2003 issue 2 - reality of truth in a postmodern culture - counsel of chalcedon
TRANSCRIPT
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8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Reality of Truth in a Postmodern Culture - Counsel of Chalcedon
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The Reality
of
Truth in a
Postmodern
Culture
Joe Morecraft,
nd i
he sons i Issachat)
men
zvho
understood the times zvith knowledge
i
what
Israel
should
do... - I Chronicles
12:32
f we are going to be effective in defending the
faith and
in
evangelizing
our
culture
as
Christ
commanded us (Matthew
28:19)
then
we must be
as
dle sons
of
Issachar,
who understood the times
with knowledge of what
Israel
should do. We must
have a solid knowledge of the revealed will of God
in Holy Scripture widl the wisdom to apply it
to our
times; and we must have a correct understanding of the
nature of the time and culture in which we
live Both
- an understanding
of
the Bible and an understanding
of
our
particular place
in
history - are essential to
our mission of making the world's nations Christ's
disciples.
\'Vhat
is
the nature of
our
times?
What
are we to speak
from
God
to our culture that specifically addresses
their point of controversy with the Christian Faith? As
Martin Luther said:
f
Iprofess JJ ith the lottdestvoice
and
clearest expositioll
every pOl1ioll
oj
the tmth
oj
God exceptpreciselY that
little poillt JJJhich
the
JPorid
alld the devil are at that
IllOlllellt
attackillg,
I am Jot cOlifessillg Chlist, hOJPevel'
boldlY I may be
professing
Chtist. n;;rhere the battle
rages,
there the loyalty oj the soldier isproved, and to be
steady Ofl all
the
battlefields
besides, is mere
flight
alld
disgrace i
he
flinches
at that point.
A Sketch of the Mindset of the American
Culture
at
the
Outset
of the
21
st
Century
To understand
our
times we must understand the
basic perspective of Christianity, Modernism and
Postmodern ism with reference to the relation of truth
and reason. Christianity,
as
we shall see
in
more detail
later, holds that truth
about
God,
man
and the meaning
of life
in
the universe does
in
fact exist and that
it
may
be known by divine revelation. Modernism believes
that truth about life and dle universe exists and that
it can be known by the proper use of reason unaided
by divine revelation. Postmodernism holds
that
truth
does
not
exist.
In
the last decades
of
the
20
th
Century a transition has taken place from a Modernist
consensus
to
a Postmodernist consensus.
Truth
according to postmodernism
is
either an
individual or a social construct, with absolutely no
correspondence
to
objective reality, if there is indeed
such a thing.
For
postrnodernists statements are
true
if they are consistent with one another,
if
they
internally cohere.
But
when they speak of
truth
they do not mean that those statements are
in
accord
with objective facts. Hence, whatever viewpoint
works for you, and which internally coheres, is the
viewpoint you should choose, and use your power
to get others to prefer.
Truth
then becomes merely
a function of power relationships of many kinds.
Ideologies, philosophies and moralities sanctioned
as
true in a given culture really reflect only varying types
of discourse, which are shaped by social arrangements.
These belief systems
do not
indicate anything
about
reality itself but only how reality
is
contingendy
constructed under certain conditions."2
''According to the postrnodernists, all reality is virtual
reality.
We
are all wearing helmets that project our
own separate litde worlds. We can experience these
worlds and lose ourselves in them,
but
they are
not
real, nor
is
one person's world exacdy the same as
someone else's. We are
not
creating our own reality,
however. Rather, we accept a reality made by someone
else.
Just
as the corporations that manufacture virtual
reality technology program the fantasy, the so
called objective world that we experience
is
actually
programmed by large, impersonal social institutions.
Despite our heroics in fantasy land, zapping space
aliens and freeing the holographic princess, we are
only playing a game. We are actually passive and
at
the
mercy of our programmers."3
That
we live in a postrnodern world is becoming
more and more obvious.
