Episode 24E02c – How to Defend your Faith Session 3: Is there Truth, Goodness, & Beauty? (Part 3 of 3)
(Written by Dr. Kip Wehrman 01/21/2024)
I want to introduce you to one of the foundational laws of logic and philosophy. It is called the “Law of Non-Contradiction”. It says simply that,
“ Contradictory propositions cannot both be true!” In fact anyone who denies this is actually using it.
There is a rather graphic quote from Avicenna who was a Muslim philosopher around 900-1000AD. He is sometimes referred to as the father of modern medicine. He said, ”Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned.” A little graphic but I guess you get the point. You cannot have it both ways. Contrary perspectives cannot both be right.
Here is an example. Flat earth or round earth. Which is true. A thousand years ago your opinion might have gotten you burned as a heretic. But few still hold to the flat earth myth. But obviously only one of these can be right. Earth cannot be flat for you and round for me. Earth is only one way. The truth is the way it is, not the way we imagine it.
Let’s look at a couple of typical arguments a little closer.
This is Francis Crick. He is along with James Watson identified the DNA double helix structure in 1953. Crick wrote a book titled, “The Astonishing Hypothesis.” in it he said, “The Astonishing Hypothesis is that ‘you,’ your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.” Crick is claiming we don’t have a mind or consciousness and there is no such thing as free will. Crick says we are just molecular machines governed by the laws of physics. This sums up atheistic materialism which is the dominant view in most colleges and universities today.
Frank Turek always asks, do you think Crick was conscience when he wrote that. It’s a good point. If Crick is right, then how can he know that. He has to have a consciousness that can discern beyond the nerve cells that are firing in his head, to know what he claims to know. He is presupposing he has what he says does not exist.
What about this. Does God exist. Oxford Professor John Lennox says, “Yes God definitely exists”. But leading atheist, Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins says, “No, God does not exist”. Both cannot be right.
The law of non-contradiction. Let’s look at a demonstration of how powerful this really is. Then we get to the proof of God, which is abundant.
Let’s say you are talking with a friend and you start quoting the law of non-contradiction. And they get frustrated with you and they tell you ,”I don’t even believe in the law of non-contradiction.” You say, “yes you do”. They say, “no I don’t”. You say, “yes you do”. They say, “no I don’t”. You say, “yes you do”. They say, “no I don’t”. Stop, you do because you are using it right now to refute what I’m saying. I do, I don’t. only one can be true and both people arguing believe it or they would not protest that they are right and you are wrong.
All Truth is Absolute. Which means that, Something that is true is true for ALL people at ALL times in ALL places. SO, in your mind right now you are probably thinking of some challenges to this idea. Let me share one first. So, I’m a little warm in this room right now, but I bet there are people in let’s say Antarctica which are cold. There I’m warm they are cold, right now. That’s a relative truth. But it’s not. For all people all times and all places. I’m warm. And for all people all times and in all places, the people in Antarctica feel cold. It is not relative to person; it is true for each particular situation regardless of who is thinking about it.
Do you have one.?
Here are the most common objections to absolute truth.
- There is no truth!
- You can’t know truth!
- All Truth is relative!
- It’s true for you… but not for me!
- No one has the truth!
- You ought not judge!
So, when you look at this list do you see the problem.
Yes they all violate the law of non-contradiction.
We must learn to use the greatest tool in answering these questions; Which is applying the claim to itself! Here is an example. What if I said, “I can’t speak a word in English.” Well it’s self-defeating because I just spoke in English. Or what about, my sister is an only child…. Or What about this. “all generalizations are false”. Well then is that generalization false. Or what if I say, “everything I say is a lie.” These are self-defeating statements. And I want you to get so good at identifying and refuting these claims, that it just comes naturally. If every church going Christian learned these skills, we could take back our culture for the rampant lies we hear every day.
What should you say if someone says this, “There is no truth”
How should we respond? Then how do you know that is true. Is that true? See how the claim shoots itself. When you apply the claim to the claim it fails. It cannot be true.
Here is one you hear a lot these day, “It’s true for you but not for me” How should we respond, Anyone.? Is that true for everybody? If truth is relative, then how can your truth be more valid than mine. By claiming it’s relative, you defeat your own argument. Obviously those who say this don’t believe it or why would they be arguing to convince others they are right and we are wrong.
