"The Challenge of Relativism"

I don't know when I've ever done this before: I listened to a talk, and immediately started it over to listen again. It's John Piper's "The Challenge of Relativism." You can listen or read it here.

There is fresh thinking throughout this talk. The most powerful thing about it, to me, is his Biblical defense of language as a "humble servant for carrying... truth." (This is a talk given to a group that assumes the authority of Scripture.) He never mentions postmodernism, but it's surely in the background.

Here's a sample from his jumping-off point on that topic:

"One of the most tragic effects of relativism is the effect it has on language. In a culture where truth is esteemed as something objective and external to ourselves that we should pursue and embrace and cherish and employ for the good of the people, language holds the honorable place of expressing and carrying and transmitting that precious cargo of truth. In fact, a person’s use of language is assessed on the basis of whether it corresponds to the truth and beauty of the reality he expresses.

"But when objective truth vanishes in the fog of relativism, the role of language changes dramatically. It’s no longer a humble servant for carrying precious truth. Now it throws off the yoke of servanthood and takes on a power of its own. It doesn’t submit to objective, external reality; it creates its own reality. It no longer serves to display truth. Now it seeks to obtain the preferences of the user.

"This gives rise to every manner of spin. The goal of language is no longer the communication of reality, but the manipulation of reality. It no longer functions in the glorious capacity of affirming the embrace of confessional truth, but now it functions in the devious capacity of concealing defection from the truth."

Christian believers, I also recommend you consider carefully what he lists as seven "Evil and Destructive Effects of Relativism." (Is there any doubt he's against it?)

Posted: Sat - April 21, 2007 at 07:24 AM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

"The Challenge of Relativism"

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson