Objective or Relative? ............. Parables 720

November 13, 2001

A few weeks ago, our top government officials were asked by the opposition to produce an original document and thereby prove that the copy they publicly displayed was not a forgery. These opposition members of parliament demanded truth. My parents told me “don’t lie” and “truth may hurt.” They said I should never make up stories to protect myself from truth, yet for some, truth is not that important.

I’ve met people who can lie as easily as they breathe. At first, they sound sincere, but after getting to know them, contradictions appear and my confidence in them begins to slip. I’ve learned that telling the truth involves more than giving other people an accurate description of the facts. Being a truthful person is also an ideal, a desirable quality. People of truth never intentionally deceive others and are never artificial or false.

Truth is sometimes relative though. For instance, if I say “the sky is blue” then it looks blue to me. However, an astronaut in outer space or a color-blind person might see something else. For each person, what they see is true for them. In other words, the color of the sky is relative. It depends on who is looking at it and the conditions of the time.

Truth may also be objective. That is, something is true all the time, for all people. It never changes and cannot be made relative to any person’s opinion or perspective. For instance, “all living people were once babies” is an objective truth. “All will die” is also an objective truth.

A sign outside a church says, “Fight truth decay — study the Bible daily.” What kind of truth is this sign referring to? Is it relative or objective?

If it were relative, the sign would be correct in linking it with decay because relative truth often changes or fades away. The color of the sky is not the same today as it was yesterday. Not only that, those who hold to relative truths often strongly defend or fight for their opinion. Is the Bible relative truth? Those who think so say things like, “it may be true for you but not for me” but with that, they dismiss Scripture as having no importance for their lives.

What if the Bible is objective truth? If it is, then the sign on the church is wrong: objective truth cannot decay. The real victim of deterioration is our attitude toward the Bible and towards the truth in it. Here’s a few examples of objective statements from Scripture. However unpopular they may be, the rules of grammar do not allow them to be made relative. They are either true and apply to everyone, or they are false.

“There is none righteous, no not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All and none are inclusive words. God is not saying “some” or “a few” people sin and fall short; He says everyone does. If this is not true, then this statement must be false.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.” God cannot say His love is everlasting but only love us for a limited time. This statement is also either true or false.

Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth and the light, no one comes to the Father but by me.” Jesus did not say He is “a way” or “a truth.” He also said “no one” can come to God apart from Him. The statement cannot be partly true or true just for some people. His language does not allow us to say “this is not for me.”

Actually, relativism tosses the Bible entirely. Even though they hope their neighbors will live by the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments, they say Scripture is not for them.

Those who study Scripture find that the Bible is not like other books. God speaks through it. He points at sin but also repeats His declaration of love and offers the Way to overcome that universal sin problem. He tells the truth, and while it often hurts, it also always heals and gives hope.