Hey Eric,
How have you been? I hope all is well!
Hey, I'm interested in knowing what you mean by:
"To be sure, I would argue that humans play an active role in the construction of truth..."
Specifically in regards to God and the Bible please.
Eric,
Is it more that we as the created are questing to find the ultimate truth behind our own realities? Modernism made us believe the truth was found within our own ability to think. Humanity took that and nuked Japan. Postmodernism individualizes truth among pockets of society and culture in its extreme forms, but has that garnered truth? The rampant cunsurmerism of the Boomer generation has become a spiritual shopping trip among the younger generations in a journey to find meaning and purpose in life. One final random thought... Can we have truth without an overarching principle/truth on which to build our own?
Adiel,
I was trying to draw a contrast to an epistemology that views truth as an absolute that exists "somewhere out there," a notion of truth that requires very little from us except to assent. I would argue that truth is constructed, negotiated amongst us. In light of the many languages and cultures in which the gospel has taken root, the truth of the gospel itself finds flesh in the life of humans and is shaped by them in cooperation with the moving of the spirit.
Hatch,
One way we could interpret our role in the shaping of truth is that ours are attempts to understand what underlies the world. Yet if that truth is beyond us and our apprehension, I'm not sure how useful a category it is. Ultimately, responsiblity resides with us, even if the truth is out there somewhere. For all intents and purposes, truth remains contextual.
On the question of postmodernism, I agree with you that an extreme relativism is insufficient and utlimately irrelevant. However, I think "postmodernism" as a movement too often gets caricatured in this way; it argues instead of the contextuality of truth not that anything goes.
Not just assent, but repent and conform to it. Death to self and conformity to the truth is not a "very little" requirement, it is extremely difficult. I think the reason people hate and suppress the truth is because inwardly they know that if and when the truth finds them out, their deeds will not only be exposed but they will also be required to give up the lie that they so dearly love. I think the reason people are so against absolute truth is because it is hard to swallow. The idea that there is a God who is a certain way and will not change despite what people think about Him is very scary.
When you say "I would argue that truth is constructed, negotiated amongst us", it seems to me like your position is that we can make up "truth". Is that what you are saying? For example, how does an atheist who vehemently rejects God construct and negotiate truth? When he dies, wont he face God despite what he constructed and negotiated about His nonexistence?
Eric,
I think even im postmodernism one cannot truly identify truth as contextual. If we are searching for some truth (personal or impersonal) that underlies our world and gives explanation, than that truth is not contextual. I honestly believe that postmodernism as a general philosophy on life has arisen because of the hypocrisy of the preceeding generations of modernism. Their rampant self-centered consumerism allowed them to justify coutnless atrocities in the world, or just plain ignore countless others. Postmodernism offers us in its place spiritual consumerism, which is a quest to find truth and meaning in the world, but lacks a lot of direction because so many believe truth to be societal and non-universal in nature. Our action in the creation of truth is to uncover those meta-truths that help us explain our existence and the purpose behind it, i.e. creation, redemption, salvation. If we, as believers, are to communicate God's truth, which in my opinion underlies everything, than it must have an effect on us such that we live it out to the world. If God is love, than we, as His people, must be His love to the world. At that, the church has failed miserably.
Brian
Newspeak/Doublespeak?
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