An ominous thunder storm brews behind me as I write this post. Which is appropriate because I am writing about the biggest theological divide between traditional theology and postmodern theology.
Absolute truth is extremely important to the modern church. A place for everything and everything in its place. 2+2=4. Red and Blue mix together to make purple. This chair is red, even when the lights are off this chair is still red. A tree always makes a sound when it falls, even if no one is there to hear it. Either the chicken came first or the egg came first. Everything (but especially the Bible) is black and white. Note that the text in your Bible is in two columns per page ... a printing set up used only in technical reference works like dictionaries, thesauruses and, apparently, the Bible.
My generation has a different worldview. It might not be our fault. When we were kids no one lost at sports. Every team had an undefeated season when I was in elementary school. We couldn't play dodge ball because kids would lose. I don't think this was necessarily bad, perhaps unrealistic, but not bad. My generation might not know all the answers ... and that's okay. We don't know which came first and we really wouldn't want to prove it either way. Maybe a tree makes a sound every time or maybe not. Nothing is really absolutely true. (and yes, we realize the inherent irony of that statement. Even that sentence isn't absolutely true!) And maybe the Bible is more than a technical reference volume against which to check our proof texts.
I'm not saying that I don't believe in absolute truth. The jury is still out (which, I guess that statement shows my generational nature ... oops) but I do believe in experiential absolutes. I know that Jesus Christ is absolutely true for me. God has radically changed my life, and I can't deny that.
What I am saying is that absolute truth is not the anchor, bedrock, or foundation for our faith. Jesus is. Don't be so sure (that your generation has all the answers) that you forget Jesus. Jesus is the center. If absolutes are a necessity in the Christian faith, they will fall into place behind Jesus in the lives of individual believers.
Recap: Absolutes were an important part of the modern era. Christianity was an important part of the modern era. They somehow fused and became equal. Faith in Jesus is infinitely more important than faith in absolutes.
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1 comment:
I agree completely.
For me I haven't had a problem so much with absolute truth, but whether or not that truth is absolutely or objectively knowable. I think that's where my big divide from modernism comes personally.
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