This is probably one of the most important questions we will consider. This question may seem pretty straightforward, but it’s extremely important for us to avoid drawing a quick conclusion. Why? Because whatever answer you land on will be the basis for how you view and relate to people who live and believe differently from you.
Here’s what we know:
- “Absolute truth” is whatever is always valid, regardless of parameters or context. Those parameters include things like time, culture, religion, nationality, etc. The word absolute in the term suggests that absolute truth must have or be: a quality of truth that cannot be exceeded; complete truth; unvarying and permanent truth. Absolute truths cannot have exceptions and must be valid for everyone at all times, no matter what.
- If there is only one “right” way to live, the phrase only one suggests that way of living is absolute, meaning it must always be valid for everyone at all times, no matter what.
- Some (not all) religions/denominations of religions teach that their ideology is the only way to be saved and/or the only way of life that is acceptable to God. For example, Catholicism teaches that “outside the Church there is no salvation,” first stated by Pope Innocent III in 1215. Another example is Islam, which teaches that “[t[ruly the religion with Allah is Islam” (3:19) “[a]nd whoever seeks a religion other than Islam it will never be accepted of him…” (3:85).
- Philosophers have debated what is known as moral relativism, i.e. that “moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others.” The Ancient Greeks first challenged accepted assumptions regarding morality in the 5th century B.C.E., and that challenge saw a resurgence in the late 1500s A.D. with the writings of Montaigne. In his book “On Custom”, Montaigne advances as a general thesis that “each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice; for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason than the example and pattern of the opinions and customs of the country we live in” (Montaigne, p. 152).
That said, you may be wondering, “Does objective truth exist? And, if it does, how do I figure out what that ‘truth’ is?” There is no simple answer to those questions. In the Bible, John 14:6 states that Jesus said he was “the way and the truth and the life.” Taking that at face value for a second, if Jesus is truth AND Jesus is God or Godlike, could we draw the conclusion that the overarching message of that statement is that truth = God and/or God = truth? Mahatma Gandhi seemed to think so. He wrote, “My prayerful search gave me the revealing maxim Truth is God, instead of the usual one God is Truth. That maxim enables me to see God face to face as it were. I feel Him pervade every fibre of my being.” Harijan, 9-8-’42.
Gandhi’s perspective is interesting because it points back to one of our earlier discussions. Do you remember when we asked you who do you say God is? If “truth” and God go hand in hand, perhaps what we think about truth goes back to what we believe about God and who we say God is. Moral relativists generally don’t believe in God and thus, don’t believe in an objective standard or truth being set by God. On the other hand, truth absolutists believe in their conception of God 100%, thus they believe in what they consider to be God’s absolute truth 100% (as we saw above, this can be said for both Catholic and Islamic theology). However, if you believe in an infinite God, there’s also an argument to be made for truth also being infinite, which actually works with both truth absolutism and moral relativism because an infinite truth accounts for what we know (known absolutes), what we know we don’t know (unknown absolutes), and what we don’t know we don’t know (relativism).
As you have probably realized, we often find ourselves caught between two extremes. In this context, one extreme being that there is only one “correct” way to live and believe, and the other extreme being that there are no moral absolutes at all (which is also an absolute!). It can get pretty confusing, but the important thing to remember is that the only person you can ultimately control is…you. No matter what anyone else believes or how they believe people should live their lives, the best way for you to live and believe your truth is to just do it. Know what you believe, know why you believe it, and then do the best you can to live a life that is consistent with what you feel convicted of in your heart. You never know who’s watching, and showing how the life you live works for you is often more effective than just talking about it could ever be.
What do you think? Is there only one “right” way to live life? Is truth absolute or relative? Are there principles/lifestyle choices that you believe anyone can benefit from? Let us know in the comments below!