Absolute Truths Essential For Any Means Of Reason Religion Essay

Not merely is absolute truth evident in most all aspects of life, it is indispensable for any agencies of ground and cognition. Even those who claim there is no absolute truth must utilize absolute truth to do their claim. Not merely do I believe there are absolute truths, I will travel every bit far to state that all truths are absolute. No affair what one ‘s perceptual experience on the universe may be, there is merely one world. Therefore, there is merely one absolute truth. This proposal may look absurd when covering with affairs of sentiment or when covering with comparative words such as large, little, hot or cold, nevertheless is we clearly define these comparative footings, we can set up an absolute truth. For illustration, see this conjectural state of affairs: Two people are in a room together, and the air temperature in the room is 62 grades. One adult male says that it is cold in the room, while the other disagrees. Many people would reason that no 1 can state whether or non the room is perfectly cold or perfectly warm. I disagree. If the word “ cold ” is clearly defined, an absolute decision can be drawn. Here is where the job is: there is no cosmopolitan criterion for what is cold or warm. The human race has merely developed really generic footings for depicting temperature. As a consequence, persons have created their ain more specific definitions for such words, ensuing in evident comparative truths. This world does non alter the fact that there is merely one absolute truth. That absolute truth is that the room is 62 grades. Another absolute truth would be that the room could non be perfectly described as cold because the word “ cold ” has changing specific definitions depending on the person. In order to perfectly claim that the room is “ cold, ” a specific cosmopolitan definition must set up. For illustration, if the cosmopolitan definition of “ cold ” was 65 grades and below, the room could be deemed perfectly cold.

2. Should we be disbelieving about everything?

A certain sum of incredulity is healthy. If we were to blindly accept everything that we were taught, we would non be the intellectuals we need to be in order to be good Christians. Skepticism, in moderateness, will non merely give us the thrust to confirm what we know is true, but besides to larn about opposing positions and why they are untrue. If we are disbelieving about our religion and funny for grounds and cogent evidence that what we believe is so true, we will frequently detect truths about our religion that we may non hold otherwise found if our incredulity had non lead us to them. In add-on to obtaining new cognition of our religion, incredulity will besides assist be good vindicators. An atheist is a skeptic of the Christian religion, to state the least. If we ourselves let for a healthy sum of incredulity in our religion, we will frequently detect replies for evident disagreements in the Bible that may hold caused us to waver when questioned by a individual of another faith.

While some incredulity is healthy, and at times good, inordinate incredulity can be unsafe. One should non all of a sudden go an agnostic because of a minor inquiry that may non be able to be answered about your religion or God. The world is that we will ne’er cognize everything about God or his creative activity. Some religion in God is so needed. All excessively frequently, incredulity bends in to doubt, which when unsolved, can be damaging to your religion. James 1:6 says, “ He who doubts is like a moving ridge of the sea, blown and tossed by the air current. ” It is of import that we be disbelieving plenty to cognize why what we believe is true, but besides have faith in God for the minor inquiries that we do non hold the replies to here on Earth.

3. Is at that place any cogent evidence that God exists?

There are three chief logical statements for the being of God: The cosmogonic statement, the moral statement, and the teleological statement.

The cosmogonic statement is the 1 that I find to be most convincing. It argues that everything that has a beginning has a cause. Because an infinite reasoning backward in logically impossible, we can reason that the existence must hold a beginning. Because we know the existence has a beginning, we can reason that the existence had to hold been caused by something that is outside of infinite and clip, and space ( did non hold a cause or a beginning ) .

This statement, in my sentiment, is about undeniable. One would hold to deny that either an infinite reasoning backward is impossible or that non everything that has a beginning has a cause, which is neither scientific nor logical.

The following statement is the teleological statement. This argues that what of all time has design must hold a interior decorator. The existence has design, hence, the existence much have a interior decorator. This statement is good, nevertheless there are critics who oppose it. Many people argue that the existence does non demo design, but instead merely an semblance of design. However, I besides find it dry that most all of the atheist life scientists and animal scientists have no other word to utilize than “ design ” to depict good properties that animate beings possess. For illustration, countess times I have heard atheist scientists say something like, “ And the hummingbird ‘s beak is designed to acquire nectar out of little flowers, ” or “ The mahimahi ‘s tail is designed to enable it travel rapidly through the H2O. ” There truly is no other word than designed ( other than created, which would be even worse for the atheists ) .