Here is another one you hear a lot these day, “There is no truth in anything but science.” Science is the religion of our day. How should we respond, Anyone.? Is that a scientific truth?. Sounds like philosophy or religion not science. I’m not against science. I’m a scientist and an engineer. Science is just observation of nature, it’s data. Science does not say anything, Scientist do. And sadly, scientists are human and have agendas and make mistakes. So, science is fine. Listening to scientists as if they are now the “gods” of our world is just a religion which I do not prescribe to.
Here is classic one which was made famous 18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant “You can’t know the real world” maybe we should say it this way.
How should we respond, Anyone.?
the how do you know that about the real world?. How can Kant know this. His own statement says he can’t. Unless he’s going to exempt himself from his statement. Which would make him somehow greater than the world. Sound a lot like trying to make yourself god doesn’t it. This is modern agnosticism. They claim you can’t know anything. But they seem to know that. See where this always goes with every false truth claim.
What we believe does not change what truth is. What if my stick man walking here says there is no such thing as gravity. He does not believe gravity exists.
Do you think “stick man” still believes this on the top of this building. Okay. Stick man says truth is relative so he decides gravity is not real, so he can fly. When he jumps off the building what happens. Splat. With certainty, he will not fly. He will fall. No matter how much he believes gravity is not real, gravity will show him the truth. So, yes, we can know things about the real world like gravity. There is truth. If you jump off a building, you are heading to the ground. Your opinion does not matter. There is a truth. It is gravity. You will fall. It does not matter if you have a jet pack or parachute. You are going to be pulled by gravity to the ground eventually not matter what you believe. Truth about gravity is objective, not opinion or subjective.
What about this “You should doubt everything.” How should we respond, Anyone.?
Should I doubt that? Can’t have it both ways. Skeptics doubt everything except skepticism. We all doubt, I know I do. Doubts tend to be more emotional not intellectual. If Christianity is true and you don’t believe it. Does that change whether it is true or not. Our emotions do not affect the evidence only how we view the evidence.
Doubts are actually good things as long as you dig to find answers.
Here is another classic we hear all the time “you should not judge me” Nothing like non-Christian to try and use the Bible against us.
How should we respond, Anyone.? Isn’t that a judgement. We have to make judgements all the time. This is scripture abuse.
Matthew 7:1-2 (NLT), “ Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” But Jesus does not stop there. Matthew 7:3-5 (NLT), “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
Jesus is not telling us not to judge, but to fix things in our lives first so we are in a position to judge or help our friend. We are told in other scripture, that if we don’t tell someone they are wrong, their sin is on us. As Christians we have to judge. Everyone makes judgements every day. You decided when to get up, what to wear, what to eat. You saw someone’s driving, you didn’t like. Those are all judgements. You don’t like my shirt. Are you judging, well yes. We have to make judgements but what we should not be is judgmental. Yes we have to tell people if they are outside of God’s will. If we don’t, the consequences are really bad for that other person. In fact, I believe one the most hateful things you can do, is to decide your comfort is more important than that other person’ soul. If you are unwilling to confront them, you are effectively saying you don’t care if they are headed for hell as long as you are not inconvenienced. That is selfish, and by the way it is also a judgement. You are judging that your comfort is more important than the other person.
Truth about truth. Contrary beliefs are possible, but contrary truths are not possible. There are without a doubt differing opinions and beliefs, but no matter how sincere you are, it does not make it true. You can be sincerely wrong. Things can be true you don’t believe. Belief has nothing to do with truth. You can believe everything is true, but everything can’t be true. This is a contradiction as we have already seen. Your belief is not relevant to what is true. And every imagined thing cannot possibly be true. This is just non-sense talking. Objective truth can’t be denied without being affirmed. As you saw with all these philosophical sounding claims, they end up killing themselves. They can’t be true because if they were true, then they would be false. Its circular logic which can never evade itself. It always ends up right back where it started, nowhere. Bad logic is not logic. Bad philosophy is not really philosophy. False beliefs are simply false. True beliefs stand up to reason, logic, science, philosophy and the rest. Truth does not depend on your opinions. It’s just true.
I think this song by casting crowns sums it up well. Voice of truth.
Listen and believe the truth. Truth is a person not an opinion.
This is the title slide for next session. Is there a God? Well of course there is, but can we provide people with clear evidence for God. That is next time.
Don’t forget if you do have questions, you would like discussed email me at questions@punla.org.
Let’s close and pray.
Thank you and God’s Blessing my friends.
End of How to Defend your Faith Session 3
