Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 6 - One Creator - One Way - One Resurrected Savior - Jesus

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 6 - One Creator.  One Way.  One Resurrected Savior. Jesus.

Philosophers generally agree that to avoid infinite regression issues, there must be a first "uncaused cause".  In other words, in the very beginning, something had to get the ball rolling.  The big question is really about who or what that is.  Contemporary scientific observation has repeatedly shown that the universe had a beginning, speculative models aside.     

A Beginning requires a Beginner.  A Big Bang requires a Big Banger!  The Bible states that an uncaused, ultimate, necessary, morally perfect being created the universe from nothing (ex nihilo) by His will alone.  The creation account tells of God's creation of the universe, the stars, moon, and the earth.  It further details the care taken to shape the earth into a planet suitable for the human beings he intended to create, filled with resources and abundant life.  

It is the story of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and eternal Consummation.  God provided a way for humanity, created in His own image, to overcome their rebellion and sin, and to ultimately become adopted children of God.   He revealed Himself to His creation and gave them a guidebook to follow, for their benefit.  

He even became a man to show us how to walk the road of life, by example.  Jesus was the crucified and resurrected Savior who was sent by a loving Father to redeem his fallen people.  Jesus is the one and only way to God.  We have often tried to forge our own paths and rituals to get to God, but God Himself has provided Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Jesus said that no one gets to the Father except through Him.  He has the scars to show it!       

Truth Month - July 2024 

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 5 - Redefining words does not change reality - Ignoring reality has consequences

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 5 - Redefining words does not change reality.  Ignoring reality has consequences.

There is a current trend to constantly redefine words, which started with mid 20th century postmodern thought.  George Orwell noted this trend back in his visionary book, 1984.  In this book, he envisioned a dystopian future where the government-run Ministry of Truth was in charge of controlling the thoughts of the masses. To do this, they created a whole new language, "Newspeak", with their stated goal, 

"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?  In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it." 

The modern progressive liberals have fully embraced this concept to foster societal change in the name of justice, diversity, and equity.  Many words now have been redefined to mean the opposite of what they used to mean.  For instance, 

• Sexual orientation and gender are now preferences and/or feelings rather than biological realities

• Tolerance now means you must agree with me or you are hateful, instead of allowing others to openly challenge, disagree, and debate

• Equity in outcomes has replaced equal opportunity

• Women's healthcare is now primarily about the "right" to kill unwanted, unborn children

• Racism is wrong when practiced by the oppressive, dominant white culture, but cannot ever be practiced by the oppressed – by definition

• Criminals are the victims of an unjust system and thus should not be punished.  Political opponents of Big Brother's rule excepted

• The designation of man/woman has been replaced by the subjective self-determination of the individual, instead of objective criteria like biology and physical science

• "Mother" has been replaced by more inclusive terms like "birthing people", since now men are defined such that they can have wombs too

• Fairness in competition now means opportunity to take part in sports, locker rooms, and Greek housing based solely on mutable stated preferences and/or claims

And the list goes on, and on, and on.  We have compiled many of their contemporary twisted meanings here Ministry of Truth.  

If there weren't consequences to this, we could just laugh them off as out of touch kooks, but unfortunately there are real world impacts.  You can truly believe that you can fly, but if you step off a 10th story balcony, gravity will have an impact on your beliefs.  You can tell yourself and others that it was not a human baby that was once growing in your womb, but is now dead by the hand of a doctor or reproductive health medicine.  You can try to live a life filled with morality, meaning, order, and beauty, while denying that ultimately there is no hope for a future past death for yourself, your loved ones, humanity, and even the earth (w/o God).  

So carpe diem.  Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.   Or just maybe… stop twisting words and embrace the source of Truth and choose to live. 

Truth Month - July 2024 

 

Truth, Lies, and Politics

We live in a postmodern world where often "truth" is just a label used to justify one's position or to smear another's by claiming that their truths are just lies.  We hear people talk about "their truth" or claim "That is just true to you, but not to me", as if truth is just a matter of opinion with no basis in reality.  How about some clarity?

Truth

Truth is that which corresponds to reality.  This includes actual events, actions taken, and objective facts.  It does not include claimed motivations, or whether one thinks something is good or evil.  It is not subjective truth, which is really nothing more than preference or opinion. 