The concluding statement is the moral statement, which I believe is least convincing of the three, but still a valid claim. The moral statement argues that if there is an absolute moral jurisprudence, there must be an absolute moral jurisprudence giver. However, the job is that many atheists believe that there is no absolute moral jurisprudence. If this is true, the statement has no evidences and is wrong. However, it appears there is a moral absolute. In most all societies, we find that slaying is non morally acceptable. Many atheists will reason that is merely due to the fact that humans want to populate in a society that they are non scared to populate in, so society has conditioned us to believe slaying is unethical. But because atheists have no moral foundation, they must state that any atrociousness is morally acceptable, even such hideous events such as the holocaust. Many atheists are unwilling to make this, nevertheless I believe that as society continues on the way of liberalism, more and more will be willing to acknowledge that the holocaust was morally acceptable, but non ideal to the good of society.

4. Is the Bible simply fabulous narratives?

The Bible is the encompassment of the Christian religion, incorporating everything that Christians know to be true. Most Christians consider it to be the ultimate in particular disclosure. Because of the Bible ‘s utmost importance, it is of import to cognize the grounds why it is non merely another good piece of literature, but God ‘s word for world.

So what does do the Bible so particular? In Josh McDowell ‘s book, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, he gives several grounds why the Bible is so different from all other books that have of all time been written. First of wholly, it is the lone book that has been written over a fifteen-hundred twelvemonth span. It was written by more than 40 writers from highly different walks of life, and was written on three different continents. In add-on to it ‘s astonishing history, the Bible has besides sold one million millions of transcripts in 100s of different interlingual renditions, doing it the most distributed book that has of all time existed ( McDowell 12 ) . In add-on to these impressive statistics, the Bible is full of history that can be backed up non merely by other secular records, but by archaeology every bit good. Some of the edifices, towns, and metropoliss mentioned in the Bible are still standing today. The inundation recorded Genesis is besides recorded in 100s of other records from all over the universe. Equally good as archaeological cogent evidence, the Bible besides has something really alone that verifies that it is so from God: prophesy. Hundreds of prognostications were fulfilled between the old and New Testament. No other book in the universe can do that claim.

In add-on to all of the grounds mentioned above, I believe there is virtue in looking at the common sense of the affair. Most all of Jesus ‘ apostles, many of whom wrote books of the Bible, were tortured and finally killed for their instructions about Christ. Would the apostles have gone through so much adversity to support a prevarication? Of class non. They really evidently believed that it was true, and they were Jesus ‘ closest friends. They were at that place to see him decease on the cross and they were all informants of his Resurrection. They disciples have perfectly no motive to lie about the narratives in the Bible, and neither did Jesus for that affair. He did non come seeking any sort of wealth or power. He merely preached a message of love and salvation.

5. Why must God be an infinite being?

Section three gave three statements for the being of an infinite God. But does this mean there can merely be one infinite God? Where could n’t at that place be more than one? The cosmogonic statements proved there is an infinite God. This is where polytheism becomes unlogical. If there is an infinite God who is limitless ( missing nil ) in everything good, there can merely be one God. If there would be more than one infinite God, their qualities would be wholly identical. You can non hold 2 Gods that are all powerful. Dean Hardy used the undermentioned analogy: if you have 2 hoops participants that are infinite in their accomplishment at hoops that drama against each other, who would win? Neither one of them could logically win. A win would intend that one of them was somewhat stronger than the other, doing the other limited in his power. Merely as two boundlessly powerful hoops participants could non crush each other in a game, nor could two boundlessly powerful Gods exists.

