posted in → Articles

Is The Truth “Overrated?”

There is a line in the movie, And Justice For All, in a scene with the protagonist (played by Al Pacino), a young idealistic lawyer and his paramour, also a fellow lawyer, where he says to her, “I just want the truth,” and she replies, “the truth is overrated.”

The 18th-century humanist philosopher G.F.W. Hegel, in his famous theory of the “dialectic”, explained the quest for truth thus; “within the truth that we know today is a truth that will make that truth untrue.”

In other words, according to Hegel, there is no such thing as absolute, immutable truth.

V.I. Lenin, a doctrinaire disciple of Hegel, confirms Hegel’s opinion concerning the truth: “For dialectical philosophy, nothing is final, absolute, sacred. It reveals the transitory character of everything and in everything; nothing can endure before it except the uninterrupted process of becoming and of passing away, of endless ascendancy from the lower to the higher. And dialectical philosophy itself is nothing more than the mere reflection of this process in the thinking brain.”¹

In the realm of science in recent years, physicists, through a discipline they call quantum mechanics, have even brought into question many of the theories of Isaac Newton, the “father” of modern science, theories that were for centuries believed to be absolute.

The perpetrator of the theory of evolution, Charles Darwin, believed that animals (humans included) are in a constant state of evolution. “New age” humanist philosophy has extended this physical evolution to the ethereal realm, teaching that man is evolving in a spiritual sense, as well.

Absolute, Immutable Truth: Man Cannot Live in a State of Liberty Without It

If, as mystics² claim, everything of a material, physical nature, including our human bodies, is an illusion, then we can’t even be sure that the ground we are standing on is real, or that we ourselves are even there standing on it. To me, this is the epitome of bondage, not freedom as “new agers” claim.

It’s all made up in our heads, they say. I say baloney!

There is, in fact, a physical reality and a spiritual reality. Those who have lost touch with the former are considered by most folks to have entered the realm of insanity. But materialists like Hegel, Marx, and Lenin would contend that those who believe in the latter are equally insane.

If the materialists are right, then there are a lot of nuts in America, because the vast majority of Americans believe in some sort of spiritual reality. I, too, believe in a spiritual reality, but the question is this: what is the basis of my belief (and yours, if you have one)? The science of physics bases its conclusions on a set of immutable propositions, or laws, e.g., the “law of motion,” etc.³ Without these foundational propositions, which can be measured mathematically and observed/replicated experimentally, physics could not be rightly called science, but rather a philosophy, or a metaphysical discipline.⁴ While we don’t refer to spiritual beliefs as science, to be valid, as, in true science, they nevertheless must have some foundational truths located somewhere that form their basis. Concerning the dominant belief system in America, Christianity, most would agree this basis is the Bible, or as it is commonly labeled, the “Holy Bible.”

1	Wikipedia
2	Those who adhere to the religious philosophical tenets of eastern mysticism
3	http://physics.about.com/od/physics101thebasics/p/PhysicsLaws.htm
4	Religious belief system

However, this is where the agreement begins and ends. In fact, there is little agreement as to what the Bible comprises, or even that God is its author. But many folks who call themselves Christians and followers of Christ will contend that the Bible is secondary to their “experiences” and direct “contacts” with God, even claiming that relying on holy “writ” as the sole basis of belief is a form of “legalism” or “intellectualism,” and thus, in itself, unbiblical.

Put all this together and you have in modern Christianity a vast sea of uncertainty. Both camps, the purely intellectual camp, which contends that the Bible is the only basis for believing, and the purely experiential camp, which contends that experience should be that basis, are right and wrong in their claims. The intellectuals are right to claim that the Bible is the basis—the final authority in faith and practice—of all true belief,⁵ but wrong in saying that experience has no place in a life of faith. This really smacks of Hegelian materialism. On the other hand, pure experientialists, who give little more than lip service to the Bible, tip over into the equally erroneous philosophy of the mystics and new agers.

The key to finding the truth here is to allow that which both camps claim to be their authority, the Holy Bible, to establish it. To start with, let’s go to the beginning:

“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.” Gen 1:1

Following this absolute statement is the description of what was before the earth took physical form, and after that what it is comprised of, including, finally, the creation of human life. This is the first foundational truth presented in the Bible, I.e., all other truths are built upon this truth. This is not exclusive to Christianity. The other two so-called “monotheistic”⁶ belief systems, Judaism and Islam, rest on this foundation as well.

It goes on to say that humans (“man”) were created by God, in God’s image, and were given dominion over the earth and all its inhabitants⁷ So far, there is little disagreement among the numerous Christian theologies concerning these two propositions⁸

5	One of the major fallacies of pure Christian intellectualism, I.e., believing that holy writ alone is what validates faith, is that few in this camp can decide what or where holy writ is.
6	The belief that there is only one, sovereign God in the universe
7	Gen. 1:27-30
8	Where there is disagreement, it is over how long it took God to accomplish the creation. This is divided into the camp that believes in a literal six day creation, and the camp that believes this to be a much longer period of time. While I am in the former group, I personally don’t believe this disagreement is a deal breaker, so long as God remains, in the mind of the believer, the sovereign creator, and isn’t characterized as some sort of “cosmic”, impersonal “force.”

The third propositional truth is what is known as “the fall” of man. It is described in Genesis 3:1-19, ⁹ and synoptically stated and established in Paul’s epistle to the Romans:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”Rom 5:12 KJV

What this says is that humans, from Genesis 3 forward, are born in a state of sin, and thus eternally separated from God. If this proposition is not true, then there is no basis for Christianity, which is totally and completely built on the idea of the redemption and salvation of fallen man from the inevitable fate of his condition. While men (and women) have invented numerous ways to right themselves with God, the Bible says there is but one way, which brings us to the final propositional truth of Christianity:

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; Rom 5:18-21; 1 Tim. 2:3-6; Rom. 3:20-25 KJV

While simply saying, “yeah, I believe this is the truth about man and what God has done for his redemption” is a necessary part of the salvation equation, merely assenting, intellectually, to this proposition does not confer salvation on anyone. Salvation occurs (is “experienced”, if you will) in one’s life when one believes that Jesus Christ died for his/her sins. How does one know this has happened to him or her? Those that know they are saved eternally, know it not only because they have believed it,¹⁰ but because they have trusted in and are at rest in the fact that Christ died for their sins, and was raised again for their justification. They have let go of any notion that there is anything they have done or could do that could justify them before God or any “sin” that could separate them from him once they are justified. Are you, dear friend, a part of this group?

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7 KJV

Mike Schroeder

All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. Feel free to distribute this essay as you see fit.

Post Script

Will you be in the number who are caught up on that day that the Lord descends from heaven with a shout? Only the saved, those who have believed on Jesus Christ—“who knew no sin”—and his sacrificial death on the Cross having paid for all their sins, will be going on that ride. History has shown that whatever peace man has achieved in the world can only be temporary. The Bible says that individual men and women can know, beyond a doubt, that they are saved and bound for heaven, and therefore have absolute and permanent peace, regardless of what is going on in the world, by trusting Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for their eternal salvation. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Have you done this? If not, why not now?

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Even the devils ..believe James 2:19

Printer friendly version

Posted by Mike Schroeder in

Articles