Brittany's 17th birthday is a week from today. Most of her friends will be gone on spring break then, so she had her party last night. She had about 16 of her friends over and I made tacos for everyone. I cooked up about 3 lbs of hamburger and it wasn't long before they snarfed that down, so I have to cook up some more! They watched a couple of movies and then the boys went home and the girls spent the night. Today, they plan on a 'Spa' morning where they will pamper themselves with facials, cremes and other things. It's very hard for me to think that our first born is 17...where DOES the time fly!
Protagoras: Truth is relative. It is only a matter of opinion.
Socrates: You mean that truth is mere subjective opinion?
Protagoras: Exactly. What is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me, is true for me. Truth is subjective.
Socrates: Do you really mean that? That my opinion is true simply by virtue of it being my opinion?
Protagoras: Indeed I do.
Scorates: Then my opinion is that truth is absolute, not opinion, and that you, Mr. Protagoras, are absolutely in error. Since this is my opinion, then you must grant that it is true according to your philosophy.
Protagoras: Uhh…Yes, you are quite correct.
A few days ago I asked a question about our moral compass, if you thought there was such a thing as a ‘Universal’ moral compass, if you thought that basic tenets of right and wrong are imprinted on our souls. It is very difficult to argue that each of us don’t have people or circumstances that influence the way we think about things. A set of parents, being brought up to think that smoking is wrong, will have an impact upon their children on the subject. But how do we explain the guilt a child experiences if they accidentally kill a bird with a thrown rock? And so, where does that imprint of right and wrong come from? Does ‘The Survival of The Fittest’ teach us to feel regret? No, actually it teaches us quite the opposite…only the strong survive. It can’t come naturally either, as our nature is one of selfishness. If you doubt that statement, just watch a baby…why do they cry? They either need: To be changed, to eat, to sleep or to be held. It may seem a bit harsh, but true and of course they can’t take care of themselves, but their actions are all self serving. Their basic thought process is ‘I NEED’. So that leaves us with the only other possibility, that of our creator…GOD’s imprint, His basic plan for right and wrong is written on our souls and as we grow and mature, our up bringing, our surroundings and circumstances CAN influence our ‘sensitivity’ to these basic tenets…BUT, it still lies within each of us to make those choices. WE choose to either accept or deny that which God has written on our hearts and souls.
Where does your arrow point?
The little imagined discussion above between Protagoras and Socrates leads into the next step in the moral compass debate…In this world gone ‘acceptance’ crazy, IS there an absolute truth? What do you think?
Vince
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1 comment:
See, this is why I'm hooked on reading your blog, it's because you make me think & ponder - which if you knew me you would know that can be quite scary :)
Is there an absolute truth? Absolutely! It is rooted in the word of God.
John 17:17 "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." So, since the word of God is truth, then anything contrary to the word of God is not truth. That's not a very popular thing to say when people are so into "tolerance", especially the younger generation. The Lord is very clear that either we know the truth or we don't. Either we are followers of Him or we are not - there is no middle ground. Our society tells us to "follow your heart", but the word of God tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things. Society tells us that there are many paths to God - whatever & whoever you believe in will all lead you to the same place, the same "god" (or won't lead you anywhere at all, but it just feels good to believe in something). But the Word tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except thru Him.
This just caught my eye - in the scripture above, it says that the word of God is truth. It doesn't say that the word of God is true, it says it IS TRUTH. Alot of things can be "true" but "truth" is all encompassing. Hmmmm....did I interpret that right???
I think our conscience is our basic God given knowledge of right and wrong. Is it the Holy Spirit? I don't know...does He speak to unbelievers as well as believers? Because we all have a conscience...even tho some are able to tune it out. I tend to believe that it is the voice of God.
John 16:13 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth..."
So what I'm trying to express in this long ramble is this: I think there is absolute truth and God is eager to reveal it to us...we just need to have hearts open to receive it.
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