6. How do you cognize that the infinite God you believe in is the God of the Bible?

Proving the being of an infinite God utilizing logic is non awfully hard, seeing that many of the statements are logical syllogisms with reasonably undeniable premises. Proving that this infinite God is the God of the Bible, nevertheless, is n’t rather as easy. While there is strong grounds that this infinite God is the God of the Bible, two presuppositions must be assumed when reasoning the being of the God of the Bible. The first being that there can logically be merely one space God ( proved in inquiry 5 ) , and that the Bible is wholly true ( discussed in inquiry 4 ) . With these two premises, turn outing that the God of the Bible is the true infinite God becomes easy. In order for a being to be infinite, he must be almighty, all-knowing, ubiquitous, and omni benevolent. Romans 8:28, a really popular poetry among Christians, declares God ‘s omni benevolence stating, “ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called harmonizing to His intent. ” Luke 1:37 declares his omnipotence stating, “ For with God nil will be impossible. ” We see God ‘s ubiquity in Jeremiah 23:24 stating, “ Do you truly think anyone can conceal himself where I can non see him? ‘ the Lord asks. ‘Do you non cognize that I am everyplace? ‘ the Lord asks. ” All of these poetries suggest that the God of the Bible has all the properties of an infinite God.

7. If there is a God and he is all loving, all powerful, and all knowing, why is at that place evil? Did n’t God make immoralities?

The job of immorality has been a sore topographic point for atheists and a bouldery country for Christians for a long clip. At first glimpse, it would look logical that because there is evil in the universe and God created the universe and everything in it, so God must hold created evil. This evidently presents several issues, one being that an all loving and all good God would non make something short of flawlessness, allow entirely something that would harm his creative activity for the entireness of its secular being. So did God make immoralities?

In some respects, this is a trick inquiry ; evil is truly non anything that could be created. Evil, in some sense, truly does non even exist. The word “ evil ” is merely a word used to depict something that has a defect or malfunction that causes it to non carry through the Godhead ‘s coveted intent. Evil does non be in the same signifier that darkness and coldness do non exists. There is no such thing as “ cold, ” it is merely the absence of heat. There is no such thing as “ darkness, ” for it is the absence of visible radiation. There is no such thing as “ evil, ” as it is the absence of God or intended intent.

Not merely is evil non something to be created in the first topographic point, but it is indispensable for the life that God intended us to populate. Without evil, there would be no such thing as love. God had to hold given us the free will to either love him or reject him. If evil did non be and God forced his creative activity to love him, it would n’t be love. Forced love is non love. The beauty and goodness of love comes from one ‘s pick to do forfeits and see to the best involvement of another individual.

8. The lone possible account for our being is natural choice.

Bing a individual who has ever had a scientific head, I find the “ theory ” of development to be an abuse to existent scientific discipline and one of the biggest travesties of the century. And one of the biggest enigmas to me is why so many scientists claim development to be a fact, when in world, it is a theory ; one riddled with scientific impossiblenesss and headlong decisions at that. There is perfectly no grounds that animate beings evolved from species to species. Where is the passage dodo grounds? Where is any sort of cogent evidence? The atheists cry Darwin ‘s fiches. These monumental finches have manages to alter their beak size to better accommodate them to their environment. Some have adapted to hold long, so beaks, while others have short, fat 1s. While these finches have adapted, they are still finches! This is an illustration of finches germinating in to different finches, besides known as micro-evolution. Christians have no job with micro-evolution, it is a proved fact. The job lies with the indefensible claim that a species can germinate into a different species, besides known as macro-evolution.

So why do scientists keep to this theory so strongly? I believe it is for the same ground that they believe Christians hold on to the creative activity narrative so strongly: because it fits their ain universe position. Intelligent design is out of the kingdom of possibility for the atheist. To claim intelligent design is to claim that there is something higher than themselves, which would subject them to an absolute moral jurisprudence.

The bottom line is that irrespective what your worldview is, it is of import to look at the facts and grounds. It is my strong sentiment that there is much grounds of design in this universe, and about no grounds that random opportunity and clip could hold brought all beings into being.

9. What makes Jesus so different? What did he state that was so alone?

Jesus was really different than any head figure of any other faith. When analyzing the leaders of other faiths, it does n’t take long to happen obvious holes in their philosophy or to happen subterranean motivations in their bids. For illustration, see the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: Life is enduring, enduring comes from desire and by extinguishing desire, and we can extinguish agony ( The Four Noble Truths ) . There are some obvious jobs with this set of “ truths. ” Life is enduring? I am non enduring at this present clip, so am I non alive? The 2nd truth provinces that extinguishing desire will extinguish agony. While this might hold to potential for some truth, it is surely non true in all state of affairss. If one is enduring from physical hurting, taking all desire will non cut down his physical agony.

