What Is Truth? posted by John Sorensen on Mar 23, 2016

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What is truth? Have you ever been hit with that question when sharing your faith?

I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International. We live in a world where “tolerance” is the new excuse for rejecting right and wrong. The argument is that there are no absolutes, and we are called “narrow” when we disagree. But here’s an absolute truth:  two plus two equals four and never any other number. The fact is that there are many absolute truths. When we correct this thinking we have a platform to present the truth of the Bible.  Jesus prayed to the Father, “Thy Word is truth.” God claims the Bible to be true. So, we need to get people to think about truth rather than just belief.  As you share life today, remember that what really matters is what is true.

Visit ShareLife.today for our free Answers to Tough Questionsresource.  You’ll find answers to “What Is Truth” and other frequently asked questions.

What is Truth? posted by jwatson on Oct 14, 2011

We are living in what is being called the Postmodern era where everything is supposedly relative, where “tolerance” is the new excuse for rejecting right and wrong, where moral absolutes that have guided societies for the past 5,000 years are now all suspect. People will say, “Well, if it’s true for me, then it’s true.  If it’s right for me, who are you to question it—you’re just being intolerant of others. If it doesn’t hurt anyone, what’s wrong with it?  Etc.”  The argument is that there are no absolutes, there is no such thing as absolute truth and there certainly is no such thing as absolute morality.  

Let’s take Truth:  First, the statement “There is no such thing as absolute truth” is an absolute statement and is therefore a self-defeating statement.  Second, people accuse us of being narrow when we assert absolute truth, but that is the nature of truth—it is by definition very narrow. Truth may have only one right answer and many wrong answers.  2+2=4 and never 5, 9, 36 or any other of an infinite number of possible answers. There is only one person who is president of the United States at this moment in history (one right answer and billions of wrong answers). Isn’t it then reasonable to expect when it comes to eternity that there would be one right answer?

Jesus prayed to the Father and said, “Thy Word is truth.” God claims the Bible to be true.

What we need to do in these situations is remind people that it doesn’t matter what they believe, what really matters is what is true. We need to get people to think about truth rather than just belief. I might believe that there are little green men on Mars and you believe there are big purple women, but it doesn’t matter what you or I believe. What matters is what is true.

Two simple, but effective answers for those who are skeptical in regard to absolute truth and morality:

Adolph Hitler killed six million of God’s chosen people. As long as he believed in his heart that it was the right thing to do, then it was perfectly right. We need to be tolerant of other people’s views because if it is right for them, then it is right. If it is true for them, then it is true.

There is such a thing as absolute truth and you can find it in the Bible.

Here’s another one. Evidently a conservative woman appeared on the TV program, “Politically Incorrect.” This woman stumped the others who were defending relative truth and relative morality when she asked, “In what situation is rape okay?”  The other guests on the show just sat there in silence.

Think about it—there are no situations in which rape is right. Therefore, it must be wrong for all people, in all places, at all times, and in every situation. The statement, “Rape is wrong,” is an absolute truth. If there is one absolute truth, there can be two, three, or more. We need to help some people shake this politically correct thinking and admit that there are absolutes in our world. Then we have a platform to present the truth of the Bible in regard to our spiritual lives.