The Last Doctrine to Die—Why Christians Fear Relativizing God

The Future of Christianity in a Global Age, Part 3

ANNOUNCEMENT:

We Have a New Progressive Christian Community on Discord

Paid membership now comes with exclusive access to an online community with…

~ Conversation ~
~ Video Chats ~
~ Direct Messaging ~
~ Shared Exploration ~
~ A Growing Library of Resources ~

This endeavor is an important part of my income. If you find value in what I offer, please consider becoming a paid member of the newsletter and live online community. However, if you genuinely can’t afford a subscription, just hit the reply button and let me know. I will give you a free 3-month paid subscription, no questions asked.

“They have their place. We have ours.”

That statement didn’t sit right with me.

I was in my early twenties, talking with a man whose views were plainly racist. Somehow, we’d gotten onto the topic of race relations in the U.S., and he was adamant about a strict policy of “no mixing.”

What started as a conversation quickly escalated into an argument. I was clearly frustrated. After all, it was the 1990s. Hadn’t we moved past this? Had he not seen that old M*A*S*H episode about there being no difference between black and white blood? Had he not been paying attention?

At the end of our argument, he shrugged and said, “Look, you have your way of seeing things, and I have mine. No one’s right. No one’s wrong.”

That didn’t sit well with me either.

On one level, I got what he was saying. Everyone has their own perspective. And sure, I can respect that…until that perspective causes harm. That’s when everything changes.

And this is where the big problem of postmodern relativism becomes very real.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

We’ve all heard that phrase. It resonates because we’ve all experienced it. We know deep down how different people can see the same thing in completely different ways. And if you let that idea really sink in, you begin to understand in your bones the power (and peril) of relativism.

Relativism says there is no Absolute Truth. Instead, the only truth anyone has access to is personal truth, which is shaped by personal experience, culture, and language. In this view, truth isn’t something we can discover. It’s something we construct. My truth, your truth, everyone’s truth emerges from our own unique narratives.

And here’s the thing about relativism that’s most important for us today…

One’s “truth” is the measuring stick by which one determines the meaning (or value) of a perception.

So, in the above conversation, we both had engaged in the same evaluative dynamic: we both measured the possibility of racist social agendas against our personal narratives. When measured against the racist’s narrative truth, such an agenda was determined“good”. When measured against mine, it was “bad” (very bad).

He could have argued with me until he was blue in the face, and I would never accept that going back to segregation would be a “good” thing. And, likewise, I was never going to convince him otherwise.

Without an external reference point as a common ground, neither of us had any way to truly “prove” the rightness of our position. We found ourselves at an impasse from which we could not escape.

And this leads us to…

The ultimate problem of postmodern relativism

Without any external Truth by which to measure all things, there is no ultimate justification for one perspective to be any better than another.

In other words, there is truly no way to assert that racist segregation is wrong. In fact, there’s no way to say any of these is truly wrong:

• Slavery

• The Trail of Tears

• Apartheid

• The holocaust

• Spousal abuse

• Child abuse

• Animal abuse

• Patriarchy

• Sexual assault

• Economic exploitation

• Murder

Meanwhile, I also want to say the following is right:

• Economic justice

• Racial justice

• Full inclusion of the LGBTQAI+ community

All these things I want to say. But in order to say any of them with any sense of authority, there must be some sense of external measure that determines the “rightness” or “wrongness” of a situation.

Meanwhile, I recognize that those who support racial, gender, and economic oppression do not do so because they, too, think they are “bad”. No, they support them because they actually think they are “good”. In fact, they don't see it as oppression at all. They see them as a paths to justice.

So, who’s right?

I'm sure you’re going to have opinions on each and every one of the things I've listed. But what do you base your opinions on?

Every single one of them is based on your personal beliefs and values. And, that’s exactly the same thing that racists base theirs on as well.

Within a relativistic framework, we have no basis to support or decry anything. At the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of personal preference.

While relativism opens the door for a plurality of voices to be heard, it simultaneously closes the door to being able to say anything authoritatively.

Relativism meets interfaith dialogue

Ultimately, I believe the struggle with relativism is the spectre that haunts Christianity most in an multi-faith world (assuming one is not an exclusivist). We all want to value and cherish the voices of our religious neighbors. After all, is that not what love requires of us? But, we also recognize that the more we relativize our truth claims, the less power those claims seem to carry.

Take, for example, the claim “Jesus is Lord.” If one says Jesus is Lord over all creation, that means that the Way of Christ—the way of universal, creative, interpenetrating, and life enriching love—is the measure by which all human behavior is judged.

On the surface, that sounds wonderful. But, it also asserts Christianity to be the supreme religion. All other religions are to be judged by its propriatory Gospel.

In other words, it is a form of Christian supremacism, and other religions ultimately need to bend the knee.

Meanwhile, when pluralists say, “Christ is Lord for me”, they are making room for other religions to exist in their own way. An admirable thing to do.

Unfortunately, their profound personal profession of faith is also socially irrelevant. The list of things that I consider “bad”, are now only bad for me. They are not necessarily “bad” for others.

This profession of faith offers no basis to judge atrocities. It offers no basis to promote love and compassion in society (though it could be a measure of behavior for a collective of Christians who are all on the same page).

Postmodern culture is experiencing a meaning crisis.

Why have we lost sight of Meaning?
Is there any hope of getting it back?
Better yet, is the loss of Meaning really a bad thing?

If you long for a path forward, my theology book Drinking from an Empty Glass: Living Out of a Meaningless Spirituality is the book you’re looking for.