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Each New Generation Must Learn the Difference Between Relativism and Absolute Truth

August 17, 2013 at 9:39 AM 2 comments

Each New Generation Must Learn the Difference Between Relativism and Absolute Truth

The same relativistic “truth” that we suffer from today was on display during Jesus’ day. That much is made clear with a short conversation Jesus had with Pontius Pilate during one of numerous illegal trials that took place in one evening.

John 18 provides the narrative of Judas betraying Jesus, His arrest, and His illegal trials that took place beginning shortly after that arrest. Jesus was taken from priests to Pilate in order to determine whether He was guilty of a crime or not. As far as the Jewish priests were concerned, Jesus was most certainly guilty. Unfortunately for them, they were not allowed to execute anyone so they brought Him before Pilate who would be able to sentence Jesus to a state execution.

During the back and forth between Jesus and Pilate, Jesus tells Pilate of His kingdom that was not of this world (v. 36). Based on this admission, Pilate asks, “So You are a king?” (v. 37). At this point, Jesus responds with, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

To this, we can almost see the sneer on Pilate’s face as he retorts with a rhetorical question, “What is truth?”

What is truth? This has been and continues to be the age-old question that every person will answer, either in this life or the next. In the Garden of Eden, Satan twisted truth to mean something it did not mean. Because of it, two people turned from God in rebellion and began a lifetime of following relativism (Genesis 3). Humankind has followed their lead ever since.

Today, the same question applies to us and to every situation. What is truth? We have a choice in this world. We can follow the relativism that has been created by political correctness and which is based on emotional virtue or we can look to God’s truth and follow that. Those are really the only two choices that every person must come to grips with in every decision they make.

It is clear that today’s world is guided by political correctness. For many, it leads to “truth” but that “truth” is based normally on how a person feels about a situation. This is what Pilate was getting at. To him, truth was only a general idea based on circumstances that prompted people to move in one direction or another. For Pilate, there was no such thing as an absolute truth. For Jesus, there was and is and that absolute truth must always be considered when making decisions.

If God exists, then it logically follows that there can only be one absolute truth. There cannot be several “truths.” It doesn’t work that way. But for many, that is the way they live their lives.

What was an untruth yesterday has become truth today for much of society and that kind of truth is always changing, which proves that it is not actually truth, but simply something that tries to resemble truth. In the end, it’s a very poor parody of absolute truth.

It is amazing how nothing has really changed with humanity. A new generation of people come and another one goes. The new generation needs to learn the difference between absolute and relative truth. That new generation also then needs to decide which truth it will follow.

It cannot be both ways. Either absolute truth is truth, or relative truth is truth. Both cannot be truth. Logic dictates that only one can be truth. It is up to each person to decide which truth he or she will follow and hopefully, the correct choice will be made.

Entry filed under: Political Correctness, Politically Correct, Religious - Christian - Theology.