Is All Truth Relative

I was leaving a work call the other day and a gentleman asked where I went to school. I explained that I attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the degree I was seeking. He was very interested in the meaning of apologetics. The opportunity unfolded for me to explain apologetics.  He stated, “Oh, my mom is a devout Catholic.  Me, I don’t judge anybody, I think everybody is right; all religions say basically the same thing.”  He is not alone; with the growth of (narcissism)- “self centeredness “and tolerance in America, millions think the same. A majority of people are giving no thought to the logical implication to this pattern of thinking, and from a biblical perspective, this is like playing Russian roulette with your soul.

Hidden in his statement, is the belief that there is neither absolute truth nor a moral standard by which to live.  We are going to take a look at a scenario to help clear up the topic of judgment and to show that everyone makes judgments. Even the statement, “I don’t judge anybody” is a judgment on not judging people.

Let’s say I am walking down a busy street and see a mom with groceries and three young children. She is holding her groceries and pushing her stroller when she loses control of the stroller and it rolls out into the busy street in front of an on-coming truck. At that moment I run out and yank the stroller back onto the sidewalk just before the truck comes to a shrieking halt. I just judged that this truck would destroy this child if it hits the child. This is just one example. People judge what types of clothes, food, deodorant and cars we like and don’t like. It is no different with religious truth; we have to make judgments.

Why do we have to make judgments? Not all clothes, food, and cars are the same. Clothes, food, and cars vary because people have varying tastes and personalities. When it comes to religious judgment, we are dealing with the issue of the morals and absolutes that govern people’s lives and shape cultures and civilizations; we are not just talking about a variety of tastes and personalities. This subject is taken too lightly by the majority of people today. It can be dismissed in one sentence, “Oh, I don’t judge anybody; I think everybody is right”… and people can move on with their daily living with no more thought given to it.  I hope this article will at least cause people to think more.

Now that we understand that making judgments is a common occurrence in a person’s life, let’s take a look at four of the world’s major religions.

Buddhism

• Man suffers because his desires are fixated on the illusion of self, which confines him to nonpermanence within the laws of Karma and reincarnation.

• Self salvation is achieved by following the middle path, the four fold Noble truths, and the Eightfold Path.[1]

Hinduism

• There is no single Hindu idea of God

• Karma is the debt of one’s bad actions for which one must atone.[2]

Islam

• Mohammed is God’s true prophet and the Qur’an is the perfect word of Allah.

• Salvation is by the will of God through human obedience to God’s law. The major laws are the five pillars of Islam.[3]

Christianity

• All humans are born sinners and are condemned before a just God because of sin.

• All humans who see that they have sinned against the God who created them and repent and place 100 percent of their faith in Jesus will be saved.

• We are saved not by works but faith in what Christ has done for us. We are unable to satisfy God’s righteous standard because of our fallen nature.

Looking at four of the world’s major religions, what do we see? They do not say the same thing. Buddhists believe that life is really an illusion if your desires are fixed on self. Hindus believe they have to do good things to out weigh bad karma and try to satisfy all their different gods so they will help and bless them. The Islamic belief is that there is only one God and Muhammad is the prophet and you must follow the writings of the Qu’ran and the five sacred pillars of Islam. The differences of these three different religions range from plurality of gods to worshiping only one god. And as you look closer there is an over arching theme that you can see in all of them except Christianity : the idea of works in order to satisfy their specific god; however, looking at Christianity, we see that salvation is by faith in Christ and the good works follow because of what He has done. You want to serve Him because He did something for you that you could not do. This is a huge difference.  Let’s take time to look at two of the religions with the laws of logic. We will take the two headline religions in America- “Christianity and Islam.”  This is the logic that arises after looking at these religions in an over view setting:

First logical  option

1. One of these religions is right and one is wrong.

2. Christianity is right

3. Islam is wrong

Second logical option

1. One of these religions is right and one is wrong.

2. Islam is right

3. Christianity is wrong

Not all religions can be right. Why? They say different things about who man is and the nature of God. The first step for anybody is to honestly come to terms with the truth that not all religions say the same thing; then the question can be asked, “Which one is most consistent with reality?”  I think Christianity is the most consistent in four major areas.

Origin

 We see that creation had a beginning and a necessary being, “Jesus”, and all creation is contingent upon it creator. Colossians 1:16-17 says, “For by Him all things were created both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.  All things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” Because the Bible gets the origin of all creation right the next three flow as a natural progression from the first.

Meaning

A person has meaning and value. It is to know and enjoy Jesus. Everything was created for Him therefore all lives should submit to Him. Until a person finds Jesus there is no foundational meaning to their lives except for the meaning they place upon life. This meaning constantly changes and leaves people hopeless because this meaning is based on peoples’ selfish desires.

 Morality

 In Christianity we find a basis for morality found in God himself. These morals are so foundational that man still benefits from them today and a society is either better by following them or worse from rejecting them.

 Destiny

 We find in Christianity there is a destination for everyone who places their faith in Christ. There is no doubt for Jesus has said when He returns we will be with Him. Other religions are not assured of their destiny because their religion is based on their own works.

Review:

• We all judge and we must all judge when it comes to religions because they say very different things about the nature of God and salvation.

• There is no way all religions can be true because they have different beliefs at their core. To believe all religions are right is a contradiction according to the laws of logic.

If there are any questions that you have feel free to blog here at this web site, so that we can try to answer questions. Thank you for reading this, I pray that it will help you come closer to your creator Jesus.

[1] Z kindgdom of cults

[2] ibd

[3] kingdom of cults