And
we must learn
how
to
present the gospel to postrnoderns, because it
is
hard
to witness to truth to people who believe that truth is
relative (Jesus works for you; crystals work for her.')
It is hard to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to people
who
believe that, since morality is relative, they have
no
sins to forgive."4
According to recent polls: 66% of Americans believe
there
is
no
such thing
as
absolute truth; 72%
of
adults between 1 8 and 25 do
not
believe absolutes
exists.
53%
of iliose
who
call iliemselves evangelical
Christians believe no absolutes exist. This means that
ilie MAJORITY of those who profess to believe ilie
Bible and
who
profess faith
in
Christ as Lord and
Savior agree iliat there
is no
such thing
as
absolute
truili While 88%
of
evangelicals believe iliat the Bible
the
COUNSEL
of
CH LCEDON
19
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8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Reality of Truth in a Postmodern Culture - Counsel of Chalcedon
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The Reality
of mth in a
Postlllodern Cttltllre
is
the infallible word of God, bizarrely
53% do not
believe
in
absolutes
In
fact, 70% of all Americans claim to have this
high view of the Bible, and
66%
of all Americans do
not
believe
in
absolutes "Holding mutually inconsistent ideas is
a sure sign of believing
that
there are no absolute truths."s
Only 33% of Americans reject premarital sex. 56% of single
fundamentalists engage
in
sex outside marriage, which
is
about
the same percentage for liberals (57%). 66% of Roman
Catholics are sexually active. While
67%
of Americans accept
premarital sex, 83% of Catholics do. 49% of Protestants
and 47% of Catholics consider themselves "pro-choice"
with reference to abortion.
49% of
evangelicals and
71 %
of
Catholics say they believe
in
euthanasia.
While people have always committed sins, they at least
acknowledged these were sins. A century ago a person may
have committed adultety flagrantly and
in
defiance of
God
and man, but he would have admitted
that what
he was doing
was a sin. \Vhat we have today is not only immoral behavior,
but
loss of moral criteria. This is true even
in
the church.
We face
not
only a moral collapse
but
a collapse
of
meaning.
"There are
no
absolutes."6
The
Self-contradictions
of
Modernism
and
Postmodernism
Modernism trusts implicitly
in human
reason unaided by
divine revelation to obtain
truth
and meaning.
But it
has
no
reasonable foundation for its faith
in
reason.
Postmodernism believes that
truth
does
not
exist, that
meaning does
not
exist, and
that no
absolutes for thought
and life exist. And they make these statements absolutely and
as
expressing truth. Therefore, they refute themselves.
Christianity
is
perfectly self-consistent
in
full correspondence
with all the facts
of
reality because its origin is the Creator
of the universe. Christianity is
not
the
most
reasonable
of all the worldviews and religions of the world, it is the
only reasonable worldview and religion.
In
fact, we know
Christianity
is
true because of the impossibility of the
contrary. In other words,
if
it is not true,
then
we have no
basis for knowledge
or
morality.
It is the Christian's contention that all non-Christian
worldviews are beset with internal contradictions,
as
well
as
with beliefs which do
not
render logic, science
or
ethics
intelligible. On the other hand, the Christian worldview
(taken from God's self-revelation
in
Scripture) demands
our intellectual commitment because
it
does provide
the preconditions of
intelligibility for man's reasoning,
experience and dignity.
In
Biblical terms, what the Christian apologist does
is
demonstrate to unbelievers that because of their rejection of
God's truth, they have become vain in their reasonings,
Romans
1:21.
By means of their foolish perspective they end
up
opposing themselves, II Timothy 2:25. Their philosophy
and presuppositions rob one
of
knowledge, Colossians
2:3,8,
leaving them in ignorance, Ephesians
4:17-18.
20
the
COUNSEL of CH LCEDON
In
various forms, the fundamental argument advanced by
the Christian apologist is
that the Christian worldview is
true because of the impossibility of the contrary.
