Is truth relative?

Marcus Aurelius once said “Our life is what our thoughts make it”. The choices we make in life stem from our thoughts and feelings, our perceived memories and beliefs. Thus, how we view the world and what we believe about the world has a direct influence on how we live our lives.

This often leads to the belief that what we think must be the truth.

However,  just because you think something to be true doesn’t necessarily mean it is true. 

For example, let’s look at the question ‘Is God real?’

If I believe God does exist and you believe he doesn't, then how could both of our opinions be the truth? God either is he isn’t. Our ability to believe or not believe in something cannot possibly create or erase its existence. 

If truth is relative then truth does not exist. 

In his book The road Less Travelled, M. Scott Peck says “the learning of something new requires a giving up of the old self and a death of outworn knowledge” (1978. p.181). He suggests that to develop a ‘broader vision’ we need to be willing to forsake our ‘narrower vision’. We must learn and we must grow.  

Proverbs 3:5-6
“ Trust in the Lord completely,
    and do not rely on your own opinions.
    With all your heart rely on him to guide you,
    and he will lead you in every decision you make.
Become intimate with him in whatever you do,
    and he will lead you wherever you go.”

Wisdom is truth revealed to us by God. Bill Johnson explains it practically, 

“Wisdom is not just a deposit made into somebody who now has all the answers. It implies that the ability to hear the Voice of God is the key to wisdom. Wisdom, then, is a relational fruit” (The Mind of God. Bill Johnson, 2015, p.56) 

God is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22:13). I believe the journey to discovering truth is in fact the journey to discovering God.

The only way to truly ‘know’ someone is to engage in a real, intimate and authentic relationship with them. This is the kind of relationship that Jesus sacrificed his life for. If we want to know God (to know truth) then we have a choice to make.

Will we partner with fear and seek to life a life of ignorance or will we embrace the unknown, partner with hope and seek to know the truth.

Emma Elizabeth