The other day I heard an interview with Barbara Brown on NPR's Fresh Air. At one point she said something to the effect of, "There are so many different views and experiences with religion, for anyone to claim that they know truth, that truth is absolute is not possible". Maybe I'm a little uninformed or slow, but that was the first time I have ever heard anyone publicly, actually say there is no such thing as absolute truth. I stopped breathing for a moment when I heard her say it. It was even a moment where I wondered if I actually heard what I thought I did.
Here are my thought processes about her statements:
This statement seems contradictory to me. Isn't she claiming an absolute truth by saying absolute truth is not possible? The problem is defining what is truth and what is absolute truth. Is truth facts or is truth a person.
What do I believe about absolute truth? As a Christian, I believe absolute truth exists, I believe that absolute truth is Jesus.
Do I think that I know truth?
No one knows Truth...because we are not Truth. The best we can do is establish a growing relationship with the one who is Truth...hoping to learn and grow in the knowledge of Truth. We don't know Truth as a set of facts, we know Truth as a person and so we are learning Truth through a relationship.
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3 comments:
Back off my buddie's baby's momma!! I miss you guys...quick question Lisa...if absolut truth = Jesus...then to say no one knows truth is to say no one knows Jesus... I'm pretty sure that this is not what you meant seeing as you did write "we know Truth as a person". I suppose that I'm just arguing semantics...but what else is there to argue?
Chris: yeah...it's semantics, and I'm not good at clarifying my thoughts sometimes. I'm trying to say no one knows all truth (as in facts) because we are not Truth (the person). The best we can do is establish a relationship with Truth (the person) in hopes of growing and learning truth (as facts and a person). Does that help?
Tom: hmmmm....after the "Angel" conversation I have to admit I'm hesitant to discuss this with you. I didn't feel good after that conversation, but I enjoy being able to discuss these things with you because I think my thoughts and methods are refined in our conversations.
After I reread your post, I got a better understanding of what you were saying. I agree totally with you when you say "Isn't she claiming an absolute truth by saying absolute truth is not possible?"
I think it also funny that we tend to put so much wieght into what televised or broadcasted personalities say, simply because they're they're given a microphone. I'm sure Babara has some intelligence but I'm also relatively positive that she holds no clout in the scholarly arena. I think I heard your husband say something intelligent once... something along the lines of "consider the source".
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