Relativism...
Relativism...
Terry Dashner (www.ffcba.com)
His name is John G. Stackhouse, Jr. His book is entitled, Humble
Apologetics Defending the Faith Today (Oxford University Press,
2002). And his message is loud and clear. Christianity will hold
up to any religion, but what's the point if I win the argument
for faith in Christ and fail to demonstrate the very humility of
Christ in my defense? In other words, I can win the argument but
lose your endorsement--"I don't care that you answered all my
questions, your arrogance is repulsive."
Dr. Stackhouse's call for humility in apologetics is well made;
however, I'd like to comment on his words about relativism. If
you are my age (50) or older, you might remember Ray Stevens'
song from 1970 entitled, "Everything is Beautiful." After the
song's opening Refrain, Stevens sings these words, "There is
none so blind as he who will not see. We must not close our
minds, we must let our thoughts be free." No disrespect to Mr.
Stevens, but everything in life is not beautiful. Some things,
even religions, can be ugly. For example, any religion that
condones the beheading of infidels is ugly and cannot be labeled
"beautiful"--thrown into the same mix of religions that seek
truth and peace.
In chapter one of his book, Dr. Stackhouse quotes Allan Bloom
who writes, "There is one thing a professor can be absolutely
certain of: almost every student entering the university
believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative...The
students' backgrounds are as various as America can provide.
Some are religious, some atheists; some are to the Left, some to
the Right; some intend to be scientists, some humanists or
professionals or businessmen; some are poor, some rich. They are
unified only in their relativism and in their allegiance to
equality...
"Relativism is necessary to openness; and this is the virtue,
the only virtue, which all primary education for more than fifty
years has dedicated itself to inculcating. Openness...is the
great insight of our times. The true believer is the real
danger. The study of history and our culture teaches that all
the world was mad in the past; men always thought they were
right, and that led to wars, persecutions, slavery, xenophobia,
racism, and chauvinism. The point is not to correct the mistakes
and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at
all."
America, certainly at the University level and in politics, has
become a society that prefers the radical notion that everything
and everyone is right and never wrong, for fear that a value
statement might be made and offend someone's group. Lord help us
please. Again Dr. Stackhouse writes, "In introductory religion
courses, many frequently opine that the way this or that
religion treats women appalls them. Yet in the very next
paragraph of an essay, such students commonly switch back with
what they intend to be a relativistic judgment, namely, that
they would probably agree with that religion's understanding of
gender if they had been raised in it. This latter admission
seems to imply that the students' disgust toward what they judge
to be sexism is nothing more than an effect of their particular
upbringing. Morality, in sum, is nothing more than a social
construction and not reflective of any objective moral order
that lies beyond any person's or any civilization's preference."
My I ask you a question? Do you believe that because various
people or people groups hold various opinions on a topic, then
none of those opinions can be taken as finally true? If you do
believe this, then you must also believe that there can be many
answers to the equation--2 plus 2 = (?) Nazism is as "good" as
Judaism. If I like the color blue and you like red, neither one
of us is wrong because of our choice. It's a matter of taste.
And tastes are subjective. But in the case of mathematics (and
God's Law), there is objective truth. There can only be one
final answer.
In closing this piece, I must say this. It's very tempting to
embrace the "feel good" message of Ray Stevens' song, but in
truth not everything in comparison is beautiful.
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is truly beautiful and
coming again to set the record straight, objectively.
Pastor T.