I have been having a lot of conversations with people about objective truth.  Several people have approached me about Christianity, science, religion, sexuality, the church’s role in racism, belief in Satan, and the validity of the Bible.  After one of the conversations regarding science, I was so frustrated because no one had the truth (everyone had different statistics) that I vented in a text to my mom.

“The problem is… the other people would disagree with where I get my info, and I disagree with where they get their info!  So which of us has the truth?  What is the truth?  We’ve decimated truth in our society.  There is no truth!”

Objective truth does exist even in a world where science, religion, and academia all have different narratives. The key to finding the truth is the Bible.

The Modern Lie: There Is No Truth

Mark Spence with Living Waters writes, “within our society today we have a battle.  This battle is a battle for this word called truth; T-R-U-T-H, truth.  What is it?  Some have properly defined it as that which conforms or correlates to reality.  I say, ‘Whose reality?’”

Postmodernism is the foundation for the “no truth lie”.  Postmodernism believes that what is true for one person might not be true for another person, and that’s okay.  But it’s not okay!  

Why?  Because we can’t define truth by the creatures (humans) that have destroyed it.

Read more about postmodernism here!

Visiting the Garden of Eden: Truth Is Destroyed

In Genesis 2, we read about God placing Adam, the first man, in the Garden of Eden.  The Garden of Eden was paradise on earth, and it was perfect.  No sin, no death.  It was perfection.  God had only one guideline for Adam.  It was a test.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17, NKJV).

After that, God creates Eve, the first woman.  She and Adam are happily living in the garden in blissful perfection.

But Genesis 3 has a different tone.  

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’” (Genesis 3:1, NKJV).

At this point, Eve tells the serpent that God really did tell her not to eat from that tree “‘lest you die.’”

“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3: 4-5, NKJV).

And in the next verse, Eve takes the fruit because it “was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,” and she ate it (Genesis 3:6).

But even worse, her next step after eating the fruit is to give some to her husband, and Adam eats it too!  “Then the eyes of both of them were opened,…” (Genesis 3:6b-7a).

Talking to a Snake: The Truth Is Twisted

Genesis 3 is a very interesting passage because it portrays exactly how sin entered the world.  First, Satan (the serpent) questioned Eve about whether God really said not to eat the fruit.  Eve responded in the affirmative, but when the serpent tempted her by saying they really wouldn’t die but would be like God, Eve ate the fruit, and sin entered the world.

So who had the truth?  God or the serpent?  Adam and Eve didn’t die right then and there, and they did become like God since they now knew the difference between right and wrong.  But they did die, like God said they would.  As soon as they sinned, the black splot of immorality stained their perfection, and they could no longer stand before God as sinless.

What if Eve’s truth was the truth?  She ate the fruit because it was “pleasant to the eyes” and would make her wise (Genesis 3:6).  Her reasoning wasn’t so bad, was it?

We’ve got three narratives here, and only can be true.  God’s, Satan’s, or Eve’s?

Postmodernism Jumps In: Take All The Truths!

But here is where postmodernism jumps in and solves the problem.  You don’t have to pick one truth!  Each of them were right!  Eve was right to eat the fruit because that is her individual narrative.  Satan was right because he was only causing her to examine herself.  And, according to postmodernism, God doesn’t exist, so that truth is out of the equation.

This is where postmodernism and Christianity clash.  There is no “meeting in the middle” or compromising on truth.  You have to believe in objective truth; otherwise, all your premises for life shatter into a million pieces.  No one can believe without a doubt in one thing because other people will say, “That’s not my narrative” or “That’s not my opinion.”  

It’s a sinking hole with no bottom.

Postmodernism makes a fatal mistake in trying to define truth as everyone’s narrative.  Humanity has twisted truth out of shape.  It’s not even recognizable compared to God’s truth.  So why are we leaving the definition of truth in people’s hands?  Wouldn’t it be better to have a set standard (i.e. God’s Word) rather than chocking truth up to a fart in the wind?

Truth is a serious topic.  If you don’t have truth, you have nothing.

Conclusion

Mark Spence writes, “Evidence is supposed to lead to the truth.  We live in a society that calls up down, right wrong, left right.  The only way we will know what is correct is when we open up God’s Word unashamedly, unreservedly without any hesitation.  We need to proclaim it from the mountaintop that God is not on trial.  He is the judge.  He rules supreme.  His judgment is perfect and it’s without prejudice.”

Paul writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…” (Romans 1:18).

When mankind tries to hide the truth of God and stamp it down so it won’t come up again, God’s wrath is provoked.  It’s up to us as Christians to boldly cry out that objective truth does exist.  It’s not a made-up narrative.  It’s not a weak Christain’s claim to fame.  It’s the foundation for everything we believe and everything we claim.  So don’t be afraid to put your foot down and claim God’s truth even in the face of a culture who clings to everything anti-God.

So at the end of my rant via text to my mom asking, “What is truth??!!”  I have my answer, and I can rest easy in it.  Jesus is truth.  I can know His truth by reading His Word daily and praying that He will reveal Himself to me more and more every day.  No matter what the culture says… there is truth, and the believer can know it because he is God’s child.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32, NKJV).