Christians are known for a variety of things, but one thing for which we are well known is our insistence on the existence of Absolute Truth. The concept is absolutely necessary. And we will point to a variety of things as absolute. Jesus is God. All humans are sinners. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Absolute truth.
Sometimes, however, as we stand for Absolute Truth, we are not careful about what we hold as Absolute Truth. We say, "It's in the Bible; it must be Absolute Truth." Well, yeah, but not quite. We need to be careful. Take, for instance, Ecclesiastes, which is Solomon's thoughts on various topics. Do we actually agree that, because he said it and it's in the Bible, life is actually pure vanity? Or do we admit that this was his honest view and not necessarily Absolute Truth? One of the big ones is the Book of Proverbs. These are ... proverbs. How many times have I seen Christians take them as Absolute Truth? They aren't intended to be!
There are things that are generally true, but not absolutely true. You can find some of them on bumper stickers. "Treat her like a thoroughbred and she won't be a nag" one sticker said. Yeah, okay ... perhaps. It is true that it is a good idea to treat your wife well. It is true that your best chances of having a happy marriage is to treat your spouse well. But it is not a promise from God. I know husbands who loved their wives with excellence and ended up divorced. I know husbands who abuse their wives and still retain a wife who loves them to the end. Or take another truism we hold dear. "If you want to get a good job in life, you need to go to college." Likely true ... but we know it isn't always the case. There are homeless people with degrees and there are people making good money at complicated jobs without a college education. There are exceptions to these things. They are not absolute.
One such truism is the statement in Proverbs, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6). True ... mostly. But I have seen parents at both ends that suffer horribly from this concept. I know some who came to Christ when their kids were in high school or college. What is the chance now that, having messed it all up totally, their kids will go the way they should? And I have known excellent parents who taught their kids to be what they were supposed to be, only to have them stray later in life. What guilt these parents can carry! Clearly if they stray it is because you failed to train them the way they should go. Not true!! Proverbs are proverbial. They are truisms. They are general truths. They are not absolute truths. The nature of a proverb is that there can be exceptions; they are not designed to be promises from God, statements of absolute truth. Still, some Christians suffer from missing that point.
The Bible is full of all sorts of Absolute Truth. We do well to defend it and stand on it. The Bible also has what we call "wisdom", sage advice for living that is mostly true. We do well to recognize the truth of it without trying to defend the exceptions. It is the nature of wisdom. And it is a wise person who can tell the difference. Solomon's point in the Book of Proverbs is "develop wisdom". That would include knowing the difference between Absolute Truth and a truism. We should be careful with that.
2 comments:
This was an excellent blog post and an incredibly timely message for me. (I stumbled upon it during a Google search.) So often in the church we are taught to "claim all the promises of God" and I certainly want to! But I am now learning that not everything mentioned in the Bible is a promise (it may just be a truism) and not every promise is for every person. Now, how to figure out the difference? Hmm. Any suggestions? Thank you, again, for this post and for sharing your God given wisdom with us!
Leslie,
I approach the Bible as I would any other writing. When I read a proverb, I assume it is proverbial. When I read an historic text, I assume it is historical. When God commands the Israelite nation to kill adulterers, I assume it is a command to the Israelite nation of its day to kill adulterers. Then I ask, "Does it apply today?" I ask, "What is the principle?" Because the principle never changes, even if the consequences (e.g., stoning the adulterers) do.
When God made promises to Israel, I look for clues. Were they promises to everyone (some promises to Abraham, for instance, affect us all)? When God told Israel in exile, "I know the plans that I have for you; plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you" (Jer 29:11-12), we can be fairly sure He was promising their ultimate release from exile. Now, we can be relatively sure that there is a principle (God plans for the good of His people -- see Rom 8:28), but the context is in regards to His people in exile (under judgment). So we can hold onto the principle without calling it a "promise".
Most importantly, read the text. Oh, and the context. How many of us haven't heard, "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chron 7:14) and grabbed for that promise? Well, as it turns out, it's not there. Verse 14 is part of a sentence that begins in verse 13. "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people ..." (2 Chron 7:13). Notice it begins with an "if" conditional on what God is doing. He is punishing "My people". It is national Israel in view. They had a "Promised Land". We don't. So the principle remains. Those who repent will receive God's attention. But it is not a promise to heal America if Christians repent. The context denies it.
Good question, Leslie. I hope this helps some.
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