When
the perspective of God's revelation is rejected, then the
unbeliever is left
in
foolish ignorance because his philosophy
does
not
provide the preconditions of knowledge and
meaningful experience. To
put it
another
way:
the
proof
that Christianity is true is that if it were not, we would not
be
able to prove anything.
What the unbeliever needs
is
nothing less than a radical
change of mind - repentance, Acts 17:30.
He
needs to
change his fundamental worldview and submit to the
revelation of God in order for any knowledge or experience
to make sense.
He
at the same time needs
to
repent of
his spiritual rebellion and sin against God. Because
of
the
condition of his heart, he cannot see the
truth
or know God
in a saving fashion."7
The Biblical View of
TruthS
Without embarrassment
or
hesitation
or
equivocation, the
Bible gives us a unified perspective
on
the reality, content
and nature
of
truth.
The
Hebrew word,
'elllet,
involves the
ideas
of support
and stability, faithfulness and conformity to
fact.
God
is the God of
truth,
Psalm
31
:5 who
speaks
the
truth, Isaiah
45:19,
and
who
is near
to
all
who call
on Him
in truth, Psalm 145:18.
The
Hebrew word also denotes
that
which is conformed
to
reality
in
contrast to anything
which would
be
erroneous
or
deceitful" and
that
which
is
authentic, reliable and right," I Kings 17:24, Psalm 119:142,
Proverbs
8:7. Truth
in Hebrew
is NOT
another word for
"belief" or "social custom," since some beliefs and customs
can
be
false and opposed to the revealed will
of
God -
The
LOR
detests
lying lips, but He delights in those who
are
fai thfu l, Proverbs 12:22. So then, the
Old
Testament
not
only condemns all lies and deceit,
it
also commends truth
to
us as FAITHFULNESS
AND
VERACITY.
The
Greek word for truth is
aletheiawhich
denotes conformity to
fact, veracity, genuineness, the opposite of what is
false
John
7:
28,8:16. The Greek adjective,pistos, should be translated faithful,
reliable, trustworthy. The
New
Testament often combines these
two words as in Revelation 3:14 where Christ refers to Himself
as the Amen, the
faithful
and true
witness. So then, truth in
the New Testament
is
that which
is in
conformity to reality and
in opposition to
lies
and errors. Truth
is
accuracy over against
falsehood, Ephesians 4:25, I Timothy 2:7.
"
...
such a view
of
truth
[as presented
in
the Bible] collides
with postmodernist notions of the social construction of
reality and the relativity of truth. Nicole concludes, 'The
Biblical view of truth ('eme , aletheia)
is
like a rope with several
intertwined strands'; it 'involves factuality, faithfulness
and completeness.' The Bible does not present truth as a
cultural creation
of
the ancient Jews
or
the early Christians.
They received truth from the
God
who speaks truth to His
creatures, and they were expected
by
this
God
to conform
themselves to this truth."')
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8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Reality of Truth in a Postmodern Culture - Counsel of Chalcedon
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The Reality of mth
ill
a Postmodem
llltllre
Now
we come to the distinctives of the Biblical view
of
truth.
First, truth
comes
from God. It is revealed by God. It
is not
invented or constructed by individuals
or
societies.
Beliefs may be constructed by individuals and societies, but
truth
is the revelation of the personal and infinite Creator
of the universe.
He
has revealed Himself
in
creation and
in
human beings, Romans 1:19f, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness and are therefore under God's judgment,
Romans 1:18. Although they worship the creature rather
than the Creator and exchange the
truth
of
God
for a lie,
they are totally inexcusable before
God
their Creator and
Lawgiver, Romans 2:14-15.
God
has also revealed Himself
incarnationally
in
the
Lord
Jesus Christ, John 1:18, who
not
only speaks the truth, but who is Himself, the Truth,
John 14:6. And God has revealed Himself verbally and
propositionally in
the Bible, which
is the
written Word
of
God, produced by
God not
man,
II
Timothy 3:15f. It
is
a
book
of
Spirit-produced thoughts
from the mind
of
God, written
in
Spirit-produced words, I Corinthians 2:13.
