I remember the first questions each of my girls asked repeatedly, "what's that, what's that, what's that?" I answered this question with one or two words for them to add to their vocabulary. The next phrase, "why?" wasn't as easy to answer. My simplified answer usually led to another, "why?". After answering about five "whys" in a row, I would usually exasperatedly answer, "That's just the way it is. Or, I don't know. Or, depending on the question, sometimes I used the phrase I heard my parents say and promised I would never use, "because I said so."
When it comes to questions about what I believe about the Bible, God, Jesus, heaven, faith, and other religions, I had easy answers for the “what’s that?” questions the girls asked. However, when I had no answer for God’s existence when talking to my atheist neighbor a year and a half ago, I knew I needed better answers for the “why?” questions. I want to defend my faith with truth and not just respond with, “I don’t know. Or, that’s just the way it is.” I desire for my girls to know why they believe what they believe and not just, “because my parents told me so.”
1) Truth promotes LOGIC (see last post; Truth part 1)
2) Truth promotes LAW
According to Douglas Groothuis, who quotes from Friedrich
Nietzsche’s books, The Will to Power
and The Portable Nietzsche,
Nietzsche’s philosophy of perspectivism has influenced the “no truth” person
today. Nietzsche claimed that facts do
not exist, “only interpretations (or constructions) created according to one’s
particular needs to enhance one’s life, what he called “the power to
will.”” Groothuis quotes Nietzsche,
“There is no true world, “only “a perspectival appearance whose origin lies in
us.” In other words, we all have different points of view and none of them are
actually true. Reality doesn’t exist. *1
Perspectivism also supports the idea that lying does not exist. If there is no truth, only a matter of
interpretation, the facts in which to deny (lie), do not exist. Can that be true? Sounds like the law of non-contradiction
again. Ironically, the biggest problem
in our world began with a lie, a lie from the “father of lies”, Satan
himself. Satan lied to Eve, telling her
she will not die, like God said, if she ate of the fruit (Genesis 3). Eve believed Satan and not God. Choosing disobedience caused sin to enter the
perfect world God created. We will
always be tempted to believe Satan’s lies, tell lies ourselves, and believe in
the obvious lie, that truth does not exist.*1
To summarize, if perspectivism is true, (which can’t be by its own
definition), there is no reality, no lying, and no need for laws. Does that sound absurd to you? However,
because truth exists and people still lie, we need laws against lying. Think about it, God included “not lying” in
the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:16 says, “You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.” God knows people
don’t you think? He created us, you
know. And He died for us, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.
Truth (and lies) promotes the need for law.Source:*1) Douglas Groothuis, “Facing the Challenge of Postmodernism” in Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, and J.P. Moreland, To Everyone an Answer: A Case For the Christian Worldview , (Downers Grove, Illinois:IVP Academic, 2004) .
For Truth Part 3
Thanks for linking up!
ReplyDeleteI love your desire to learn. I love learning too, it's such a gift to have those ah-ha moments about the Lord. :)