Lies

Lies are a deliberate, intentional distortions of the truth intended to mislead others.  A difference in opinion or assignment of blame is not a lie.  Philosophical viewpoints that one disagrees with are not lies either.  To lie, one must knowingly tell an untruth with the intent to deceive.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of how one persuasively engages in debate or speech.  This can include exaggerations, ridicule, bragging, or using extreme examples (i.e. reductio ad absurdum) to make a point.  Saying "Everything my opponent said is a lie" is really not a lie, but it is a tactic.  Likewise fear-mongering to motivate one's base is a tactic used to scare people into accepting a position or candidate.

Media

The modern media has a lot of power, since many people only get their information from the mainstream media.  They have been rightly criticized for being unabashedly biased toward progressive agendas and liberal viewpoints.  In many ways, they are the embodiment of 1984's Ministry of Truth.  They tip the scales by biased reporting, MDM (mis-, dis-, mal-) information labeling, one-sided fact-checking, gaslighting to hide the truth, selective reporting, and even redefining words to support their agendas.  

 

Opinions

Differences of (political) opinion and perspectives are not necessarily lies!  Even if the following are objectionable, debatable, or misleading, they are not lies:

• Belief in who was responsible for the security situation prior to/during the riot at the capital. 
• Claims about what the position of each party is on various issues (e.g. abortion limits or lack thereof). 
• Blame for who is responsible for the current immigration situation -- whether it is ultimately good/bad, the integrity of the vetting process, the demographics of border crossers, and the level of danger from it. 
• Why inflation happened and who was responsible.
• Who gets the credit or blame for the economic situation?
• How the status of America in world standing has been affected by different presidents.  Is it respect or is it embarrassment?
• Who caused or got us into wars?  Did they enable it, show weakness, or even enable/pay off terrorists?
• Who will actually destroy "democracy" if elected?  Strictly speaking, do we even have a true democracy or is it actually a constitutional representative republic?

So the next time you hear one side or the other claim that the other is only telling lies, it might be a good idea to push back and actually ask them what they mean by that.

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 4 - Men and Women are made in the Image of God but marred by sin

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 4 - Men and Women are made in the Image of God, but marred by sin

The great mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal pondered the seeming paradox that human beings exhibit qualities of both greatness and wretchedness.  What worldview best explains this enigma?  Are humans basically good, but sometimes do bad things?  Or is there a more fundamental problem at the root of it?  Are we just products of untold ages of unguided evolution, molded by the struggle to survive?  Is there more to life?  Is there purpose in life beyond something we give ourselves?

I believe that Christianity has the best explanation for this dilemma.  From the beginning, God created mankind in His own image, as complementarian male and female beings.  While we are not God (or gods), we bear a likeness to Him.  But now the rest of the story… that image has been marred and distorted by our disobedience and rebellion against the Creator's design (i.e. "sin").  That is the tension that we all war with our whole lives.  Even the apostle Paul struggled to do what he knew to be right, when he wanted to do otherwise.  

What is the image of God (or the Imago Dei in Latin)?  The Bible never explicitly says what this is, but reading the whole thing gives us some insights.  Here are three (nonexclusive) ways to understand the image of God.  

1. Resemblance - We look like God in some ways.  We bear a likeness by sharing some of His communicable characteristics, such as love, intelligence, moral awareness, and creativity.

2. Representative Ruler - We are meant to be God's representatives on Earth, with the power to rule over the earth and subdue it.  We also are tasked with sharing the revelation and knowledge of God to others.

3. Relational - We have a relational nature between ourselves and others, just as the triune God has loving relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Because of this, we are also capable of having a relationship with our Creator.

God chose not to leave us to wallow in our sin, but rather provided a way to be reconciled to Himself.  Jesus became a man, lived among us, was brutally executed, and then rose again.  His sacrifice paid the price of our debt and took the punishment in our place, so that we can have a new start and be conformed to His image once again. 

 

Truth Month - July 2024 

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 3 - Love is not just feelings but sacrifice and hard work - God is Love

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 3 - Love is not just feelings, but sacrifice and hard work.  God is Love.

For many, today's marriage vows are something along the lines of, "I'll love you and be faithful to you (until it becomes too hard or my feelings change)."  That's because our culture has lost sight of the true meaning of "Love" and romanticized it past the point of recognition.  Shouldn't love be more about what I can give to others, than what I can get?    

Love is hard!  People are messy and sometimes are hard to love.  Sometimes we even struggle to love ourselves.  Strong emotions are often tangled up in what we call love, as well.  At some level, most people highly value love and seek after it.    

So the real question is, "What is love?"  English is handicapped by having multiple definitions of the word "Love", which can mean many different things.  I can love my siblings, or my parents, or my friends, or my romantic partners, or sexual satisfaction, or power, or people with whom I've forged relationships through shared hardships, or even God Himself.  