Therefore, the Bible is in its entirety the Word
of
God
and
therefore in its entirety is the truth of God. Jesus prayed:
we affirm
that
the Bible is a revelation from God, we do
not
simply assert tha t
God
as a person
is
known in and through
it. We also mean that
God
has revealed understandable,
objectively true propositions. ...God has revealed
truth
to us
and
not
just Himself.' O
Second, Objective truth exists and is knowable. The
claim that
God
has revealed Himself to
us
presupposes
objective truth as the cognitive content of revelation. God
is the source of objective
truth
about Himself and His
creation. ...But
truth
is also objective because
God
is the
final court of appeal, the source of all truth, by virtue of
His nature and His will. Objective
truth is
truth that is not
dependent
on
any creature's subjective feelings, desires or
beliefs. ...God's
truth is not
dependent
upon
any individual's
or
group's experiences
or
interpretations, however strongly
felt
or
culturally entrenched they may be."l1 As the aposde
Paul said in Romans 3:3-4 -
What
if
some did
not
have
faith? Will
their lack
of faith nullify
God's faithfulness?
Not at all
Let God be true,
and
every
person a liar.
Sanctify them in
the Truth; Thy
Word
is
Truth,John
17:17.
It is
the divinely-revealed
and divinely-inspired inerrant standard of
divine authority by which
ll truth
claims by
Third, revealed
truth
is absolute
in
nature.
It is
invariant,
of
universal and unchanging authority.
It
is true
without exception.
It
is unrevisable, unalterable,
in
need
________
L
__________
of
no
supplementation, correction or
abridgement, Deuteronomy 12:32. t is not
subject to criticism
or
veto by individuals
or
societies. This insistence on tru th as
absolute is a massive and sharp stumbling
block for postmoderns - given their absolute
abhorrence of the absolute - but it cannot
The Creator o the
man are to be evaluated.
The Creator of the universe has spoken to us
in
words and sentences that are meaningful
to Him
and meaningful to us in accord with
the facts of the universe as
He
has created
them. By means
of
this spoken, written
Word we can understand the truth, meaning
and
purpose
of
life
in
the universe.
universe has
spoken to us in
words nd
sentences th t are
meaningful to us
be softened
or
avoided if believers are
to
remain faithful to the truth of God."12
Fourth, revealed
truth
is of
comprehensive
authority and
universal
The
Christian worldview, contra postmodernism,
understands language
not
as a self-referential, merely human
and ultimately arbitrary system of signs that is reducable to
contingent cultural factors,
but
as the gift of a rational
God
entrusted to beings made in His own image and likeness,
Genesis 1:26. In the beginning was the
WORD,
and the
WORD
was
with
God and
the
WORD was
God,
John 1:
1-2. Communication has eternally existed between
all
the
members of the Trinity and continues as
God
speaks to us
- through creation, conscience and Scripture and as we
speak truth to each other and to God. Human language has
been wounded by the fall and fractured by the judgment at
Babel, Genesis 11, but it is
not
thrown down for the count.
Language
is
God's vehicle for conveying truth, although
it
may be clouded in much of our experience (as evidenced
by the density and outright unintelligibility of much
postmodernis t writing.)
"God's disclosure of Himself through revelation
is not
an
existential experience devoid of rational, knowable content.
God
reveals objective
truth
about Himself.
J.P.
Moreland
makes this poin t with respect to Biblical revelation: 'When
application. The
gospel message and
the moral law of God are
not
circumscribed
or
restricted
by cultural conditions." 3 Peter declared in Acts 4:12,
Salvation is
found
in no one else, for
there
is no
other
name
under heaven given to people by which we
must
be saved. Therefore, all individuals and institutions and
societies everywhere ought
to bow to
the claims
of
revealed
truth in Christ and His Word. f they do not they will perish
under His judgment for rejecting the truth, Acts 17:30,31;
II
Thessalonians 1:7f.
Fifth, divinely revealed truth
is eternally
engaging and
momentous,
not
trendy or
superficial.
