Jesus Among Secular GodsSample

Relativism 

Relativism is a word that is thrown around a lot. While relativism takes a variety of forms, the basic idea is that truth is not the same for all of us. In other words, truth is relative. We are told to pursue our own truth and to be true to ourselves. We are told that all truth is relative to the individual, and therefore maybe Jesus is true for you but not for me. 

But there is a clear problem with saying, “All truth is relative.” Does that include the truth that all truth is relative? Is that truth also relative? If so, then what reason do I have to believe you when you tell me that all truth is relative? Maybe even that truth is true for you but not for me. Pilate’s question to Jesus is a relativistic question. Pilate assumed that truth was not fixed or discoverable. In doing so, he missed embodied truth that was standing in front of him. 

Here is another way to see the problem with relativism. Say someone asks you a question and you give an answer, and then the other person says, “That’s not true.” If you can always say, “Well, it’s true for me even if not for you,” that would lead to the complete breakdown of conversation and therefore the complete breakdown of relationship. 

Relativism about morality is particularly frightening and particularly devastating for society. How can we trust one another when a grave evil committed against you or your family can be justified with the words “It may have been evil for you, but it was good for me.”