Called Out - (W. 1 - John - Absolute Truth)
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“Absolute Accuracy in a Whatever World”
“Absolute Accuracy in a Whatever World”
Illustration from Focus on the Family.
In a society where ultimate truth is treated like a fairy tale, an outdated idea or even an insult to human intelligence, the motto of the day becomes, “WHATEVER!” Believe whatever you want. Do whatever seems best to you. Live for whatever brings you pleasure, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. And of course, be tolerant. Don’t try to tell anyone that their whatever is wrong.
300 years ago things shifted.
Even those that didn’t believe in the God of Israel still looked for the supernatural and wanted to see revelations from God.
in the 1700s
Relativist - there is no aboslute truth.
Is it absolutely truth that there is no absolute truth?
-Yes - that’s an aboslute statement.
“No, it may be true to you but it is not true for me.”
Nano (24 yr old) from Norway. Cat trapped in a human body born in the wrong species.
Chloe Jennings White - PhD from Stanford and Cambridge. Identifies as a parapalegic. Should we accept her desire to be parapelegic?
at the end of the day, relativism ends up not being logical, having contradictions, and is left with us being absurd.
Show how their logic leads to absurdities.
Show how their logic leads to absurdities.
44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
1. The Importance of Absolute Truth
1. The Importance of Absolute Truth
2. The Evidence of Absolute Truth
2. The Evidence of Absolute Truth
Evidence of Absolute truth
a) Our Conscious
a) Our Conscious
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
The dilemma is that we have exchanged the truth about God for a lie.
The dilemma is that we have exchanged the truth about God for a lie.
it’s not things listed in point number 1
it’s not things that are around the corner
it’s an idolatrous heart
Romans 1:23-25
Exchange/Substitue the glory of God into something temporary
Exchanged the truth of God into a lie.
b) Science
b) Science
The second evidence for the existence of absolute truth is science. Science is simply the pursuit of knowledge, the study of what we know and the quest to know more. Therefore, all scientific study must by necessity be founded upon the belief that there are objective realities existing in the world and these realities can be discovered and proven. Without absolutes, what would there be to study? How could one know that the findings of science are real? In fact, the very laws of science are founded on the existence of absolute truth.
If you got lost hiking in the woods, what would you do to find your way? If you knew anything about outdoor survival, you wouldn’t keep wandering around, trying new paths and hoping you’d eventually stumble upon the right one. Instead, you’d turn around and retrace your steps until you found where you went wrong. Then you’d make a better choice and go on from there.
In our search for truth, we are obviously lost. In fact, many of us have given up hope of ever reaching our destination. Those still looking for truth have chosen to keep wandering rather than turn around and fix past mistakes. But making that 180-degree turn and taking a hard look at where we’ve gone wrong in the past is exactly what we need to do.
3. The Source of Absolute Truth
3. The Source of Absolute Truth
Some say that Christianity is just blind faith.
Dr. J.P. Moreland, a professor at Biola University, wants to make sure that we get a good grasp on what faith really is. He tells us that faith does not mean making a blind choice to follow something or someone. Instead, faith is acting in line with what you have good reason to believe is true.J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind (NavPress, 1997), p. 25. Wait a minute! Good reason? That sounds as though it requires some thinking! It does. And as you dig into Christianity, you’ll find that there are lots of good reasons to believe in God, Jesus, the Bible and the truths that are found there.
Some say, “If it cant be proven by science then it’s not true.”
Many will tell you that you can’t just assume that God exists — you’ve got to prove it. The problem is, you can’t just assume that God doesn’t exist. That’s not provable by science either. What do you do with something that can’t be proven? Well, you gather all the evidence you can, then you act on the evidence. You act in line with what you have good reason to believe is true. Hmmm … haven’t we heard that before? Yep! That’s faith. And scientists, even though they don’t like to admit it, have to take some things (the things that can’t be proven) on faith.
For instance, scientists have some pretty good ideas about how dinosaurs lived and moved. They base these ideas on the evidence found in fossil records, bone structure, organic deposits, etc. But there comes a point beyond which scientists can’t prove anything, because they can’t replicate the creatures and experiment on them directly. So they just have to believe what the strongest evidence suggests. There is no difference between that faith and the faith we place in God and the Bible, as long as that faith is founded on the best facts we can find.