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.