Dr Paul Allen

Cover via Amazon It’s all relative .” “That’s true for you but not for me.” “That’s just your reality.” “Who are you to impose your values on others?” The relativist believes truth functions more like opinion or perspective and that truth depends upon your culture, context, or even personal choices. Thus evil actions by Nazis or terrorists are explained away (“We don’t like it, but they have their reasons”). Relativism , however, is seriously flawed. Relativism cannot escape proclaiming a truth that corresponds to reality. “The moon is made of cheese” is false because it does not match up with the way things are, with what is the case. As Christians, we claim the biblical story is true because it conforms to the actualities of God’s existence and His dealings with human beings. Truth is a relationship—a match-up with what is real or actual. An idea is false when it does not.  But what of those making such claims as “ Reality is like a wet lump of clay—we can shape it any...

Virtue (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Openness to truth where truth may be found is a long-standing virtue that worked on the assumption that there is such a thing as objective truth , to which we should be open. Students of higher education now taught one overarching virtue: to be "open." The purpose of their education is not to make them scholars but to provide them with a moral virtue—an openness, a relativism that eschews any form of fixed objective values or truth.   Its simplistic creed is that there are no absolutes. Without objective standards of truth, we are left with feelings, impressions, and intuitions that can never be judged as either false or bad. The bottom line of such an approach is not merely ignorance and skepticism, but the ultimate dehumanization of persons. If everybody is right, then nobody is right. If every viewpoint is equally valuable, no viewpoint is valuable. As members of the body of Christ , we face twin enemies, both of which are...

Image via Wikipedia Openness to truth where truth may be found is a long-standing virtue that worked on the assumption that there is such a thing as objective truth , to which we should be open. Students of higher education now taught one overarching virtue: to be "open." The purpose of their education is not to make them scholars but to provide them with a moral virtue—an openness, a relativism that eschews any form of fixed objective values or truth. Its simplistic creed is that there are no absolutes. Without objective standards of truth, we are left with feelings, impressions, and intuitions that can never be judged as either false or bad. The bottom line of such an approach is not merely ignorance and skepticism, but the ultimate dehumanization of persons. If everybody is right, then nobody is right. If every viewpoint is equally valuable, no viewpoint is valuable. As members of the body of Christ , we face twin enemies, both of which are deadly. First, we are tempted...

Image via Wikipedia The Lord calls every generation to remember His name — to know His character, honor His majesty, and proclaim His holiness. Psalm 45:17 shows every generation how to remember God ’s name by exalting Israel ’s King, the Messiah . This King is Christ Jesus , the incarnate Son and fullest revelation of God’s glory. Our work at Hope College Australia and Hope Church Australia continues today amidst significant challenges. Biblical illiteracy, theological liberalism, and disbelief in the existence of objective truth are all pervasive. Helping believers remember God’s truth in this generation and in generations to come remains the need of the hour.  Related articles Messianic prophesies foretelling the timing and nature of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (bereansearching.wordpress.com) Come and See: Bringing Others (and Ourselves) to Christ (catholicdefense.blogspot.com) The Suffering Messiah (mainwriters.com) What the Bible T...

Image via Wikipedia Openness to truth where truth may be found is a long-standing virtue that worked on the assumption that there is such a thing as objective truth , to which we should be open.  Students of higher education now taught one overarching virtue: to be "open." The purpose of their education is not to make them scholars but to provide them with a moral virtue—an openness, a relativism that eschews any form of fixed objective values or truth. Its simplistic creed is that there are no absolutes. Without objective standards of truth, we are left with feelings, impressions, and intuitions that can never be judged as either false or bad. The bottom line of such an approach is not merely ignorance and skepticism, but the ultimate dehumanization of persons. If everybody is right, then nobody is right. If every viewpoint is equally valuable, no viewpoint is valuable. As members of the body of Christ , we face twin enemies, both of which are deadly. First, we a...