Is truth relative or absolute>?

Question

consider this..if everyone thinks that "truth is relative" then that would make it an absolute statement and prove that truth IS NOT relative.
but, if truth is absolute, then the statement "truth is absolute" supports itself.
The idea "all religions lead to God" is an absolute idea of truth, yet all religions contradict eachother, so only ONE can be true. Which one has the best support for its claims>?

Answer 1

What Is the Truth?
At John 17:3 Jesus is praying to his father, and He says "you are the only true God." He spoke the truth.

So let us leave the murky waters of relativism and examine briefly what the Bible describes as the pure waters of truth. (John 4:14; Revelation 22:17) In the Bible, “truth” is not at all like the abstract, intangible concept over which philosophers debate.

When Jesus said that his whole purpose in life was to talk about the truth, he was speaking of something that faithful Jews had valued for centuries. In their sacred writings, the Jews had long read of “truth” as something concrete, not theoretical. In the Bible, “truth” translates the Hebrew word “’emeth',” which signifies that which is firm, solid, and, perhaps most of all, reliable.

MANY religious organizations claim to have the truth, and they offer it eagerly to others. However, between them they offer a dizzying profusion of “truths.” Is this just another evidence that all truths are relative, that there are no absolute truths? No.

In his book The Art of Thinking, Professor V. R. Ruggiero expresses his surprise that even intelligent people sometimes say that truth is relative. He reasons: “If everyone makes his own truth, then no person’s idea can be better than another’s. All must be equal. And if all ideas are equal, what is the point in researching any subject? Why dig in the ground for answers to archeological questions? Why probe the causes of tension in the Middle East? Why search for a cancer cure? Why explore the galaxy? These activities make sense only if some answers are better than others, if truth is something separate from, and unaffected by, individual perspectives.”

In fact, no one really believes that there is no truth. When it comes to physical realities, such as medicine, mathematics, or the laws of physics, even the staunchest relativist will believe that some things are true. Who of us would dare to ride in an airplane if we did not think that the laws of aerodynamics were absolute truths? Verifiable truths do exist; they surround us, and we stake our lives on them.

Truth is Truth, you cannot change it

Answer 2

Geez, you are deep. Okay, I may be wandering into perilous territory here, but here are my thoughts on your "circular" argument.

If your definition of "truth" is absolute, then what is your definition of absolute? Is it truth? Yet are all absolutes a truth? You see, you can make this a circular argument as well.

Thus, comes the comfortable notion of relativitism. I don't know how old you are but I am now in my 50's and I gotta tell you, the older I get the more and more I own the notion (my truth) that almost every aspect of my life is relative to my experiences, my peers, my children, etc. In other words, I have come to believe that any aspect of life is relative to how it is viewed and/or experienced and/or used and/or etc.

With regard to religion, do I accept the notion that all religions lead to God? Not so much! Perhaps all religions lead to a belief in a god or many gods, but that doesn't make all religious followers act in a way that we all believe our God would approve. I think the current situtation in the Middle East is a good example of that.

Notwithstanding the notion of religion leading to god, I think that religion is a very broad term and isn't interpretted the same way by everyone; thus it is relative term with relative consequences.

Look, I talked myself into a circle too. Well, I am babbling at this point. Good luck with your search.

Answer 3

I guess you should start with the concept that every person judges everything though a filter of their own experiences, knowledge, and beliefs. Some people filter out lots and other let it all through. But this has no relationship to the concept of "truth". I could believe that you are smart, but it is only based upon what I personally think.

Truth is outside what you or I believe. There are some things that were truths, but as time goes on we find that we didn't really know enough to understand the real truth. For instance, man used to think that if you went past the speed of sound you would burn up. Now we have planes traveling at speeds much higher than the speed of sound and interesting things happen, but nobody burns up.

So lets get to the meat of the matter concerning religions. In terms of truth, there is one God, who is Creator, Father, and lover of your soul. Every person on earth, no matter where they are born, has a "God-sized" hole in their hearts that they desparately what to fill.

