Now, I am no great and wonderfully intelligent modern-day philosopher. I am not even that well read in all these philosophy books that a lot of y'all debate people have read a million times before. I'm just your average person with a worldview that doesn't necessarily coincide with the norm, and is therefore hard to explain. Nonetheless, I will try my best, if you try your best to understand.
First of all, I believe 100% that there is Absolute Truth. Do NOT misunderstand me. I believe there is a Divine Power, aka God the Father/Son/Holy Spirit, who knows the real truth, the real right, and the real wrong.
However, I am going to throw some "howevers" into this statement.
Each person believes what he or she believes, correct? And each person believes that what they believe is true. If they didn't believe it was true, they wouldn't believe it, would they? No. That is just impossible. But, not everybody believes the exact same thing. Many people even have drastically different beliefs.
There are some people who do not even believe there is a God, and don't even believe in absolute truth because of that.
So, what is truth?
J, F.K.A. Jos, F.K.A. and A.K.A.I.T.R.W. (In The Real World) Jonathan, brought up a simple situation of Coke. The instance was, he belives Coke is "well-used dishwater", while I believe it is a delicious soda that I would like to drink right now. Who is right? Most of you would probably agree with me, I know. But does that make it Truth? No, majority does not make something true (shocker). Jonathan could perform many science experiements to prove that Coke is as good for you to drink as dark, greasy dishwater, and it would make sense. But does that make it Truth? No, because even if it all seems great and amazing, dishwater and Coke are simply not going to be the same substance...and if that isn't the issue, then something else will be, guaranteed. If we kept up the Coke vs. Dishwater debate, we would be at it till the day we kill each other (like most people with strong religious and political views...heh...).
That said, I say that only God knows whether Coke is soda or dishwater. Of course, if you don't believe in God or any Divine Power, this is a faulty assumption. And THAT can keep going around and around in a circle, much like the coke/dishwater debate above.
So, perhaps by now you might understand a little why I say that everybody has their own Truth. Because whatever is true to someone is their Truth. There is absolutely no way to know what is true until Kingdom come, right? That is MY opinion, anyway. Of course, some people don't think that "Kingdom" is coming.
The only thing I would hate in this situation is to be Agnostic. I don't want to insult anyone, but here goes my opinion on Agnosticism. I would never want to be Agnostic, because...nothing would be true, even for me. Other religions have their Truth, and Atheists have their Truth...there is no God. At least there is something sure to believe in. But as an Agnostic, I would never be quite sure about anything, and be very confused and never able to make up my mind.
Now, I know some of you are probably thinking that MY views on Truth are borderline Agnostic. That's fine, you can believe that. You can also go ahead with all of that "It's not very Christian to believe this way; after all, if you're such a doormat about what is true, how are you ever going to help anyone get saved?" I don't mean to disregard this; it is a valid point.
First of all, I believe that what I believe is THE Truth, no matter what. With that foundation, therefore, I can go out and advocate all I can. The same with choosing sides for a debate, except that, since Christianity is such an important part of my life, there is much more emotion involved than just a simple "Am I arguing 'for' or 'against' in this round?" I have experienced God, his love, mercy, salvation, and sanctification in the most amazing ways in the past three years. I don't know how I would have ever gotten on had I denied my need for my Savior any longer. And there is definitely no way I could have had such a radical life change had God's hand not been there for me to hold as he helped me up out of that dumpster of a life. There, I have my (abridged) testimony. And, if you think about it, that is basically all I can give. I believe that science can prove God created the earth in 7 days, but lots of people believe the scientific evidence that suggests evolution...I could go on.
Plus, if you think about it, our charge is to spread the Gospel wherever we go, not persuade people with our amazing sales pitches on Christianity. I'm going to "show and tell" them, "this is what I believe. This is why I believe it. This is how I live what I believe. And I would love for you to experience the joy and freedom I have found in Christ, because I care about you." Then it's up to them to decide whether to accept my Truth as their Truth. That is what I meant at the end of my last entry when I said, "I have my Truth, and it may not be your Truth, but it's mine. I wish it could be everyone's Truth, but it can only be your truth if you want it to be."
So, NOW do you see?
~Jessica
2 comments:
Yeah... i'm agnostic, haha. It's mainly because there are so many uncertainties in the world and the universe that you can not point to something and say that is definitely what that is. It's like the Coke discussion. I know it's Coke, but if someone somehow came up with a very plausible theory to say it's something else, then it certainly changes what you though was true.
I see what you mean in your Coke example, but I think this is why definitions and semantics are so important. The word "truth," by its very definition, requires objectivity. The notion of a "subjective truth," is an oxymoron (though post-modernism has infected our culture with the belief that truth is subjective, and dictionaires are actually starting to change the definition to make that belief our reality).
So to say we each have our own truth, in my view, is less accurate than saying we each have our own opinion (which is fine). However, ultimately, the truth of coke is that it is flavored, carbonated water, right? Anything else is just our perception or opinion.
I do agree with you that the only way we know the absolute, 100% truth will be when God comes down from Heaven and shares it. In the mean time, I beleive fully that the Bible is God's truth revealed, limited only by our flawed human understandings and perceptions.
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