Absolutely Relative

I was cleaning up my office about a month back and found a book that I had borrowed from a friend for research purposes. The book was entitled Right from Wrong by Josh McDowel and Bob Hostetler (this is how the names appear on the book; which makes me question, though I may be wrong, McDowel's involvement in the actual writing other than printing his name on the cover). There was a section concerning "Absolute Truth" that caught my eye. As I started to read, I found out quickly that "Many of our youth [you could likely insert people in general] simply do not understand or accept absolute truth," (p. 17). I was shocked; appalled at this injustice. Why the nerve of those people. How dare they not fall in line with McDowel's opinions. How dare they challenge the beliefs of the conservative right. Blasphemy.

Hopefully you have read past my sarcasm. In fact, though McDowel made it out to be a surprise, I was entirely un-shocked with his assessment. Of course no one believes in absolute truth. It's part of Canadian culture; the only absolute is that there are no absolutes. Einstein's theory has become fact. Didn't you get the memo Josh.

But seriously, this issue of truth and whether it swings absolutely or relatively seems to expand further than the realm of philosophy. In essence, it is the reason for this blog in the first place; and thus, appropriate as its first posting. We must believe in both absolute and relative truth (if at least our only absolute truth is that "all truth is relative"). The difficult thing is discovering which is absolute and which is relative; which is black/white and which is grey. The problem is compounded when people like McDowel (don't get me wrong, I know he means well) bring Christianity into the mess. People like this seem to start arguing for religion (though they may never admit it): a system of rules in which all things are either right or wrong. They make Christianity a culture, when it should always remain a faith. Once it becomes a culture it is trapped into a specific time and setting. Thus going against its very nature.

If we understand Christianity to be a faith not a culture, then we must take a whole different approach to discerning "right from wrong." We must not only include the "absolutes" or principles learned from scripture as it is communicated through ancient culture; but also consider principles learned from current culture. Matching these two worlds and "navigating the grey" is the responsibility of every person. This is why God has given us the church; our journeying partners.