Is truth absolute or relative?
As a truth seeker, inevitably, the topic of truth comes up in conversations. This is especially true when talking with people for the first time.
Driving a taxi for four years gave me plenty of opportunities to bring up this topic with strangers, in addition to life in general.
As a Christian living in an unbelieving world, being able to defend the faith without sounding dogmatic or out of touch with modern pragmatism and secular understanding isn’t easy.
At some point in my informal apologetic and evangelic efforts, God gave me a question to ask the unbeliever, the scorner, and the doubting.
"Does it sound more reasonable that there is one truth or billions?"Most people would honestly respond with, “One truth.”
I would then ask, “Then what is it?”
I would explain that maybe I was wrong in believing the one truth was found in the Holy Bible, yet in general, it seems logical that there was only one truth, whatever it might be.
Is Physics the One Truth?
There have been some hard cases in the mix. One time an older gentleman who was selling me an electric scooter was convinced the one truth was found in physics.
Not being a physics major and only getting through my college math course with a C+, I wasn’t capable of speaking about physics at his level. He was a retired academic, probably a professor of the same topic.
I was able to say something profound, which I want to explore with you.
"If there is one absolute then that means there is one truth, as this shows we have a commonality that comes from one creator."The Absolute Question
One thing I do understand about higher-level math is it becomes theoretical at a certain point. In other words, it takes faith to believe in physics.
Besides this, I narrowed it down to the theoretical equation:
Absolute = One Truth
If there is even one absolute, this equation should be true.
What is an absolute?
The Collins Dictionary defines it as so:
"adjective: Absolute means total and complete.
In math, the absolute value is defined as how far a number is from 0.
The noun definition is most relevant to what I’m discussing; the part of the absolute being right in all situations. That means it is something ubiquitous that is true for everyone.
Is it true to say if there is one absolute then there is one truth, one God?
First, let’s examine if there is even one absolute:
- We can all agree there is something rather than nothing
Anyone who is being honest would have to admit there is something rather than nothing, even if we don’t know or agree on what that something is.
Here is another:
- Everything living on earth has a beginning and ending
Here is another absolute we can all agree on. Everything that is alive had a beginning and will have an end. Even if you want to say rocks and inanimate objects have life through their cell frequencies, then we can agree everything eventually breaks down into dust.
So dust or dirt is the absolute, the main substance of all things.
Interesting that the Holy Bible says God created us from dust.
Is there a pattern that everything is made from?
There are 118 elements on the periodic table. Every animate and inanimate thing is made from these elements.
Besides these standards, the absolutes mentioned have already proved everything created has something in common. We are something rather than nothing.
If everything animate and inanimate have one thing in common (at least), doesn’t this mean we have one creator? And if there is one creator, doesn’t this mean there is one truth?
If there is this absolute, then there is a standard from which all creation is measured. Rather than have a relative truth for each person, we have a truth that can be measured from the same absolute standard.
The 8 can’t say it is a 7, as relative truth would dictate. Rather, both the 7 and 8 are defined by their measurement from 0, the absolute. Their truth is the same, although their measurement is different.
Infinite Truths = Confusion
Doesn’t it make sense that there is one truth rather than billions?
I say billions, but it could be trillions, or infinite depending on how many sentient beings want to define their relative truth.
Yes, we have micro truths that may be different, but the macro truth must be without contradiction. Sort of like micro and macroevolution. There is objective and scientifically provable microevolution, but only theoretical macroevolution.
This conversation is relevant considering we live in an age where most people believe in relative truth. Not because it is correct beyond question, but because it is convenient and trending in mainstream society.
Having a relative truth is self-serving, as it allows people to make it up according to their predilections.
Believing in an absolute truth means being accountable to it, and this means submitting ourselves to a higher authority or power. This means measuring our thoughts and behaviors according to the standard or absolute of this one truth.
Reasonable Conclusions
This profound question helped me in my taxi conversations and in general because it simplifies the complexity of the unknown. The reasonable answer must be there is only one truth, because if there were more than one then there are infinite different truths.
Reasonable people can easily conclude that if there are contradictory beliefs or theories, either one or neither can be true. Conclusions that contradict each other cannot both be true — either they both are wrong or one is correct.
This correlates with many of the popular and idealistic notions our modern world extols, such as equality, ecumenism, unity, and integral compromise.
Once reasonable people come to the conclusion that it makes more sense to say there is only one truth, then the question becomes what is it?
This is when I explain to truth-seeking people that I believe the Holy Bible is this one truth because of the proofs I’ve found. Maybe I’m wrong, yet it does mean I can’t be both wrong and right at the same time and neither could they.
This put us on solid ground in a relative truth society. This gave us an absolute standard on which to base our conclusions.
Ultimately, if we can deduce from this logical conclusion that there is only one truth then we will have a greater chance of finding it.
Thanks for exploring this question with me.
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