In his book The End of Education, Neil Postman explains that the word 'End' in the book's title was deliberately chosen because it carries a double meaning: if education has no end, it will meet its end. So it is here. I chose the title "The End of Truth" because today, in the intellectual discussions of philosophy and epistemology in the West, "truth" as an objective reality has rapidly grown out of vogue and has been replaced by (an ironically dogmatic) epistemic and religious pluralism. Thus, Truth seems to many to have met its demise. And if God is true, then God has met his end. The issue of Truth, then, is no small issue, however difficult it is to tackle.
On the other hand, if Truth exists objectively, it exists as a testimony to that of which it speaks, whether of God or anything else; there is a purpose for its existence (beyond merely existing). That purpose, I believe, is so that all of humanity recognize and rejoice in the realities to which such truths point. In other words, all that is true is made true so that we will truly know something of reality, and in such knowledge will then offer a due response of affection back to God corresponding to such truth.
If Truth is, in fact, at its end, then there is no reality and everything is meaningless, for (ironically) there would still be one self-destructive truth: truth does not exist. However, if it is not at its end, then not only does it testify to something, but (having testified to some reality) it also calls for some response from those to whom it speaks. You and I are those who listen.
To love what we know is true about God and his Reality is the greatest joy in which we could participate, and this is precisely what he calls us to: our greatest joy founded on true knowledge. Questions of how we know things and which things we can know are inevitable and are worth addressing, especially for those who doubt my premises. But those questions are never ultimate, God is.
No comments:
Post a Comment