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CREDO CAFE
Relativism - There are no 'truths' anymore.
Secular Relativism Part 2
‘What is Truth?’ Pilate.
‘I Am the Truth.’ Jesus.
TRUTH IS A PERSON NOT A PROPOSITION
Song – ‘People need the Lord’ Steve Green (iTunes)
“We are called to bring the light to a world where wrong seems right”.
Moral Relativism is not new. “Everybody did what was right in his own sight”. (Judges). The consequences were lawlessness, chaos and survival of the fittest. Might was right. Today gun crime and anarchy stalk our streets. Is there a moral standard outside of ourselves? Is there an Absolute Truth which holds everything together?
Poem ‘The parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant’ (Keith will read)
Questions.
Can Truth be ‘partly right’?
Why didn’t they arrive at the ‘Truth? [blind]
Why were the Pharisees (the world) unable to discern the Truth about Jesus?
Conclusion Spiritual Truth can only be spiritually discerned.
Christians claim that only Jesus can open eyes. (Luke 24:31) ‘Then their eyes were opened’.
QUIZ - TRUE or FALSE?
- · The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. [Apparently not Reality]
· A day is shorter than a year. [Relative to your planet]
· Men have walked on the moon. [Prove it! Conspiracy ]
· The chief end of man is to be happy. [To Glorify God]
· Man is a free agent. [Not free to choose the consequences]
· The holocaust never happened. [Political end muzzles the truth]
· ‘Truth is what you choose to believe’ (The Verdict) [How can we be sure?]
· ‘The Truth will set you free’ (Jesus) [From what?]
It is possible to hold two apparently contradictory truths at the same time.{Paradox} Give examples.
A natural law is true until it is proved false.
A supernatural law is true for eternity – whether we know it or not, believe it or not, like it or not. It is independent of us.
Relativism says ‘That is true which works for me. My opinion is equal to yours.
It is presumptuous of you to claim that your truth is superior.
Christianity says Truth is a Person you can relate to.
The Triune God has revealed His character and purposes to us through the Scriptures.
The Bible is the infallible word of God.
Christians are the people of The Book.
Post Modernism says you can’t trust words to communicate truth!!!!!!!
Let’s go to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Over to Philip Ahlquist and friends.
Conclusion – God is gagged. He cannot communicate.
Language Filters
The Mind of God ->Author’s Intent -> Reduced to human words -> Translated to another language ->another culture -> another time -> Reader’s prejudices and preconceptions -> Reader’s interpretation of literary style, tone punctuation -> Reader’s Response.
Therefore we need a miracle to understand the Mind of God.
Which is exactly what we have! Our God is both Omnipotent and Omniscient. He can therefore overrule the vagaries of language to bring his purposes to pass. He can act both in the mind of the author and the reader. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is also polyvalent. There is more than one level of response provided that each is consistent with the whole. E.g. The feeding of the 5,000.
The Babel of Relativism becomes the Pentecost of Revelation when people of many languages understood the Truth in their own tongue.
Truth has a way of breaking through the barriers of language like Aslan could break through the bondage of death.
C.S.Lewis “While Scripture may only be a ‘map’ and not itself the country that has to be navigated navigation is nevertheless only possible with a map.”
There is still great value in applying these linguistic principles of interpretation rather than just lifting a text out of its context. We need to dig through the layers of history, culture, literary style, tone, context etc if we are to uncover the pearl of great price.
Evidence for the infallibility of Scripture.
Why do we believe the bible? (Clue – internal or external) (Table breakout discussion)
The Internal Evidence. Over to you.
1) 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God breathed. (Spirit inspired)
2) Psalm 119:140. Promises have been thoroughly tested. They work. “God makes and keeps promises” is Alec Motyer’s succinct summary of the entire Old Testament story. The honour of His Name is at stake. Eg Blessings follow obedience and curses disobedience.
3) Prophecies are fulfilled. Jeremiah 28:9 “Prophecies will be only recognized as truly sent by God when they come true.” 2 Peter 1;21 “Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man but by the Holy Spirit.” Eg. “That it might be fulfilled “ re The Lord. One of the most dramatic were the words of Jesus concerning the destruction of the Temple which was totally demolished in AD 70.
4) The consistency of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The whole canon of Scripture was written over a period of 1500 years, in different places, by different people, in different languages and different styles yet they all tell the same story of the Holiness of God, the Pride of man, the consequences of sin and the Grace of restoration.