This is merely one illustration of a fatal issue of a faith other than Christianity. There are 100s more, including the moral job of Islamic Jihad, the logical issues of Hindu pantheism, and deficiency of archaeological grounds for Mormonism. In the thick of all of these issues with other faiths, Christianity stands entirely as a faith that does non hold a fatal issue that would do it to be false. The philosophy that Jesus taught, while incorporating paradoxes and sometimes hard to understand messages, lacks a fatal defect. It merely can non be proven untrue, and there is much grounds proposing that it is so true.

Traveling off from the uncomparable truth and consistence of the Bible, there was something else that was really alone about the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus entered this universe through a stable in the little, lacklustre metropolis of Bethlehem. As he grew older, he preached a Gospel of love and redemption by grace instead than good workss. Unlike most all other faiths, the God of the Bible will accept you as you are, wickednesss and all. You do n’t necessitate to be a perfect individual here on Earth to acquire into heaven. As Romans 5:1 says, “ We have been justified through religion, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ” Alternatively, as John 3:16 says, God sent his lone boy Jesus to decease on the cross so we could be with him for infinity. This is the chief difference between the message of Jesus and the message of other spiritual leaders. Jesus taught that we must trust on God instead than ourselves to acquire to heaven. Jesus besides ne’er sought any sort of glory for himself, but for his male parent. He was non given the expansive birth that male monarchs of this universe are accustomed to ; he preached and lived a life of complete humbleness. His humbleness, love, and clemency is finally what sets him apart from the remainder of the universe.

10. Why do Christians believe that there are three Gods in one? Is n’t that Polytheism?

The philosophy of the three is by far the most complex instruction in the Christian religion. Christians believe that there is merely one God, nevertheless there are three individuals that make up this individual God. This is a difficult construct to understand, and I believe that we will non be able to to the full hold on the construct of the three until we are in Eden and God ‘s luster is to the full revealed to us. For now, nevertheless, based off of Bible, we can hold a basic thought about how the Trinity plants.

While there is merely one God, this God has three different individuals that make up the whole: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. While each of these three people are the same God, they each have different functions. The Son was sent by the male parent to decease for our wickednesss. 1 John 4:14 says, “ And we have seen and attest that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the universe. ” The Holy Spirit, on the other manus, has a really different function. His occupation is to council us in the ways of the LORD and serve as a moral compass for all who have him. John 16:13-14 says, “ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will steer you into all truth. He will non talk on his ain ; he will talk merely what he hears, and he will state you what is yet to come. He will convey glorification to me by taking from what is mine and doing it known to you. ” The Father ‘s function is the Godhead of the Universe and finally our heavenly male parent and Godhead with whom we shall pass infinity.

11. What does a individual have to make to be a Christian? Why is it necessary? Could n’t you merely be good and acquire into Eden?

Becoming a Christian is an highly easy thing to make. Unlike other faiths, the lone thing that anyone demands to make in order to obtain redemption is accept Jesus Christ as your personal Jesus and believe that he dies on the cross for your wickednesss. Romans 3:23 says that “ all have sinned and fall short of the glorification of God. ” Thankfully, Christians have a Jesus who was willing to take our penalty of decease off from us so we could acquire to heaven by grace, non by making good workss. That ‘s it, no plants required ; merely an honorable bosom and a willingness to accept God. You merely must believe and accept John 3:16 which provinces, “ For God so loved the universe that he gave his 1 and merely Son, that whoever believes in him shall non die but have ageless life. ”

It is a common belief around the Earth that it truly does n’t count what you believe, every bit long as you ‘ve been a good individual God will allow you in to heaven. There are two large jobs with this theory, the first being that the Bible level out condemns it. John 14:6 says, “ I am the manner and the truth and the life. No 1 comes to the Father except through me. ” The Bible could non be any more clear: the lone manner to Eden is through Jesus Christ.

