A Place for Truth

A church member referred me to a book which shares the title of this post: A Place for Truth.  In the book are several essays/lectures given in the Veritas Forum series.  Basically, some of the leading universities invite theologians and philosophers to discuss the concept of truth, morality, etc.

I've read the first essay and have begun wading into the second, and I am thrilled to be reading such stuff.

I have generally been a bit uncomfortable with the train of thought which has raised its head during my time in academia and preparation for ordained ministry.  Many call the train of thought postmodern, post modernity, or what have you.

One of its basic, underlying themes is: there is no absolute truth.  Truth is based in perception, cultural and family conditioning, and a whole host of other factors which render it impossible to expand to a universal perspective.

Such thinking has left me scratching my head in bewilderment.

No universal truth?

Come on.

Really.

So, if I am brought up in a culture which says raping women is O.K. and I am culturally conditioned to believe this is normative, does that make it O.K. to practice it?

If I choose to believe the current President of the United States isn't black but is instead green, are we to conclude my perception is indeed truth?

To quote Richard John Neuhaus in his lecture entitled, "Is There Life After Truth?":

In a world where people have stopped talking about truth...--in such a world there is no way to deliberate the question how we ought to live our life together.  There's only power and propaganda and grievance and anger and caucuses and anticaucuses and special interest groups and victims and vengeance.  That's the kind of world we increasingly live in, because we've stopped believing, or so many have stopped believing, that there is a truth that we can deliberate together. --p. 30

"There's only propaganda and grievance and anger..."

Sound familiar?

Even though we may not fully see the ultimate Truth, we must debate its existence.  We must strive to seek it out and understand it as best as we can.  We must grasp and hold onto those portions which we know help govern society and promote its welfare.  For without it, there can be only chaos.

Yes, there must be a place for truth, and I'm willing to join in the debate about what it is.

Are you?