5) The Person of Christ. Jesus said, “All Scripture points to me”. John 5:39.
Philip said, “We have found the One Moses and the prophets wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph”. John 1:45.
Luke said, “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets he explained to them what was said in all Scripture concerning himself”. Luke 24:27.
Jesus claims to be the Truth. “I am the way the Truth and the life”
Therefore the Scriptures which point to Him must be true.
Time and again Jesus repeats his claim “I tell you THE TRUTH”.
(Ask for examples like John 3:5.)
C.S.Lewis “Either this man was a lunatic on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg or he is the very Devil from Hell or the Son of God as he claims.”
If Jesus is true the Bible is true for the words of God come from the Word of God.
The Word of God is from Eternity with God. Briefly he entered into The Story before returning to the Father with whom he is One.
The Truth invested in Scripture is Absolute and Eternal.
External Evidence for the Truth of Scripture.
You First!
I’ve asked Reg to talk about the 1) historical and 2) archeological evidence.
3) The Moral Law. According to Plato GOOD exists whether we know it or like it or not. It exists independent of mankind and can be discovered.
Christianity says that God created this Goodness and that this moral law is explicit in the 10 Commandments. So Paul tells wicked mankind that they are without excuse for turning the truth of God into a lie. It is within and without Scripture. Romans 1:20.
4) Creation also speaks of God independently as well as specifically in Scripture.
David, by observation and revelation, brings into Scripture Psalm 19.
“The heavens declare the glory of God.”
5) Personal Experience. It works! It is always relevant.
“The word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE.” Hebrews 4:12.
It judges thoughts and attitudes and uncovers everything before God to whom we are accountable.
Moses commanded, “Take to heart all the words I have given you. They are not just idle words. They are your life.” Deut 32:47.
The disciples said to Jesus, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
The Word of Life gives Life, transforms life as we take God at his word.
Group Exercise – Using critical analysis study this text and comment on it at the following levels. (Table breakout discussion 2)
Jephthah and his daughter (Judges 11:29 – 37)
Text – First impressions
Context – Greater understanding (11:1 – 11)
Theological differences
Cultural differences
Pointing to Jesus.
The beauty of Scripture is that we can recognize Truth at every level.
First impressions:
Jephthah was a fool, proud and selfish
(Aren’t we all? Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.)
Context – Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, disinherited by his family. Yet he was determined to overcome. The Lord gave him victory and an only child to love. He was so grateful. How could he repay the Lord for his goodness? (Psalm116:12)
Theological difference. Jephthah was a product of the Old Testament. God was to be feared. “It was a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) Loyalty to God had priority over love for his family. He must keep his word or face the awful (awe-full) judgement of God not only on him but on the community. (Numbers 30:2)
Cultural differences. He would lose face with his people and bring shame on his extended family. His daughter had no rights of her own. She was a dutiful daughter and accepted her place in society. Submission to her father’s will was paramount.
Pointing to Jesus. She alone could save her father whom she loved, by offering herself as a substitutionary atonement. Thus she becomes a “type” of Christ.
Group Exercise
Compare “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Exodus 21:24)
And “If someone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also”. (Matthew 5:39)
Is there a contradiction? Is revenge still an issue. What does this teaching achieve?
Gandhi “ The logic of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth cannot sustain itself forever; sooner or later both parties must end up blind and toothless. Why do we never learn?”
Only forgiveness breaks the cycle.
In Conclusion: -
How does the Christian react to the post-modern culture?
He can either retreat into a fundamentalist ghetto and become obnoxiously defensive or he can engage in dialogue with a culture which is open and searching for meaning.
It is asking fundamental questions like:
- Who or what is God?
Who or what am I?
What is Reality?
What’s wrong with the world?
What will put it right?
This culture has moved away from:
- Certainty to Searching
Fact to Opinion
Objectivity to Subjectivity
The Big picture to the Me picture
Reason and Proof to Experience and Relationships
Rationality to Spirituality
Proposition to Story.
“This”, says Joel Edwards, (General Director of the Evangelical Alliance) “is Good News for Christianity. For our Truth is a story and a relationship. In this age the bigger question is not ‘Is it true?’ but ‘Does it work?’ - and our Gospel works.”
Role play exercise –
See Juliet Kilpin’s story and complete it.
February 2007
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