Any Bible-believing Christian knows that we face constant challenges to basic subjects these days. Two big ones are truth and morality.
On our side, Jesus told us, "I am ... the Truth ..." (John 14:6) and that the Holy Spirit would "guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). Truth matters. But Pilate epitomized the other view with his sarcastic, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) Does truth exist? Or is it, as so many want to claim, simply a matter of opinion?
On our side, we argue that there is actual morality, not mere opinion. We base it in God as Creator and Lawgiver. As such, He has the authority (and responsibility) to tell us what is good and bad, right and wrong, moral and immoral, and these are applied to all people. The other side argues that ... well, now, wait ... they argue in two directions. On one hand they argue that morality is simply the norms of the society in which you live. If marrying 5 women is moral in your society, it's moral. If not, then it's not. Morality is relative. On the other hand they argue that the God of the Bible has failed to satisfy their moral demands of eliminating evil, so He does not exist. They do this without a basis for the demands or for the definition of "evil". That is, they hold both that moral is what you make it and moral is real. It may or may not be moral today to marry a fence, but it is certainly immoral to torture and kill an innocent child ... unless, of course, a woman chooses to do so. Well, you get the idea. All very confusing.
The differences in both "truth" and "morality" here are the differences between "objective" and "subjective". "Objective" refers to things that are real apart from your feelings, opinions, or preferences. It refers, essentially, to an object. "Subjective" speaks of feelings, tasts, or opinions. It is predicated on the subject doing the examination rather than the object being examined. There are, for instance, some outlandish folks who argue that nothing is real and everything is in your mind. As such, there are no objective truths--no objects. Everything is based on your perceptions, feelings, or thoughts--subjective.
The question, then, is not whether or not there is truth or morality. Of course these things exist. The question is whether there is objective truth and objective morality. Are there things that are true regardless of how you feel about them? Are there things that are right or wrong regardless of your opinions? Do these things actually exist?
Christians, of course, must argue for the positive. If God, then, yes, there is reality and morality outside of my own perceptions. God made objects and they exist. God made natural laws and they exist regardless of my opinions. Reality is actual, not simply my opinions. The trick in this case, then, is to align your perceptions with the truth rather than the reverse ... like so many do today.
When the argument sides with the subjective, you must keep in mind that the outcome is there is no truth or morality. Well, not that is applicable to everyone. If truth is subjective and morality relative, then no one has the right to claim that you're wrong in your truth claims or evil in your moral code. Indeed, the atheist argument that God is a perpetrator of evil falls apart since evil no longer has an objective definition. And questions like "Can an atheist be moral?" become pointless because "moral" has no basis.
Why it is that those who hold to subjective truth and moral relativity continue to argue about truth and morality is beyond me. They do so without foundation. As for you, just make sure you're not one doing that argument. It really is the perfect example of a slippery slope.
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