The Way, the Truth, and the Life

On the Total Incompatibility of Christianity and Relativism

"But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
— II Thessalonians 3:13-15 (NKJV)

I am my brother's keeper. When he strays from the truth, it is my duty to correct him; when I stray from the truth, it is his duty to correct me.^[1] It would be dereliction of duty and a betrayal of my brothers were I to choose to remain silent as to the state of the church in the West, particularly in America.

Much of American Christianity has become a lie. Many churches now fail not only to condemn evil but even to refrain from encouraging or facilitating it. There are now churches that openly support homosexuality, even so-called "homosexual marriage"; churches that do not condemn our culture of easy divorces and meaningless marriages; and churches that actively seek to diminish the role of the Church in public life and to strengthen the barrier constructed by the Left between Church and State^[2]. However, all of these pale in comparison to and are all the unholy spawn of the creeping acceptance of Relativism.

Without delving into the philosophy or the secular history of the term, the ideology, or the movement, Relativism is, at its core, a denial of absolute Truth, a declaration that beliefs, customs, and practices must be put in the context of their ages and their practitioners, and that no system, no belief, and no custom, that nothing is inherently, or perhaps in any way at all, superior to anything else. In short, it is the ultimate denial of the Christian Faith. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." — John 14:6 (NKJV) does not mean the way for these men, the truth for this age, or the way as one alternative among many. As Christians, we are possessed of knowledge of the one transcendent, eternal truth; it is not a truth reserved to our ancestors, to us, or to our progeny, it is a truth for all. When we refuse to stand for the truth, to defend it even unto death, we betray ourselves, our Faith, and our God.

Relativism is the Great Lie. It has been employed for millennia by the Father of Lies, it is the wedge inserted under the foundation of our Faith. The lie issued forth from the lips of Pontius Pilate when questioning Christ: "What is truth?^[3]" As Christians, we know the answer to this question^[4], but too many now take the bait in Pilate's question: What is the nature of truth? This is the first step on the road to damnation, a road clearly marked with signs devised by many 'great thinkers' of our recent, and no so recent, past.

Relativism is wholesale incompatible with Christianity. Christian theology and Christian belief are absolute. Christ is the way, all other paths lead to damnation; Christ is the truth, all that stands in opposition is a lie; and Christ is the life, all else leads only downward unto death. We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the lies of Relativism. Many churches and many who claim to be Christian have already fallen, we must rebuke our brothers who are living in sin and flirting with hellfire.

We now come to the crux of the matter: modern political and social ideology. On dozens, hundreds, of issues, we must staunchly disagree with the 'wisdom' of the prevailing culture. A home with only a mother, with only a father, with two 'mothers', or with two 'fathers' is fundamentally inferior to a home with a mother and a father who are married to one another and who adhere to the strictures of Christian marriage. A young woman who spends each weekend in a different bed is living a life of sin that is fundamentally inferior to chastity and adherence to the Moral Law. A young man who spends his time distracting himself with intoxicants and meaningless diversions is living a life that is fundamentally inferior to finding productive work, taking a faithful wife, and starting a family. The truth is the truth and there is no amount of sophistry here on Earth or below in Hell that can change that fact.

Our culture is corrupt, decadent, fallen, and we have been far too willing to approve or to acquiesce in the corruption, the decadence, and the decay; what is more, we have been far too reluctant to condemn. When the seas are rough and visibility low, we are to be the shining light on a hill. We are to lead our brothers and sisters onward and upward to a better life and a better world. We are failing in our duties.