Absolute Truth - True or False?

[SoulGrind]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, friends and colleagues,

The other night, I was lying in bed and I had a restless sleep. My mind kept racing through an endless loop of questions regarding the subject of, "Absolute Truth."

I have heard the arguments on both sides. They sound something like this:

Argument 1: Some people say that there is no such thing as absolute truth and what is true for me may not be true for you.

Argument 2: Some people say that absolute truth is absolutely true.

The question remains, how can we be absolutely sure about the absoluteness of absolute truth?

I personally have always believed in absolute truth. But for some reason, my brain wouldn't shut up and let me sleep -- My brain seemed to have a mind of its own and it wanted to absolutely define absolute truth.

During my restless slumber, I envisioned a flow chart (those who know me also know my fondness for visual aids). My mind raced through each potential process and decision until I could take it no longer.

I jumped to my feet, popped open my favorite flowcharting software (OmniGraffle) and I worked up the flow chart I had been dreaming about. Through the use of this flow chart, I came to a very interesting, LOGICAL conclusion regarding the subject of absolute truth.

I then opened up the New Oxford Dictionary to see how it defined the words, "Absolute" and "Truth." Within the definition was a reference to the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus with a description for the phrase "The Absolute Truth." The definitions contained therein confirmed the conclusion that I had arrived at on my own.

Without further ado, I would like to share with you my findings in the form of a flow chart.

http://www.sonic.net/~caine/absolute_truth...olute_truth.jpg

Take a peek. I think you will find it very interesting.

Thanks for reading this far.

[Hunterpoet]

nice chart

[artsylady]

When you come across someone who says truth is relative, ask them about the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (or an instance like that one).

Some believe she was murdered by drug dealers. Some believe it was OJ acting alone. Some believe OJ was set up. Some beleive it was white supremists. A myriad of theories arose. Can they all be correct? As long as you believe that it was drug dealers, then the truth is that it was drug dealers? As long as you believe OJ acted alone, then that is the truth? That makes no sense.

There is the absolute truth as to what occurred that night and we may or may not know it, but the fact remains that there is absolute truth. I saw from your drawing that the definition of the word truth has words associated to it like 'fact' - not 'opinion' or 'point of view' or 'upbringing' or 'belief".

And it goes the same for faith. Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, cannot all be truth because they contradict each other! They can't possibly all be true.

And besides, what kind of god would reveal truth to various entities who contradicted each other, knowing we'd eventually meet up and compare notes and disagree?

Truth is not relative. That's why it's called 'truth'.

[SoulGrind]

When you come across someone who says truth is relative, ask them about the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (or an instance like that one).

Some believe she was murdered by drug dealers. Some believe it was OJ acting alone. Some believe OJ was set up. Some beleive it was white supremists. A myriad of theories arose. Can they all be correct? As long as you believe that it was drug dealers, then the truth is that it was drug dealers? As long as you believe OJ acted alone, then that is the truth? That makes no sense.

There is the absolute truth as to what occurred that night and we may or may not know it, but the fact remains that there is absolute truth. I saw from your drawing that the definition of the word truth has words associated to it like 'fact' - not 'opinion' or 'point of view' or 'upbringing' or 'belief".

And it goes the same for faith. Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, cannot all be truth because they contradict each other! They can't possibly all be true.

And besides, what kind of god would reveal truth to various entities who contradicted each other, knowing we'd eventually meet up and compare notes and disagree?

Truth is not relative. That's why it's called 'truth'.

Firstly, I don't make up the definitions - contact Webster, Oxford or whomever if you have issue with the definitions. However, I think the definitions were fairly clear...

Truth (according to Oxford):

The quality or state of being true, that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality, a fact or belief that is accepted as true.

So far, nothing in this definition seems relative to me. So I'm not quite sure what you're on about...

As for truth NOT being relative - That was my point - truth is NOT relative... truth is truth. For example - You cannot have both good AND evil. And as the Bible states, there are none that are good. We are all born into sin. It is through the shedding of Christ's blood and our acceptance of His sacrifice that we are atoned and therefore purified through the glory and the grace of God.

Now, with regards to the term, absolute...

Absolute (according to Oxford):

not qualified or diminished in any way; total, viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative, a value or principle that is regarded as universally valid or that may be viewed without relation to other things

Again, nothing in here about relative. In fact, "not relative" is mentioned in the definition and it seems quite clear on the point.

Therefore, when the two words are brought together... Absolute Truth... we can infer that it means Truth is not relative. Truth is universally valid.

Now, you do have one thing right... Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, cannot all be truth because they contradict each other. Unfortunately, some people do believe they are all true - the fact is, they all hold some truth in some fashion... but anyone who is a Christian who can testify through personal experience can confirm that Jesus Christ is the living God, and He is the way, the truth and the light. It is through baptism in the Holy Spirit that we are convicted of that truth. And that is personal experience that cannot be denied by anyone because there is no factual proof against it. And while the non-believer might argue that this would prove that absolute truth does not exist (going back to the true for you but not for me kind of reasoning) -- it truly does not prove it. Just because the non-believer has not experienced it for themselves does not make it any less true.

If you take the time to study the flow chart and direction of the series of Q&A, you will see that anyone who refutes the existence of Absolute Truth will inadvertently be caught up in an endless loop until they admit that absolute truth exists. That is the point - because absolute truth DOES exist.

When I ask someone, "Is there such a thing as absolute truth?" and they reply with, "There is no such thing as absolute truth" my final question is, "Are you absolutely sure that is true?"

