# Absolute Truth > [!summary] Our stance We believe in absolute truth. Some things are true for everyone, everywhere, at all times, whether anyone believes them or not. This is different from subjective truth, which depends on personal preference. ## What Is Truth? Truth is what corresponds to reality. A statement is true if it matches the way things actually are. "Jesus rose from the dead" is either true or false, regardless of how anyone feels about it. ## Absolute vs. Subjective Truth ||Absolute (objective) truth|Subjective truth| |---|---|---| |**Depends on**|Reality|The person (the subject)| |**True for**|Everyone|The person who holds it| |**Example**|"2 + 2 = 4"|"Chocolate is the best ice cream"| |**Example**|"Jesus died on a cross"|"Blue is my favorite color"| |**Disagreement means**|Someone is wrong|People just have different tastes| The confusion today is treating moral and spiritual claims as if they were ice cream preferences. But "There is a God" and "Torturing children for fun is wrong" are claims about reality, not tastes. ## Relativism Defeats Itself The statement "There is no absolute truth" claims to be absolutely true. If it's true, it's false. The same goes for "All truth is relative" and "You shouldn't impose your truth on others." Each one makes the very kind of claim it denies. ## The Three Laws of Logic |Law|Statement|Simple example| |---|---|---| |**Law of Identity**|A thing is what it is. (A is A.)|A tree is a tree.| |**Law of Non-Contradiction**|Something cannot be both true and false at the same time and in the same sense. (A cannot be both A and not-A.)|Jesus cannot both have risen and not have risen.| |**Law of Excluded Middle**|A statement is either true or false. There is no third option. (Either A or not-A.)|Either God exists or He does not.| ### Where Do They Come From? The Greek philosopher **Aristotle** (384-322 BC) gave the classic formulation of these laws, especially the law of non-contradiction in his _Metaphysics_. But Aristotle did not **invent** them. He **described** them. They were true before anyone wrote them down. The laws of logic cannot be denied without being used. Anyone who argues "the laws of logic aren't true" assumes their argument is true and the opposite is false, which relies on the law of non-contradiction. ### How They Fit a Christian Worldview The laws of logic are universal, unchanging, and immaterial. They aren't made of matter, they don't change over time, and they apply everywhere. That raises a question: what kind of reality grounds laws like that? The Christian answer is that logic reflects the nature of God: - **God is truth.** Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6, ESV). Truth is not just something God tells. It is who He is. - **God cannot contradict Himself.** He "cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13), "never lies" (Titus 1:2, ESV), and does not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). His consistent character is the foundation of consistent reasoning. - **God is not a God of confusion** (1 Corinthians 14:33). - **God made us to reason.** Humans are made in His image (Genesis 1:27), which is why our minds can grasp truth at all. God invites us to "reason together" (Isaiah 1:18, ESV). - **The Word.** John calls Jesus the _Logos_, the Word (John 1:1). It's the Greek term from which we get "logic," and it points to the rational order God built into creation through Christ. In other words, logic is not a rival to faith. It's a reflection of the mind of the God we worship. ## Why This Matters - **The gospel is a truth claim.** Christianity rests on real historical events (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 14-19). - **Jesus made exclusive claims** (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). If truth were relative, those claims would be meaningless. - **We are called to give reasons** for our hope, with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). - **God's Word is truth** (John 17:17). It's the standard for measuring every other claim. ## Other Views - **Relativists** argue that truth depends on culture or the individual. - **Postmodern thinkers** often question whether anyone can know truth apart from their own perspective. - **Some atheist philosophers** accept the laws of logic but see them as brute facts that need no explanation, or as human conventions. Christians can agree that our knowledge is limited and our perspective matters, while holding that truth itself is not limited by us (1 Corinthians 13:12).