Hi @Carson,
*I originally drafted the below response on the discussion Do Christians believe in the truth? but never really felt it fit completely with the topic. *
Years ago a friend and I would text witty quotes or sayings back and forth for fun. They could be from something we read or just from our own thoughts. One particular one that I came up with was,
There is one absolute truth, by which, all other truths are judged to be either true or false.
Since we were both Christians I thought she would agree and applaud my pithy saying. I was shocked that she flatly disagreed with it. Saying that there is no absolute truth and that it’s all subjective. Later on I asked her what is Jesus since he identified himself as The Truth. I don’t fully remember her response but I do remember she wouldn’t accept the idea of an absolute truth that exists outside our own subjective viewpoint. I was flummoxed by her position.
Rewind a few years from that episode to when I was in on mission in Amsterdam. I was walking the streets with a friend praying and sharing the Gospel. In one conversation we were talking to a man who argued that there is no moral absolutes and my friend, Matt, argued dogmatically that there is. His arguments his attempt to convince the man that there is a God. While I didn’t disagree with the points that Matt had made, I questioned him about his dogmatic approach to try and convince the man of truth.
From that encounter in Holland I began to craft an illustration that helps me understand and potentially describe absolute truth and why we often disagree what it is. Imagine truth as a diamond with an infinite number of facets. Each facet is like a window we can look into and see the colors and brilliance of the diamond. One person can turn to another and describe what they see. That other person may recognize some of what they say but then disagree about other things. At some point some will realize how impossible it is to fully know the diamond while others will not, determining that their known facet(s) is(are) all they need in order to know all there is about that diamond. Knowing the truth is impossible unless the truth was able to communicate with us or to become like us and walk amongst us. Only then can we know the diamond in any significant way.
I like the diamond illustration to both recognize the unknowable aspects of truth and also how it assumes our inherent biases in understanding the truth. Then it points back to how the truth can only be known if that truth became like us.
Then in Don Richardson’s book “Peace Child” he makes mention of a redemptive element that he believes exists in each culture, and God uses that element to help lead that people group to receive redemption. I’ve reflected on this numerous times as I’ve interacted with people that have a completely different view or culture than me. We all have some slice of truth that God can use to redeem mankind for His purposes. What matters is that we go and share the truth with others and trust God to tug on that redemptive element to draw them to redemption. Or as Paul put it, “I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”
1 Corinthians 9:22 CSB