Everything is Relative!

(I absolutely don't believe in absolutes.......)

 

   There is very little doubt that you have not heard the statement: "Everything is relative", sometime in your life. In fact it is even becoming a common phrase more and more in our modern culture.

 

   We are suffering an epidemic of major proportions called "Truth Decay"!  If you want to be accepted within society today, you must never, ever, ever give any hint that there is anything close to absolute truth...and be even more careful never to give any indication that you believe it!

Those who do believe in absolute truth are labeled as narrow minded, extremists, and dangerous   people!

 

   Popular movies and television shows almost always promote "the everything is relative" concept...hereafter called "Relativism". Any character who believes in absolutes in the arts is nearly always depicted as mentally ill, criminal or just plain ugly and weird.

 

   Recently, the latest Star Wars epic, "Revenge of the Sith" left me with an inward groan and ruined a great action packed story when the hero, Obi Wan, says to the terrible, evil, becoming-Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker; "...only a Sith deals in absolutes"! The message is clear, the good guys are the Jedi Knights who also happen to believe that all things are relative, and the evil guys are the Siths, who just happen to believe in absolutes! (That’s strange because I've always envisioned myself as an absolute truth believing Jedi)!

Because many people trace this miss-guided belief to science, and specifically to Einstein, please continue with me as we look briefly into separating fact from fiction in this matter.

 

·       Albert Einstein

(...and what he never said)

 

   It is very difficult to de-bunk an established myth, especially when it has gained an established acceptance in the media and minds of many people.

For instance, here's a few that may surprise you;

 

“Play it again, Sam" was never spoken in the film "Casablanca".

 

"Music soothes the savage beast" is miss-quoting the original quote;” Music soothes the savage breast"

 

The exact phrase, "Beam me up Scotty" was never spoken by Captain Kirk or any crew member of the Starship Enterprise in "Star Trek".

 

Surprised? Shocked? Well allow me one more;

Einstein never said that everything is relative! Really! But being a science buff, please allow me a little indulgence to explain myself further.

 

   As I type these words, it is the one hundredth anniversary, almost exactly to the day, of Einstein's publishing of five papers which became known as "The Special Theory of Relativity". He was twenty six years old and working as a patent clerk for a living, and studying complex physics and coming to incredible conclusions all in his spare time and away from the mainstream   science community! The year he published his papers was 1905, and it has become known as "Annuls Mirabilis"...the year of miracles! Within those papers he overturned three hundred years of "classical" physics which were ruled by the great work of Isaac Newton. (Ten yeas later Einstein proceeded to out-do himself with an even more mind-boggling theory on gravity that sent him into a near mental breakdown working on it!)

Both his revolutionary theories...which are now established science fact...are known as theories of relativity. He first is the "special theory" and the second is the "general theory". But what is not commonly known is that Einstein himself never liked the name "Theory of relativity" In fact, he preferred to call it "The Theory of Invariance", which was suggested by mathematician Felix Klein in 1910. He suggested a more accurate name and more in line with Einstein's wishes, "The Theory of Absolutes"! But by then the relativity name had already stuck largely due to Max Plank who probably started calling it that in 1906. Max Plank is considered the father of Quantum Physics, and he was one of the few established men of science who initially took Einstein's work serious.

 

  But Einstein himself never liked the relativity name, even though he used it later in writing about it, he always put it in quotation marks.

 

   The fact is that the special theory of relativity was more about showing what is absolute rather than what is relative! Yes, Einstein showed that both space and time are flexible and relative. But in doing so he also showed that there is the invariance of the nature and speed of light! Also, even though both space and time are relative, a new concept emerged called "space-time" which according to Einstein was very unchanging and absolute! Another absolute often overlooked is the laws of physics!

If they are relative and constantly changing then Einstein's theories have littlie meaning!

 

·       Relativism & Theology

 

   Do I believe in absolutes?

Absolutely! (Sorry I couldn't resist)

I find it ironic and rather mind boggling that relativism has snuck its way into the church. How could anyone who sincerely calls themselves a Christ-follower also believe that the Bible should be interpreted to mean whatever to whomever? Even a casual reading in both old and new testaments will reveal that God is the absolute supreme authority and Jesus claimed to be one and the same calling himself "The Truth"!

This one and the same God in almost every page also states in clearly understood language that the Bible is the absolute Word of God in both old and new testaments. Jesus went as far at one point to say that all heaven and earth would pass away before even one "jot or tittle" of the eternal Word of God. (A jot or tittle being the smallest marks within the Hebrew alphabet)

An all too common phrase today is "your truth is your truth and mine is mine". That's like saying your math is your math and mine is mine....two plus two may equal four in your universe but not in mine! What is alarming is that this line of thinking is becoming more and more accepted within the church. Speaking as one of the leaders within the church I can only trace this error to two problems that theologian R.C. Sproul recently spoke of in his daily broadcast. He said that in his view the two most dangerous problems facing the church today is that people don't understand anything of God's character, and the other is the continuing disregard of scripture as the absolute God-breathed supreme authority. Unfortunately I must agree with him. Once again I am speaking of this trend within the church, which should be alarmed and taking steps to stop this rather than accelerating towards this direction!

