It is not uncommon for people of good will to disagree upon the truth of a matter, even on the most weighty of issues such as the origins of life and the universe. As a matter of fact, people have been disagreeing on these type matters for as long as there have been people.
The twentieth century was characterized by a fervent belief that science and technology could provide the answers to all of mankind’s problems. Although this faith in the abilities of man at times created tension between Christians and naturalists, it was still generally believed by all that an objective truth concerning the origins of all things did, in fact, exist. Prominent Christians and Atheists of this period would vigorously debate one another and would quite often become friends because of their shared convictions concerning the importance of seeking the truth.
Toward the end of the 1900’s, disillusionment with the science establishment, the institutional church and the unfulfilled promises of secular government ushered in the Post-modern era. The philosophy of this age is founded upon despair and a general distrust of grand schemes that claim to hold all the answers to life’s great questions. Science has not eradicated disease and world hunger and no political system has created a utopia on earth. A post-modernist will assert that objective truth does not exist, rather that each individual creates his own truth and chooses his own moral code. He further insists that all moral beliefs are valid and that no one has the right to challenge another individual’s personal moral code even when it is illogical or self-contradicting. It is this type of thinking that has led to an American society where critical thinking has become severely de-valued. The post-modern person will easily affirm that two religions that are in direct opposition to one another can both be true. He also has no difficulty accepting every person’s declared ethnic or gender identity even when such declaration clearly conflicts with the laws of biology. It is worth noting that while post-modernists claim to reject scientific truth they don’t typically risk their lives by challenging such laws as the one that governs gravity.
Today, a person’s individual search for meaning must begin with the question “Does truth exist?”. If the answer is “no” the person must reconcile such inconsistencies as those mentioned above. If the answer is “Yes”, the analysis then moves to the question of which belief system is true. Do the answers to life’s greatest mysteries lie with one of the many known religions that exist in the world, or science, or is there possibly some explanation that hasn’t yet been discovered?
Since the earliest days of Christianity, apologists have been asserting the truth-claims of the Christian faith. Such thinkers as Augustine, Aquinas, and Anselm put forth arguments based upon philosophy. More recent proponents of Christianity have included arguments from science, history and archeology. Rather than breaking down over time the arguments for Christianity have actually become increasingly compelling.
If a Person accepts Christianity, he or she must then decide if the entire Bible is true or only the parts that don’t violate contemporary cultural norms. If one adopts a cafeteria approach to biblical truth-claims, taking only those portions which are desirable and non-controversial and leaving the rest, then one must ask why bother at all with a book that claims to be inspired by God himself yet is filled with errors and falsehoods.
In the 18th chapter of the book of John, Jesus declares “Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice” to which Pontius Pilate responded, “What is truth?” and walked away without even realizing that the one and only, eternal, unchanging truth was standing right before him.
All too often today people frantically search from the bottom of the test tube to the peaks of the Himalayas for truth in an effort to avoid Jesus’ unequivocal claim that he is the “way, the truth, and the life”. The Christian Bible was written over the course of 1600 years by 140 different authors yet is incredibly consistent in the way it describes a creator God, the fall of man, and the redemption offered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Of all the belief systems that exist or have ever existed, Christianity is the only one that offers a satisfying explanation for why things are the way they are.
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