All Beliefs Cannot Be True

Students desiring to follow Jesus in college must decide how they will define truth. If you don’t know what you believe or why you believe it, forces can successfully alter your worldview based on cultural opinions.

In a time of postmodern thinking, authorities are not popular. Postmodernism is the prevalent worldview that states there is no absolute truth. When someone tells me there is no absolute truth, I normally reply, “Are you absolutely sure?” That statement is an absolute statement claiming that no statement can be absolute. It is a self-defeating statement. It is false by its own standards.       

“It’s true for you but not for me.” Can I also say the same thing about that previous statement? Postmodernism, while it is the current cultural trend, does not hold water. The rebellion against authority has caused many minds to attempt to remove God. If someone can remove the God factor from society, that person has just now replaced God. Christianity’s claims concerning a Creator God who has commands for people to live by unnerve our culture, and they try to find a way out.

The problem with postmodern thinking is the rejection of the concept of truth. Postmodernism espouses that every way toward God is an acceptable approach. If all religions lead to God, how can someone explain the contradictory faith statements?

Hindus claim that the universe is eternal, but Jews claim the universe had a beginning. Both cannot be correct. Christians claim Jesus rose from the dead; Muslims claim that he never died. Those statements are irreconcilable. While our culture demands religious tolerance, these religions’ beliefs make that ideal an impossibility. There is a difference between being religiously tolerant and passively agreeable. You do have the right to think your beliefs are correct in relation to someone else’s beliefs. You do not have the right to be a jerk about it, but no one can tell you that you can’t believe what you believe. That’s part of the postmodern credo.  

While the truth may be difficult to acquire, that does not make it impossible. If we leave the quest for truth in our culture to human opinions, we will never obtain a resolution. If we are to know the truth, we must submit to some authority that is above all people. As a Christian, it is pivotal that you accept Christ as that authoritative figure in your life.  

Most college students I know are closet syncretists. Syncretism is the act of combining religious beliefs and practices and making something brand new. It’s a worldview casserole. Many collegiate Christians accept certain elements of biblical teaching, but they sprinkle in postmodern thinking, pop culture opinions, and tolerant religious teachings. With this combination, they come out believing something very alien from the gospel of Jesus. The level at which you do not submit to the truth of the gospel is the level at which you will be assimilated into your culture’s worldview. If you are going to survive this battle for truth, you must go to an authority higher than yourself.

To obtain a godly worldview, you must rely on God’s gift: the Bible.