The Bible defines sacrificial love (ἀγάπη or agápē) as:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13)

Jesus said that the way that people will know that we truly are his disciples is if we show love toward each other.  We are called to love God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.  Instead of loving pleasure, money, pride, and self (2 Tim 3:1-6), maybe we should strive to show true love to others too.  After all, Jesus did tell us to love our neighbors as ourselves!

Truth Month - July 2024 

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 2 - God Keeps His Promises

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 2

God Keeps His Promises.

One of the great promises of God is that He will never again send a universal flood to purge the earth of a reprobate humanity.  He gave us the sign of the rainbow as a reminder of His promise.  Despite efforts to repurpose this awesome display, it remains today as a visual reminder that God is faithful.  For those who love and follow God, he has promised that ultimately all things will work for good and not evil (Romans 8:28).  

Trust needs to be earned.  We all have experienced broken promises from people and groups we have trusted.  Sometimes it is hard to recover from the moral failures of others that directly impact our lives.  Our heroes may fail; vows broken by us and to us; our security and safety violated.  We sometimes even fail ourselves.  We all need someone to put our trust in who will not fail us.  As revealed in the Bible, God has a 100% track record of keeping his promises.  

Just a quick note on biblical promises.  We must be very careful not to claim promises that God has given to others as our own.  While often there are principles from examples in the Bible that may be generally applicable, it is also very easy to improperly claim some promises as our own.  This can be avoided by carefully looking at the context of the text and by applying the principle of Never read a Bible verse. For example, “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is” (Prov. 23:7) is not a promise that whatever you truly believe will become reality for you.  Likewise, Jeremiah 29:11 simply reads, “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” This was given at a specific time to a specific group of people, but unfortunately it is not a personal promise made to you!   

I'll leave you with these promises from God's Word.

  

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9) 

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:2-6)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

Truth Month - July 2024 

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 1 - Objective Truth Wins Over Subjective Feelings

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 1 - Objective Truth Wins Over Subjective Feelings

Truth is much more than a person's opinion, and is no less than that which corresponds to reality.  That kind of Truth is known as Objective Truth.  It is true no matter who believes it or not, since the reality of it exists independently of the observer.  Objective Truth can be investigated, tested, and verified (such as by the scientific method).   Now truth claims can be wrong or mistaken, and mistaken beliefs can and should be evaluated, and re-aligned with reality if they are mistaken.  Knowledge is justified true belief.  Belief alone does not make something true, even if you are sincere.  The "Truth" in Truth Month refers solely to the kind that corresponds to reality. 

Another kind of truth that is commonly use today is Subjective Truth.  Often called relativistic truth, this kind of truth is based on a person's beliefs, views, or experiences, and can vary greatly between individuals or cultures.  While we can argue about the best flavor or ice cream (obviously chocolate chip mint), or who we feel was the GOAT in a certain sport, it really just comes down to personal preference.  There is not necessarily any correspondence to reality.  Claiming that "my truth", "your truth", or "my lived experience" is binding upon others is not a valid truth claim, because only the Truth actually exists. 

Related to Subjective Truth is the belief in Relativism.  Relativism has been aptly called having one's feet firmly planted in mid-air, since it has no philosophical grounding.  It is based on the idea that no objective truth exists, or certainly none that can be known. Relativistic morality is incoherent, and is ultimately logically self-defeating.  Without grounding, nothing can actually be called good or evil, only preferences.  It has no solid grounding for its claims, nor does it have the ability to assert claims of right or wrong, including its own truth claims.  For example, the Nazis believed that they were right to exterminate the undesirables, and with relativism, there are no objective grounds for disputing that.  It is not good enough to say that "I don't like that" or "I think that was wrong".  Without an objective moral standard, such as the uncaused creator God, relativism and subjective truths remain just the flavor of the day.     

Examples

• It is okay to steal if you really need it. (S)
• A man named Jesus lived in Judea about 2000 years ago, and was crucified by the Romans. (O)
• My wife is the best wife in the whole world! (S)
• The nature of human procreation is the combination of the sex gametes of a male and a female. (O)
• Modern art is inspiring. (S)
• Physics is the best and highest scientific discipline. (S)
• No physical object can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. (O)
• Gender is closely related to biology, so it is unfair for trans-athletes to compete in sports against people of the opposite biological sex. (S)
• Sex/gender are determined by biology, and not by a doctor's opinion or a person's feelings. (O)
• It is wrong to torture babies just for the fun of it. (O)

Truth Month - July 2024