In
postmodern
times,
our
sensory environments are saturated with bright
images, intrusive words and blaring sounds - all vying for
our
attention (and our funds). Fads, whether
in
advertising,
politics
or
sports, come and go with increasing rapidity.
t
seems that nothing
is
settled
or
rooted or stable over time.
-
...
for many people (and the state), religion is little more
than a hobby, something with which to amuse oneself, a kind
of curiosity for when the
mood
strikes but not something to
take
all
that seriously, especially in matters
of
legality."
14 In
contrast to this postmodern attitude stands the written \ Vord
lhe COUNSEL of
CH LCEDON 21
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8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Reality of Truth in a Postmodern Culture - Counsel of Chalcedon
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The
Reality of mth
ill
a
Postmodem Cllltllre
of Almighty God.
The grass withers
and
the
flower falls,
but the word of God stands forever, Isaiah 40:8. Your
word,
LORD,
is eternal;
it
stands firm
in
the heavens,
Psalm 119:89. The word
of
God
cannot
be broken; it is
eternally relevant and applicable, because its author is One
who said
of
Himself, I
the
LORD do not
change,
Malachi
3:6; Hebrews 13:8.
God's truth is grounded
in
God's eternal being. It has no
expiration date and needs
no
image makeovers. Moreover,
it is a living, personal and dynamic truth - a truth that
transcends the transient trivialities of our age and touches
us at the deepest levels of our beings by including us in an
eternal drama. This truth transforms us, as David knew well:
I
have
hidden Your
word
in
my
heart that I might not
sin against You, Psalm 119:11. - Far from being trivial, the
truth of
God
made known to a rebellious planet is perennially
engaging. .. As
Os
Guinness said, 'Hell is nothing less than
the
truth
known too late. '15
Sixth, revealed truth is exclusive,
specific
and
antithetical. What
is true excludes all
that
opposes it. This
is why
God
declares,
You
shall
have
no other gods
before
Me, Exodus 20:3.
f
there is but one God,
consistent, self-contained, fully self-conscious can produce
truth that is systematic, self-consistent and unified and
comprehensively applicable.
Revealed
truth
must be systematic
if men
are to tllink
intelligently and logically. Without t he concept of systematics
and the
God
it sets forth, we cannot hold to a rational and
understandable universe nor to any meaningful order therein.
Unregenerate man's reason and logic operate against the
background of chaos and meaningless void, so that reason
and logic are in essence more than irrational: they are
absurd. Systematics not only makes reason reasonable, but it
declares tllat there is a necessary and meaningful connection
between all facts, because all facts are the creation of the
sovereign and omnipotent
God
and are thus revelations of
His purpose and order. The idea of preaching the whole
counsel of
God
is only a possibility
if
systematics is a reality.
Otherwise, tllere
is no
necessary and real connection and
unity in the word of God, and we have instead a developing,
changing word and plan under different dispensations. We
have
then
a fragmented word, nor a whole counsel which is a
necessary and authoritative unity. 18
Eighth, revealed truth
is an end,
not
all other claimants are impostors. The
inexorable logic of antithesis is also behind
Jesus' fearful utterance, Enter through
the
narrow gate.
For
wide
is the
gate and
broad
is the
road that
leads
to
destruction,
and
many enter
through
it,
Matthew
7:13.
As
R.J.
Rushdoony commented: 'Truth is
exact and precise, and the slightest depar ture
from the truth
is
the substitution of falsity
for
truth. '16 This means that the Christian
will be wisely confrontational, for
he cannot
rest contented and happy in a world oozing
Without a concept
of
systematics and
the God it
sets
forth
we cannot hold to a
a means to any other end. t should be
desired and obtained for its own value.
This flies in
the face
of
postmodernist
pragmatism, which reduces truth to social
function or personal preference. As Harry
Blamires declared, 'There is no
subtler
perversion of Christian Faith than to treat it
as
a mere means to a worldly end, however
admirable that end in itself may be. The
Christian Faith is important because it is true.