The 2nd job with this theory is that the definition of a “ good individual ” would alter depending on who you asked. If there is non an absolute moral jurisprudence, there would truly be no such thing as a “ good individual. ” All ethical motives would be comparative.

12. My personal Testimony:

I grew up in a Lutheran school in Lincoln, Nebraska, traveling to my conservative Lutheran church every Sunday. My parents ever sent me to Sunday school and taught me from a really immature age that Christianity was the right way to be on. I enjoyed my old ages in my Lutheran simple school, but in 3rd class I moved to Charlotte where I began to go to Charlotte Christian. My instructors at CCS continued to convey me up in a good Christian environment, as did my parents. It was n’t until in-between school that I had any jobs with my relationship with God.

Get downing my seventh grade twelvemonth, I began to do picks that were less than Christ honouring. I was hanging out with people I should n’t hold been friends with and who tempted me with wickedness on a day-to-day footing, and on occasion, I would give in. I ne’er did anything excessively serious like drugs, intoxicant, or sex, merely “ smaller ” wickednesss such as prevarication and travel to a twosome of parties I had no concern being at as a Christian. The more clip I was passing with these friends, the farther I was acquiring from God. My supplications began acquiring fewer and fewer each hebdomad, until I finally stopped praying all together. Throughout the class of the following few old ages, this mentality continued. I ne’er considered going an atheist or change overing to another faith, I merely did n’t look to care much for God. This lasted largely until the summer after my sophomore twelvemonth in high school. That summer, my household decided to take a sail to the Mexican Riviera that left from Los Angeles, California. It was on this sail that I met my girlfriend, Kailey. She was unlike anyone I had of all time met before, and had a passion for God unlike anyone I have of all time met in my life. Possibly one of the things that attracted me most to her was the fact that she was far from your stereotyped Christian miss, conservative, diffident, and decelerate to talk her head. Kailey was highly outgoing, full of life, and liked to hold a good clip. As the sail progressed, we became good friends, and kept in touch most every twenty-four hours after our holiday was over. About a month and a half subsequently, I used my birthday money to travel visit her in California, where she lived. While I was at that place, we made the determination to prosecute a long distance relationship with each other. As the months went by, we grew closer and her passion for God became even more apparent. She began to pass on to me that she ever wanted our relationship to laud God above all else. She besides told me the outlooks she had for me as a Christian adult male and leader of the relationship. I was shocked, to state the least. I had been in a twosome of relationships prior to this one, and neither of my other girlfriends had of all time done or said anything like that. After I began to take her advice, my relationship with God began to intensify in a manner that I had ne’er experienced before. For the first clip I felt like I had a existent relationship with God and an apprehension of who he truly was. I stopped experiencing like merely a Christian and began to experience like one of God ‘s kids. A combination of Kailey and Mr. Henson ‘s Bible category began to do my religion my ain, and non merely my parents ‘ faith they picked for me. I developed a passion for larning about God.

This strong relationship with God continued strong up until merely a few months ago. I began to fight with some tough inquiries about God that caused uncertainty to get down to turn in me. I searched for replies, most of which I found to be unsatisfactory. I looked everyplace for replies: the cyberspace, books written by celebrated Christians, instructors at CCS ; but I merely could n’t happen any replies that satisfied me. This continued for approximately 4 months, and so in January of 2010, Kailey noticed that I had n’t been reading my Bible recently. She told me that the one topographic point I should be traveling to for replies I did n’t even see looking to. She was right. As a Christian, one thing I have ever struggled with is happening clip ( and up until so, so want ) to read my Bible on a regular footing. Equally shortly as I started reading on a regular basis, it seemed as if my uncertainty miraculously disappeared. I truly can non explicate it. Answers that I found unsatisfactory before all of a sudden made perfect sense. I now feel like I have ne’er been closer to God, and it is astonishing to see how much he has done in my life so far.

The following four old ages will surely convey about seeking times. However, I believe that some of the most seeking times in your life can finally take to the most growing. I am highly confident that my religion will be able to defy anything college wants to throw at it. Thankfully, I should hold it easier than most Christian college pupils, as I plan to go to Liberty University and major in Christian Philosophy. I am highly aroused to see what God will make with me in the coming old ages.