Absolute Truth

One of the beliefs commonly held today is that Truth is relative. Those that state truths contradicting the beliefs of others are decried as insensitive, racists, sexists, and homophobic, hateful people all because they believe Truth is absolute. In today’s culture it has become taboo to make any statement that offends another group of people or that dictates truth or morality. Relativism has become the standard. A good example of this cultural phenomenon is a telling line in Star Wars: Episode Three. When Obi Wan and Anakin Skywalker fight on the lava planet towards the end of the film Obi Wan says to Anakin, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” This statement sums up what many in today’s world believe.

Yet my question for Obi Wan and all those who agree with him is this: Isn’t that an absolute statement? Think about it, you are saying that only a sith deals in absolutes. Yet to say that is to make an absolute statement. In the same way to say: “There is no such thing as absolute truth.” Is to make a statement acknowledging truth’s existence. In fact that statement can’t really be considered as a valid statement because it contradicts itself. It looks like a statement but it is really just nonsense. Another example is this: “This statement is false.” Is this true? Then it is false, and therefore true. Is it false? It is therefore true, and consequently false. There is no real truth value here. Therefore to deny the existence of absolute truth requires the acknowledgement of it!

It is obvious that someone cannot rationally deny the existence of absolute truth. Even if one were to try to hold to this view they could not do it without being inconsistent. For example they could not communicate. For them to use words is to imply that words have the purpose and ability to communicate concepts, which is to state an absolute truth. For them to make any observations, actions, or in-actions results in an inconsistency with their stated beliefs, which of course deny themselves.

This leaves us with the obvious question: If truth exists can it be known? First we must look at the criteria by which something can be judged to be true. For someone to say that something is true, for example to say: “Water is wet,” means that they must be everywhere at once. Otherwise they could not positively say that water is wet. Perhaps water is wet twenty feet down in the ocean, but not twenty-one. It also means that they must understand everything completely. Otherwise there could be factors that are unknown to them that explain certain actions. For example: In the Old Testament God told the Israelites to give the earth a rest every seven years by not planting the same fields every year. On the seventh year the field was to remain unplanted and then the next year the farmer could plant. Now in that time this instruction made no sense, because the farmer lost one year of production. However we now know that this practice actually makes the ground more fertile and productive. Yet the farmer was not aware of this and because of his limited knowledge could not have truthfully stated that this was a bad practice.

In addition to being everywhere at once and understanding everything completely someone cannot say that something is true unless they transcend time. Otherwise something might be demonstratively true today, but not yesterday, or tomorrow. Unless someone can be everywhere at once, understand everything completely, and know everything there is to know about the past, present, and future, then one cannot state truth as absolute.

So in determining whether or not truth can be known we must first identify whether or not there is a source that meets this criteria. A cursory glance at the criteria listed above and the abilities of human minds shows the gap between the requirements and our ability. It is clear that no one can state absolute truth by his or her own authority. However, if someone is speaking not by their own authority but rather by the authority of some source that meets the three primary criteria for stating absolute truth then truth can be known. However it requires the revelation from that source before a person’s words bear any significance.

We already know that humans cannot be the author of truth because they do not meet the criteria listed above. Neither can the animals, minerals, or anything else known in the natural world. The source of Truth cannot be a creature of the natural world because it could only know what happened in the existence of time. For someone to truly be able to say that something is true they would have to transcend time. Everything in this world has a beginning and therefore cannot be the source of Truth. There is only one thing that meets the criteria for being able to dictate what is true, and that is God. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Meaning that He, and He alone, meets the criteria listed above. The magnificence of this truth is only matched by the fact that not only is there Truth, and not only can it be known, but it has been revealed to us by God. The means by which He has revealed truth to us? Scripture. There are many things that point to the divine inspiration of Scripture. Philosophy, science, History, Linguistics, ect… However I do not have the time to go through all of these things today. For one thing this post is already far too long and an explanation of these proofs would quickly become a book. However I do hope to look at these evidences in the future, as we continue to understand the answer to Pilate’s immortal question: “What is Truth?”