Including the truth that truth is relative.
1. To say truth is relative (to the person believing it or to the situation) or that there are no absolute truths, of course, denies that there is a divine giver of truth. Such statements, however, are logical nonsense. That truth is relative is a truth, so, therefore, it too must be relative, that is, sometimes untrue. So when is it true? That there are no absolute truths is stated as an absolute truth, so, by its own logic, it is untrue because it doesn’t even exist. A book that examines the logical fallacies of relativism is A Refutation of Moral Relativism by Peter Kreeft. The best single discussion of the idea that I’ve come across is Chapter 21 of 31 Surprising Reasons to Believe in God by Rick Stedman.
2. What about the idea that everyone is entitled to his or her (their) own opinion.
That certainly seems to make sense since opinions are personal in a way. If you want to believe that the earth is flat (and the Flat Earth Society has all kind of “scientific” reasons for that), I can’t stop you from having that opinion, and it would be futile for me to try. My father was frequently frustrated in trying to argue my uncle out of some of his bizarre, irrational ideas. But should you be entitled to believe that Aryans are the master race and all Jews should be exterminated? Is that opinion of equal value to the idea that all races are equal in the sight of God? Should a man be entitled to the opinion that all women enjoy rape? Is that opinion equal to the belief that women should be treated with courtesy? Sure, people can hold such wicked beliefs as long as they don’t act on them, but should they really harbor such beliefs in their minds? On the other hand, if there is no God, what does it matter?
3. Are all religions basically alike? No religion would claim that. Even Baha’i, which attempts to combine the best of all religions, claims that it is the true religion. The fact of the matter is that the major religions hold contradictory views—even people within a religion disagree with each other over some things. So does that, therefore, make all religions equally invalid, as atheists believe? But atheism is just one more religious belief, so by that thinking, it is also invalid.
4. In Christianity itself there is not only the difference between Catholic and Protestant, but among the many, many Protestant denominations there are wide differences of opinion regarding speaking in tongues, infant baptism, method of baptism, wine or grape juice for communion, beautiful churches or plain ones, ordination of women or gays, type of music, and on and on. Even with a single church, you have disagreements over all kinds of matters (mostly practical ones). But the creeds (Apostles and Nicene), the basics of the faith, are the same for Protestants and Catholics.
5. Does God really care whether a person is baptized as an infant or an adult as long as the person lives his life the way baptism signifies? Does He care if she speaks in tongues or not as long as she has an attitude of prayer and worship? Does He care if people give 10 percent of their incomes as long as they give freely and cheerfully whatever they can. (only 10 percent for a billionaire might be a “sin,” whereas two percent for someone in poverty would be virtuous)? The point here is that there are some deeper “truths” that count more than superficial opinions.
6. The 10 Commandments are thought of as absolute truths because, according to the Bible, they were given to Moses by God. The first two are that you should have no other gods but God and that you should make no idols. This seems pretty irrelevant to Western society, unless you think of other “idols,” which become more important than God, such as technology, sex, entertainment, sports, work, family, money, or politics. But for a Christian believer the commandment is an absolute truth (as, indeed, it is for the non-believer who ignores it). Some of the commandments, however, have more than one interpretation. Does“thou shalt not kill” apply to all killing or only murder? The Hebrew term seems to mean murder not self defense, war, capital punishment, or pesticide. Does “thou shalt not commit adultery” apply only to a married person having sex outside marriage? It seems to include any fornication. Does “thou shalt not bear false witness” apply only to oath-taking, or does it include all forms of lying? Does keeping the Sabbath mean abstaining from most activities, or does it mean just going to church or synagogue? Jesus says that anyone who hates his brother is, in effect, committing murder, and anyone who looks lustfully at a woman is committing adultery. What Jesus is doing, I think, is pointing out how hard it is to follow God’s laws on our own, without Jesus’ help and God’s grace and forgiveness.There are, nevertheless, people who follow some or even all of the commandments. They don’t murder or steal, they honor their parents, they don’t have sex outside marriage, they don’t covet other people’s things or spouses, they put God, as much as possible, first in their lives (we’re probably talking about Bible believers here), and they rarely or never lie. Also, they go regularly to church on Sundays or to Shabbat. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone obeyed the Commandments faithfully—no stealing, war, murder, lying, cheating, working on Sunday, rebellious teenagers, envy or jealousy. It would be far better than the one in John Lennon’s song “Imagine,” which advocates doing without religion.A rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to be saved. He said he had kept all the commandments from his youth. Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and then follow Him. But the young man went away very sad because he had “great possessions.” The lesson here is not to give away all you own but to give up what is most important to you and replace it by following Jesus. In other words, “salvation” does not come by just following laws.Jesus gave only two commandments, both from the Old Testament: love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and your neighbor as yourself. Do that and you’d find you are also following the other 10. But that’s easier said than done. He also said, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus often speaks in hyperbole, giving us the ideal and emphasizing humility: “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” We are to be servants. We are to follow Jesus. Atheists, however, desire to be masters of their fate.Ultimately there either is a God or there isn’t. Though I may believe there is a God, and you may believe there isn’t, that doesn’t make truth relative. Your not believing in God does not cause Him to not exist. “There is a God” is an absolute truth if God does exist. “There is no God” is an absolute truth if He does not exist. But if the atheist is the one who is wrong, there is no way on the Day of Judgment that Jesus is going to be convinced by the argument “That was just my own opinion, and everyone is entitled to one’s own opinion, right?”John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life,” is an absolute truth. Over and over Jesus said that whoever believes in Him and follows Him will have eternal life. He doesn’t state this as His opinion but as an absolute truth. He also says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” This is either
an absolute truth or an outright lie.Atheists need to remove relativism from their arsenal because this argument is logically flawed and self defeating.
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