Apologetics: Part 3

(continued from Apologetics: Part 2)

I have been listened to a well known apologist through his podcasts lately. His name is Ravi Zacharias and his website is http://www.rzim.org. He is amazingly brilliant, but also humble and gentle. But at the beginning of one of his podcasts, the annoucer says this: "When we send missionaries out to foreign countries, we train them so that they understand the culture they will be immersed in. The understand the midset of the people they will be ministering to. But most of us do not have that same knowledge in our own country." I mentioned in Part 1 that a lot of us (me included until recently) don't actually know what other people are thinking. And truthfully, we don't really care. But, its no wonder that we get stuck when we try to witness to someone- we've never heard their worldview before and it can startle us into silence.

One concept that is rampant is that there is no absolute truth. What is true for one person might be true for another. It defies logic, really, because the statement itself is a contradiction (they are saying there is no absolute truth, but aren't they asserting a 'truth' in saying that?)

The second night in our series, the pastor spent a night discussing truth and knowledge. A large part of apologetics is critical thinking, but read this verse and focus on the mind part: "You shall love the Lord you God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" Matt 22:38. Yes, our minds. So, put your thinking cap on... here we go...

Tonight's question is: "Is there such thing as absolute truth and can it be known?"

This is where you can start with the Atheist, Agnostic, or a skeptic who says: "There is no such thing as absolute truth, everything is relative" or "There is no way for us to know the truth." If someone doesn't believe truth exists, or that it can't be known, they are not going to listen if you tell them Jesus is truth. So we begin... that there is absolute truth (i.s. God)... and that we can know this truth.

The opposite of absolute truth is relativism. Relativism says there is no such thing as absolute truth, everything is relative. It makes statements like, "That's your truth, but not my truth." Christians run into a big problem with this because the Bible makes tons of exclusive, absolute truth claims. Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" John 14:6.

If there is no such thing as absolute truth, and if all roads lead to heaven... then not only is our Bible wrong and our fait in vain, but God is also cruel and evil because He allowed Jesus to suffer on the cross when there couldhave been another way to. Our faith completely resrs on the fact that there is absolute truth.

But our world is trying to be politcally correct, and the word of the day is tolerance. To believe in absolute truth on an American college campus today is Neanderthal, outdated, close-minded, intolerant. To say there is a right and wrong, especially in regards to morality is considered fundamentalism and is treating with disdain. If you say abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex are wrong, and that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, you are seen as intolerant.

If you stand for truth in regard to morality or God, you are seen as close-minded. Yet, don't we demand truth in every other facet of life? Don't we expect truth in our friendships, family, with our spouses, at the doctors, the bank, the courts, road signs, medicine bottles. We demand truth for almost every facet of life that affects our moeny, relationships, safety or health. So why does the world demand truth and want truth in everything except when it's about God? In which of these other areas would someone say, "That's true for you, but not for me." What if you knew you had 200 dollars in the bank and the bank says you have five. And you say, "I KNOW I have that money." And they say, "That might be true for you, but not for me." It just isn't logical.

So when you run into someone who doesn't believe in absolute truth? What can you say to them? Show them that these are self-defeating claims= that they don't make sense. For example:

"There is no such thing as truth." Is that true? (by making this statement, they are claiming something to be true)
"There are no absolutes!" Are you absolutely sure?
"That may be true for you, but not for me". Is that TRUE just for you or is it true for everyone? The statement fails to meet its own standard.


So... now that we have established that there is such a things as turth, someone might ask, "Can't all religions be true?"
That is where the law of non-contradiction comes in. If Christianity says that Jesus died on the cross, and rose three days later, (1 Cor 15:1-8)... while the Qur'an says that Jesus never died on the cross (Sura 4:157), they both can't be right!

There are more contradictions betweens religions that there are similiarities. PLUS.. several make EXCLUSIVE CLAIMS (like they way someone can get saved), and each one claims that their's is the only way... Simply put, if all these religions contradict each other, only one can be true, and the rest must be a lie.

But what about Tolerance? Our culture today has become confused about tolerance. It no longer means just to put up with somthing you believe to be false (which is an actual definition of tolerance), it NOW means that you are supposed to accept every belief as true or OK. WRONG! Tolerance isn't about whether I agree with your beliefs or not, but rather my attitudes and actions towards those of a different faith.

So, back to truth. Now that there is truth, people might ask, "Can it actually be known?" The goal is to show that TRUTH (i.e. God) can be known. This is where you can start with an Atheist or Agnostic, because what good is it to quote Scripture if the person doesn't believe that God exists?

Much of what can stumble people are the things they don't know, or can't understand about God. I have a friend who is in this category. Because he can't understand everything, or would do things differently, he cannot bring himself to believe in God. So they let what they DON'T know, understand or comprehend keep them from faith in Christ. But God cannot be completely understood "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of God" Rom 11:33-34. But the Christian believer comes to faith because of what they DO know about God, allowing some things to remain unknown.

One of the most referred to events in the Bible (God continually reminding Israel) is their deliverance from Egypr and the parting of the Red Sea. Particularily, reminding His people this when they needed to trust Him for something; when He was asking them to walk by faith. God's point is always "I've given you enough evidence and reason to trust me through what you do know."

So you can ask someone, "Will you allow what you can know about God to produce faith, or will you let what you don't know keep you from faith? Every world view and belief requires faith... even the world view that says there is no God! It's all about the evidence.

Practically thinking about knowledge, here are a series of questions to help break down that barrier of knowledge about God. You can ask these:

Do you know everything in the world? Do you have all knowledge? (The obvious answer is no.)
Ok, do you know half of everything in the world? (Doubtful)
But, let's assume someone DOES know half of all knowledge in the world... is it possible that God exists in the half you don't know?

The bottom line is truth exists independent of anyone's knowledge of it. For example, gravity existed before Newton discovered it. If you just met someone who is 30 years old, that means for 30 years, that person lived without your knowledge of it. That person lived outside of your knowledge. But, did he exist? Yes! And how do we know? Proof! Evidence! We can go back and find all of the things that prove his existence... the same thing is with God. God exists whether people believe Him to. When we talk with people, we are helping break down those barriers that are keeping them from discovering the Truth... that Jesus came to save them from their sins and to set them free!