   The small group concept has sprung up in many churches as a wonderful way to connect with other believers and make messages heard on Sunday relevant and practical throughout the week. However, largely due to the increase of relativism which has eroded the formerly rock solid foundations of the absolute truth of both God and scripture, many small groups have become little more than just fun gatherings where if scriptural topics are discussed, it consists of going around the group saying, "what does this scripture mean to you?” God can, and does speak differently to each person but the Bible was never meant to be a rainbow of various "truths" to be adapted to our every whim, but rather certain specific God-breathed principles and meanings have been written. Some of these we understand and believe, but weather we believe it or don't believe it; it doesn't change the eternal absolute truth one bit! Several years ago it was common to see a Christian bumper sticker that read; "God said it....I believe it...and that settles it!"

On the surface that sounds great, but giving it a little thought, it smacks of relativism and is flat out miss-leading! The trouble is the middle phrase, "I believe it"...remove that and it is sound in theology! In other words, if God says something....that settles it, regardless if you or I believe it or not! It is immensely better for us if we choose to believe it, but rejecting his word, although bad for us, does not change his word for the better or worse in any way shape or form!

 

   In this writing I am attempting to make a point about the validity of absolute truth without using the absolute truth Bible verses to make my point.  But if I did, the passages which affirm absolute truth about God and scripture within scripture are many, way too many to list. But again, if anyone reading this calls themselves a Christ-follower, you must also believe the Bible, and if you do, and also believe in relativism, then you must have a very small edited version which has removed all offending verses!

 

   So at the risk of being labeled "narrow minded", I'll gladly accept it as one who believes in absolute truth as revealed by God through the Bible. But if the God of the Bible is the same one who is creator of everything on this planet, solar system, galaxy and entire universe.....how can believing in him be "narrow"? What is narrow and closed believes in a relative mindset that ultimately places mankind as the ruler of themselves in choosing right and wrong and answerable to no one but whatever they feel is right

 

  If there is no absolute truth....there is no God.....if there is no God.....there is no hope and no eternal significance and no reason for trying to attain to be moral or good if there really is no standard of goodness anyway.

Relativists can never object to crime, violence or any injustice because what is the standard? Maybe the perpetrators believe that what they are doing is right...isn't their truth right for them, then why try to stop them or have any law to punish? In this line of anti-logic, the terrorists who murdered thousands in 9/11 are just following "their truth", let's leave them alone right?

Bill O'Reilly comments on this in one of his recent columns in the Chicago Sun Times 8/9/05;

"The founding fathers knew that religion, if handled correctly, could be a powerful force for good, The moral guidance provided by the Ten Commandments constrains bad behavior...think it over, if every human being choose to set up his or her own moral program, there would never be a consensus of what is proper and what is not. There would never be universal outrage over terrorism or terrible crimes. A human being that lives in the gray area of right and wrong is likely not to make a stand against evil"

 

To conclude, here are a few truths about truth that are in alignment with scripture and life. Thanks for reading, grace and peace. JB

 

·       Truths about Truth

 

1. Truth is discovered not invented.

 

Truth exists independent of us or our knowledge of it.  Just like in science, the truth of gravity existed since the start of the universe but it took Newton to discover it. He didn't invent it, he didn't affect it in any way, it always existed, he only first discovered it. Then later it took Einstein to discover how it works even though it was working like that for billions of years.

 

2. Truth is Transcultural

 

If something is true, it's true for all people..In all places...at all times!

Like in mathematics, 2+2=4, not sometimes, but always!

 

3. Truth is unchanging even though our beliefs about it change

 

When people first began to believe that the earth was round, it didn't change the truth about the earth, only our realization of it. The same for discovering the earth rotated around the sun instead of the sun going around the earth.

 

4. Truth is not affected by anyone’s belief or lack of belief to it.

 

God said it...and that settles it! If we choose to believe God, it is extremely beneficial to us, if we choose to dis-believe God, it is extremely dangerous to us...but either way does not affect the truth of God or his spoken word.

 

5. All truths are absolute truths

 

Even truths that appear to be relative are really absolute. For instance, if you say; "I feel warm today", that statement is absolutely true for everyone everywhere that you feel warm on that particular day (even though nobody else cares or knows about it!)

 

 

 

 

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