They are then cornered - they must either concede that yes, there is absolute truth or that they don't know if there is an absolute truth (and that's just a nice return to ask them if that answer is absolutely true as well).

Another way of putting it (from Way of the Master)

Those who say that there are no absolutes are often very adamant about their belief. If they say that they are absolutely sure, then they are wrong because their own statement is an absolute. If they are not 100 percent sure, then there is a chance that they are wrong and they are risking their eternal salvation by trusting in a wrong belief. God tells us that there is an objective, absolute truth that is not subject to man

[SoulGrind]

BTW - A friend of mine just forwarded this to me...

http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/

A little something to test yourself on the validity of absolute truth...

[Guest]

..... Without further ado, I would like to share with you my findings in the form of a flow chart.

http://www.sonic.net/~caine/absolute_truth...olute_truth.jpg

That's Cute!

[Hunterpoet]

BTW - A friend of mine just forwarded this to me...

http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/

A little something to test yourself on the validity of absolute truth...

that was neat

[SoulGrind]

Any thoughts on how to determine truth from falsehood?

As a matter of fact... yes.

First and foremost, for the believer in Christ, studying the Word is paramount. Not only is the Bible the Word of God, but it is also our guidebook -- our moral compass you might say.

1.) The 10 commandments are a good starting place.

2.) Proverbs are another.

3.) The parables that Jesus spoke of will enlighten us and give us further commandments (lusting=adultery, hatred=murder, go into all the world and spread the Word, etc.).

4.) The teachings of Paul bear much weight on how Christians should behave (don't let your hands be idle, etc.)

Even though the Bible is the perfect, infallible Word of God, the biggest problem lies in the fact that WE are imperfect and quite capable of making a myriad of mistakes..

This is where prayer comes into play -- praying for God's will to be done, praying for the mind of God, praying for wisdom, and discernment, etc.

Furthermore, some people are blessed with the spiritual gift of discernment and knowledge and are able to read further into God's Word than others. These types typically make the best preachers, ministers and missionaries.

The Bible teaches that we are all created with God's Words laid upon our heart -- the ability to distinguish right from wrong, at a most basic, primitive level.

And of course, good ole common horse sense and personal experience go a long way too.

Hopes this helps.

[Shiloh62]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, friends and colleagues,

The other night, I was lying in bed and I had a restless sleep. My mind kept racing through an endless loop of questions regarding the subject of, "Absolute Truth."

I have heard the arguments on both sides. They sound something like this:

Argument 1: Some people say that there is no such thing as absolute truth and what is true for me may not be true for you.

Argument 2: Some people say that absolute truth is absolutely true.

The question remains, how can we be absolutely sure about the absoluteness of absolute truth?

I personally have always believed in absolute truth. But for some reason, my brain wouldn't shut up and let me sleep -- My brain seemed to have a mind of its own and it wanted to absolutely define absolute truth.

During my restless slumber, I envisioned a flow chart (those who know me also know my fondness for visual aids). My mind raced through each potential process and decision until I could take it no longer.

I jumped to my feet, popped open my favorite flowcharting software (OmniGraffle) and I worked up the flow chart I had been dreaming about. Through the use of this flow chart, I came to a very interesting, LOGICAL conclusion regarding the subject of absolute truth.

I then opened up the New Oxford Dictionary to see how it defined the words, "Absolute" and "Truth." Within the definition was a reference to the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus with a description for the phrase "The Absolute Truth." The definitions contained therein confirmed the conclusion that I had arrived at on my own.

Without further ado, I would like to share with you my findings in the form of a flow chart.

http://www.sonic.net/~caine/absolute_truth...olute_truth.jpg

Take a peek. I think you will find it very interesting.

Thanks for reading this far.

I try not to drink to much caffeine before I go to bed because I've also had nights like that? Have you tried decaf?

[Shiloh62]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, friends and colleagues,

The other night, I was lying in bed and I had a restless sleep. My mind kept racing through an endless loop of questions regarding the subject of, "Absolute Truth."

I have heard the arguments on both sides. They sound something like this:

Argument 1: Some people say that there is no such thing as absolute truth and what is true for me may not be true for you.

Argument 2: Some people say that absolute truth is absolutely true.

The question remains, how can we be absolutely sure about the absoluteness of absolute truth?

I personally have always believed in absolute truth. But for some reason, my brain wouldn't shut up and let me sleep -- My brain seemed to have a mind of its own and it wanted to absolutely define absolute truth.

During my restless slumber, I envisioned a flow chart (those who know me also know my fondness for visual aids). My mind raced through each potential process and decision until I could take it no longer.

I jumped to my feet, popped open my favorite flowcharting software (OmniGraffle) and I worked up the flow chart I had been dreaming about. Through the use of this flow chart, I came to a very interesting, LOGICAL conclusion regarding the subject of absolute truth.

I then opened up the New Oxford Dictionary to see how it defined the words, "Absolute" and "Truth." Within the definition was a reference to the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus with a description for the phrase "The Absolute Truth." The definitions contained therein confirmed the conclusion that I had arrived at on my own.

Without further ado, I would like to share with you my findings in the form of a flow chart.

http://www.sonic.net/~caine/absolute_truth...olute_truth.jpg

Take a peek. I think you will find it very interesting.

Thanks for reading this far.

An unrelated question I came upon while viewing the site:Whats the difference between static and dynamic DSL?