I was visiting a site that I go to rather frequently the other day and someone posted a question. They asked, "Do you believe in "absolute" truth? I began to read through some of the answers and none of the answers were really that surprising to me. The majority wrote that there is no "absolute" truth because truth is subjective. What may be true today, might not necessarily be true tomorrow. Another popular response was that "truth is what you make it". I found that a "stupid" response - totally brainless. Some responses were simple, saying that of course there is absolute truth. My name is Steven so that is an absolute truth. Well it is (sort of) - but it's a way too watered down explanation of "absolute" truth.
So I sat and pondered the question a bit. My first inclination was that I was just going to throw it off and move on with life and better things to think about but then I thought about my blog here - Finding Truth in a Deceptive World. Well, what better question is there to be answered here?
So, to head back to that leading question, "Do you believe in 'absolute' truth?", my resounding answer is "absolutely". There is absolute truth in
literally everything in life - EVERYTHING. To begin with, let's go back to what we were taught in grade school. "Look up the meaning of the word." So I did that and the definition of absolute is: (1) perfect in nature and quality; (2) not mixed; (3) not limited by restriction or exception; and (4) not limited by constitutional provisions or other restraints.
Now let's break that down as to what it means in practice. Being perfect in nature and quality means that truth comes from nature - it is NOT manmade - it is NOT based on one's opinion. It's quality is of the purest nature - it is untarnished. Secondly, it is not mixed or, in other words, it is not something that is true today, not true tomorrow and then true again the next day. Truth is unchanging - it is not flighty. Truth is eternal. Third, there are no exceptions to the rule when it comes to truth. People who say, "Well it might be true for you but it isn't true for me" are way off the mark. Truth is truth for everyone - without exception. And finally, truth is not limited to constitutional provisions or other restrains (i.e., manmade laws). Because a constitutional provision or law may be passed saying what is true or what isn't true doesn't alter the fact of what real truth is. It goes back to the first meaning that truth is NOT manmade.
Truth is not dictated by man but is dictated by nature and by God. Even God must work within the realm of nature. It is, however, man's carnal nature to ignore truth if that truth doesn't align with
what he/she wants to be the truth. Man will demean truth, bully those exposing
truth, and come up with some fantastical rhetoric to try and explain away truth
(generally denying truth as being an ignorant and closed minded idea). But truth - especially absolute truth -
is and always will be truth. Truth is not susceptible or changeable from one person to another
simply because of one's own personal ideals, religious beliefs or lack thereof, or any other thing
you want to throw out there to try and make an exception to truth.
Absolute truth is simply right or wrong, black or white. We, as weak individuals on the other hand, are in a constant flux of trying to paint shades of grey to any given situation, event or thing that we encounter in life. We think that if we can paint anything grey - then the truth is subjective to one's own personal interpretation and personal experiences. That kind of thinking is a classic absolute falsehood. Still, the masses of people continue to repeatedly fall for it hook, line and sinker.
Absolute truth is simply right or wrong, black or white. We, as weak individuals on the other hand, are in a constant flux of trying to paint shades of grey to any given situation, event or thing that we encounter in life. We think that if we can paint anything grey - then the truth is subjective to one's own personal interpretation and personal experiences. That kind of thinking is a classic absolute falsehood. Still, the masses of people continue to repeatedly fall for it hook, line and sinker.
Looking at science - people will often point out that science has proven that eating too much fat will cause heart disease or some other thing and then later science comes out and says that eating fat is actually healthy. That science frequently comes out with one thing or another only to reverse itself years down the road is proof that "truth" changes. Truth never changes - but man's understanding of truth is flawed. It is man's opinions that change. Opinions change generally because they were based on falsehoods and as man grows and learns, he starts to understand the real truth or when he learns of the real truth - it doesn't sit well with him so he must now degrade truth to uplift himself. It's a vicious circle - but the truth is still constant.
There are two different kinds of truth. There is a "simple" truth and an "absolute" truth. Simple truths can change. For example, a person's maiden name may be Jones - that is true - but when Jones gets married their name changes to "Smith". The new truth is "Smith". But it might now always stay true. You can be heavy today but next year be thin - that's a truth that changes. Milk could be good for you today, bad for you tomorrow and good for you the day after - well - that all depends on someone's opinion and how that milk was processed. Still, it is a simple truth. But when we speak of absolute truth, we are speaking of higher planes of life. Planes that deal with the laws of nature and the laws of God - neither of which man can change.
As I
stated above, absolute truth is found in EVERYTHING. However, in order for us to see it and to comprehend it we have to become totally humble and teachable. We must be willing to swallow a hard pill of our
own ignorance. We must be openly, unbiasedly willing to face the truth no matter what that truth may be or where that truth may takes us. If
we're not willing to do this then we condemn ourselves to live our lives submerged in falsehood. But absolute truth will still be absolute truth.
