’t necessarily true for someone else.”
A Christian response...
There are many religions and ideologies in the world today claiming to know the truth. In the midst of all these clamouring voices, the idea of any one group having the right answer can, admittedly, seem absurd. A few important points are, however, worth considering:
It’s possible for something to be true, irrespective of whether or not anyone believes it
In simple mathematics, for instance, 1 + 1 would still equal 2 whether you or I agreed with it or not. In light of this, it might make sense for a person to say something like, “I don’t know if there is an absolute truth” but to say “There is no absolute truth” is really a contradiction in terms. Similarly, Christians believe that God’s eternal truth is revealed in Jesus Christ, whether people believe it or not. We therefore, encourage everyone to seek him through reading the Bible, praying honestly and learning together with other Christians.
It’s possible for one truth to be true, irrespective of how many alternative ‘truths’ compete with it
Following our example above, 1 + 1 still equals 2 no matter how many alternative answers (5, 102, 3157 etc) may be presented. Similarly, Christians believe that God’s unique truth is revealed in Jesus Christ, no matter how many other truth claims may compete with it. Jesus describes himself in the Bible as the unique way, truth and light and the only way to God. In light of this, we encourage people to learn about Jesus and discover spiritual relationship with him through reading the Bible, praying openly and meeting with other Christians on the same journey of faith.
It’s not possible for 2 ‘truths’ to be true if they directly contradict one-another
It wouldn’t make sense, for instance, to say that, all else being equal, 1 + 1 = 2 and 1 + 1 = 7. Either one conclusion is true and the other false, or they are both false. In light of this, although it might make sense for a person to say something like, “What seems true to me doesn’t necessarily seem true to you” the comment that, “We are both right, even though we completely disagree with each other on the most important points” would be self-contradictory. Christians believe that all claims of truth must be tested to see how far they reflect God’s actual truth revealed in Jesus Christ.
Reflections
How do I make sense of all the different truth claims in the world today? Can they really all be right?
Have a look at the following verses in the Bible: John 14 v 6 & 7. What point was Jesus making in a world
where, similarly, people were confused by so many different truth claims?
If there is even the slightest chance that Jesus was telling the truth, what difference should that make to my life
now?