Uncomfortable What is Truth? July 1 & 2, 2017

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1 Uncomfortable What is Truth? July 1 & 2, 2017 What is the goal? In essentials UNITY (Ephesians 4:1-6) In non-essentials LIBERTY (Romans 14) In all things CHARITY (Matthew 22:36-40; Ephesians 4:15; 1 Peter 4:8) What is truth? There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. - Soren Kierkegaard Truth is complex. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answered, Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, So you are a king? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, What is truth? John 18:32-38 The truth has political, cultural, social, religious and PERSONAL implications. Beliefs about truth Christians believe they have absolute truth. People who believe that they have absolute truth are oppressive. Everyone should be free to determine their own truth. Absolute truth is the destroyer of freedom. Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it. - Voltaire

2 Truth-objective or subjective? Objective statements - May be true or false, but not both. Burj Khalifa is the world s tallest artificial structure. There are 8 planets in our solar system. God exists. Subjective statements May vary from person to person as people respond to objective realities. Snakes are scary. Swimming is more fun than skiing. Mondays are terrible. Much of our culture believes that the transcendent questions about life, faith and MORALITY belong in the subjective category. Is there objective moral truth? The absolute morality that a religious person might profess would include, what? Stoning people for adultery? Death for apostasy? Punishment for breaking the Sabbath? These are all things which are religiously based absolute moralities. I don t think I want an absolute morality. I want a morality that is thought out, reasoned, argued, discussed, and based upon, could almost say intelligent design. Can we not design a society which has the sort of morality, the sort of society that we want to live in? - Richard Dawkins, PhD in Zoology from Oxford This I think is what the world needs now. It needs people like ourselves to admit that there are right and wrong answers to question of human flourishing. And morality relates to that domain of facts. It is possible for individuals and even for whole cultures to care about the wrong things. Which is to say it s possible for them to have beliefs and desires that reliably lead to needless human suffering. Just admitting this will transform our discourse about morality. It seems to me therefore patently obvious that we can no more respect and tolerate vast differences in notions of human well-being than we can respect or tolerate vast differences in the notions about how disease spreads or in the safety standards of building and airplanes. We simply must converge on the answers we give to the most important questions of human life and to do that we have to admit that these questions have answers. - Sam Harris, PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA

3 Moral truth is like a light. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. John 3:19-21 If there is truth, where do I find it? Collective wisdom? Religion? Authority? Myself? The reason I talk to myself is because I m the only one whose answers I accept. George Carlin What informs us? The 4 C s Conscience Creation Canon Christ Conscience points us to moral truth. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. Romans 13:5 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 Only those with a conscience can find an action unconscionable. - F.D. Crandall

4 Creation-cause and effect The Cause is GREATER THAN the Effect. God is greater than the universe. For since the creation of the world God s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20 What creation shows us God is powerful God is wise God is personal The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4a God wants you to KNOW HIM. Truth is good. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31-32 Practical advice for discussing truth 1. Agree to have a conversation where you both listen to understand. 2. Ask individuals what they believe and why. 3. Ask clarifying questions like: What do you mean by that? Why is that important to you? 4. How you have the conversation demonstrates what is important to you. Don t argue or name call. 5. Know yourself. You don t have all the answers. You re not always right. Be confident but humble. 6. Know God. Pray - trust Him to empower you. 7. Remember that Jesus is the Savior, not you. Practical advice for people with questions 1. Believe that answers do exist. 2. Test your sources. Look for outside confirmation. 3. Invite people to seek with you. 4. Look for something to believe in, not something to fight against.

5 Additional Resources Reason for God,, by Timothy Keller, Dutton, 2008 Why does God allow suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Why isn t Christianity more inclusive? How can one religion be right and the others wrong? Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God? These are just a few of the questions and doubts even ardent believers wrestle with today. As the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced doubts skeptics bring to his church as well as the most important reasons for faith. And in the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God, he addresses each doubt and explains each reason. Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth. Grand Central Question,, by Abdu Murray, InterVarsity Press, 2014 All religions and worldviews seek to answer the fundamental questions of human existence: Why am I here? What does it mean to be human? Why is there evil in the world and how do we deal with it? But not every worldview places equal emphasis on each issue. The main worldviews each tend to stress a different central question. Secular humanism focuses on: What is the inherent value of human beings? Pantheism emphasizes: How do we escape suffering? Islam's main concern is: How is God great? Abdu Murray digs deeply into these three representatives of major worldviews of our day: atheism, pantheism and theism. This lawyer and former Muslim brings compassion, understanding and clarity to his analysis, comparing the answers of each view to the central message of Christianity.