Since the beginning of recorded time, mankind has made lots of attempts to fill that hole, and some of the strange religions and off-the-wall beliefs are hard to understand. But none of these beliefs change the truth, which is there is only one true God. This is absolute and unchangable.

Answer 4

the truth of your life... is relative. some do laundry on Monday some on Sunday some not at all. that is the reflection of our individuality, personal choices, that is what makes up free will. Then there is the truth called absolute, which reflects god's choices for earth... these are called the laws of nature, NOT THE LAWS OF RELIGION. By using religion humans have limited their free choice, but that is not god's plans. He will return in a manner that will destroy religion so freedom and personal choices taken away will be restored.

Answer 5

All religions do not believe in a God or a single God.
Bhuddhists and Hindus are the two biggest.

What I think you are asking is about the God of Jews, Muslims and Christians.
Well, guess what? All of them believe in the same God!!! Yup.
Where the difference lies in what is the correct way to worship and follow God.
That is why Muslims will even kill other Muslims.
Shiites say the Sunni is wrong, Sunni say the Shiite is wrong. The Qu'ran says that Believers should smite the non-believer.

Answer 6

Absolute. Absolutely absolute! The truth, like time, is something that we are bound by, and can only be regarded in the great beyond as what it is truly intended to be. We are restricted to the confines of relative truth, but that takes away from the actuality of its intended function and makes it a shallow definition of something that is entirely different in its absolution. There is only one truth.
"I am the truth, the life, and the way. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." J.C.

Answer 7

Technically truth is absolute. It's definition is that it is fact or reality.

But, truth can be relative, also. I would say it is relative to what you consider false.

With regard to with religion, they are all wrong. There is no one correct religion. Religion itself may be incorrect faith. "All religions lead to God" is definitely a fallacious statement.

Even the writings in the Bible claim that few will be saved.

Answer 8

If you and I seeing the same tree from two different angles, and different levels, you can describe the same tree differently. Both of us would be correct. You would say there is a nest of a bird at such and such height, and I will say there is a nest, but of a squirrel at that same height.

Truth is indeed relative to the station, depth of understanding and time of the viewer (logical vision or physical vision). Only the LORD MOST HIGH has the ABSOLUTE VIEW OF THE TRUTH as he can see at ALL LEVELS AT ALL DEPTHS and AT EVERY POSSIBLE ANGLE and DIMENSIONS WE MAY NOT EVER KNOW!!

Answer 9

There is no way to know whether what I perceive as true is perceived the same way by all.

So, while it's possible that there is such a thing as apodictic truth, we can't ever be certain we've found it outside the realm of mere definition. To make a claim of absolute truth, is to admit that the subject is merely definitional, and not nomological.

Answer 10

John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

You are right, that there is only one way to God, but you must ask yourself, which God are we talking about? Is it one of those idol gods, based on the image of created things, or the eternal transcendant God that is the creator and is an entity separate of His creation? It is the latter who I am introducing, for it is by Him that the earth and the heavens were formed, it is He who created all man in the beginning, He created them male and female. It is from one man that all nations of the world were made, but the nations ignore Him because this one man had sinned against God, and sin entered creation and corrupted it, and God cursed the creation because of our sin, for we are stewards of creation, what we could have enjoyed [creation] is now in a state of decay just as we are, and because we are sin-warped, man loves the darkness rather than the light and will go to great measures to avoid worshipping his Creator. For the time has come, however, we are now of age, to return to the light of God, for God has sent His Son to buy our redemption from a slavery to sin for a great price. For God overlooked the ignorance of those who worshipped things of gold or silver, or stone, but now has commanded everyone everywhere to repent as He has set a day which He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed (Christ). He has given proof of this to all man by raising Christ from the dead.

Christianity is the major standard for absolute truth; it is God that sets the rules, and we indeed carry a God-given conscience in our hearts and indeed recognize death as the enemy, for what has caused more hurts than death, which is an invasion on creation? It is through Christ that man can avoid death, and have eternal life, to gain access to the Tree of Life (in the Garden of Eden) once more.