“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’” (John 8:31-32 NRSV)
All this talk of truth and falsehood, right and wrong, seems medieval to many people today. A philosophical position called deconstructionism says that all claims about truth are really masks for those who just want power. Deconstructionism has a point: Many claims about truth are motivated by power. In fact, people have been known to twist the words of the Bible in order to justify their cruelty toward other people. For instance, the Bible has been used to justify white supremacy.
However, taken as an absolute about all truth claims, deconstructionism goes to far. If there is a God who created the universe, then that God's perspective on life is the true one. That God's claims about truth are motivated not by power but simply by truth. Extreme deconstructionism says there is no Creator God. There are only interest groups competing for the power to say what goes.
The sister of deconstructionism is relativism. Relativism says there are no absolute truths. "Truth" is only what works in a given context. Truth depends completely on your point of view, and there is no God's-eye-view that is the standard by which all other perspectives are measured.
Deconstructionism and relativism treat reality like the laws of a democratic society. It would be as if the law of gravity were not written into the fabric of the universe. As if gravity were law only until an interest group could garner enough power to tip the balance on the Supreme Court or in Congress. As if gravity were law only as long as it made society run smoothly -- but as soon as it seemed essential for humans to be weightless, citizens could vote and repeal gravity. Almost nobody actually believes such things about gravity, but many people believe them about ethical questions, the nature of God, and what happens when you die. These issues are supposedly decided by lobbying, voting, and personal preference.
-- Karen Lee-Thorp in “A Compact Guide to the Bible”
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