What it
happens to achieve, in ourselves
or
rational
and
understa ndable
universe
..
with error.
When
Paul beheld the idolatry of Athens, he was
greatly
distressed
and so he reasoned
in
the synagogue
with the
Jews and
the
God-fearing Greeks, Acts 17:16-17,
which led to his famous Mars Hill address. 17 In Galatians
Paul's blazing antithetical response to the heresy of the
Judaizers is obvious, Galatians
1:7-8, 11-12.
He is totally
unwilling and unable to synthesize the truth
of
the revealed
Gospel with the
non-truth
of religious and legalistic man.
Seventh,
revealed
truth
is systematic and unified. The
Bible gives us a system of truth that is comprehensive,
unified and logically self-consistent with an orderly structure
in
the context
of
the covenant
in
the
Old
Testament and
the New Testament. Its focus is
on
God as He has revealed
Himself. It is SYSTEMATIC because the
God who
gave it
is sovereign, rational, unchangeable and knowable only by
revelation. Revealed truths
in
the Bible naturally fall into
a system of relationships and harmonies which are perfectly
self-consistent, i.e., coherent, unified and non-contradictory
in perfect harmony with all the facts of creation, and by
which system of
truth all
the facts of creation are to
be
understood. Only a sovereign, unchangeable, totally self-
22 the COUNSEL ofCH LCEDON
in others, is another and, strictly speaking,
secondary matter.' Postmodernist spirituality deems truth
as
malleable and adaptable to one's perceived needs and style.
One's 'God-concept'
or
'personal spirituality' is formed
irrespective of the idea of reality in and of itself. Truth,
religious or otllerwise, is what works for me or for my
social group.
But
Christian Faith teaches that it works (or
bears spiritual fruit) only because it is true. 19
CONCLUSION: Without
a thorough and deeply rooted
understanding of the Biblical view of truth as revealed,
objective, absolute, universal, eternally engaging, antithetical
and exclusive, unified and systematic, and as an end in itself,
the Christian response
to
postmodernism will be muted by
the surrounding culture or will make illicit compromises with
the trutll-impoverished spirit of the age. The
good
news is
that truth is still truth, that it provides a backbone for witness
and ministry
in postmodern
times, and that God's truth will
never
fail. 20
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8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Reality of Truth in a Postmodern Culture - Counsel of Chalcedon
5/5
The Reali )' o
Tm h
ill
a Pos/lI odem CIIi/lire
Joe Morecraft,
III
Th.D. has pastored Chalcedon
Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia, for almost
30 years.
He
and his wife Rebecca (Becky to her
friends), have four children,
one
still
at
home, and two
grandchildren. Joe is a
noted
lecturer
on
contemporary political
and historical trends
in
the United States and has published three
books
as
well as hundreds of articles.
ndnotes
1
Quoted
by Francis Schaeffer in
THE GOD WHO
IS
THERE
p.
18.
2
Groothuis, Douglas, TRUTH DECAY:
DEFENDING
CHRISTIANITY AGAINST
THE CHALLENGE OF
POSTMODERNIS1,I (InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 98.
3
Veith, Gene,
POSTMODERN TIJYIES p. 61.
o Veith, p. 16.
5
Veith, p. 17.
Veith,
p. 18.
7
Bahnsen, Greg, ALWAYS READY, pp. 121-122.
8 This entire section relies heavily upon Groothuis' analysis,
especially pp. 64 and following.
9 Groothuis, p. 64.
III
Groothuis, pp. 66-67.
Groothuis,
p.
67.
2 Groothuis, p. 69.
13
Groothuis,
p. 72.
14 Groodmis,
p. 74.
5
Groothuis, p. 75.
{,
Groodmis,
p. 75.
17 Groothuis,
p. 77.
18 Rushdoony, R.j., SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
Vol.
I, p. 61.
19 Groothuis, pp. 80-81.
2
Groothuis, pp.
81-82.
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