In this bulletin series we’ve been looking at the common objections to Christianity. This week I want to look at the objection that Christianity is not true because everything is relative.

Christianity is built on absolutes. Christians believe in absolute truth. For example we believe ‘that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Christians also believe in absolute morality. Some behaviours are always wrong and some behaviours are always right.

So it is not surprising that someone who claims that everything is relative rejects Christianity. Instead they claim that truths of the Bible were only true for certain people – thus Jesus resurrection is only true for Jews who had been socially conditioned to expect a Messiah who would be raised from the dead. And when it comes to absolute morality, they claim that no behaviour is immoral or moral in an objective sense. Rather behaviour is only immoral if an individual or culture considers it immoral.

But rejection of absolute truth by claiming that everything is relative is an illogical statement. It is in itself an absolute truth claim and so is self-defeating. In other words when someone claims that there are no absolute truths, they are holding an absolute truth that there are no absolute truths.

And the rejection of absolute morality is also self-defeating. Because to make such a statement requires you to morally condemn anyone who does not consider all behaviour to be relative. The foolishness of rejecting absolute morality is also seen by the almost universal condemnation of certain behaviours. Pretty much everyone considers paedophilia to be morally wrong.

Thus to reject Christianity for making absolute truth claims is groundless. Everybody makes absolute truth claims, not just Christianity. The trouble is that relativists don’t want to investigate Christianity’s truth claims or anybody else’s – they’d rather be the god of their world.

Do you illogically claim that everything is relative and there are no absolutes?

Joel Radford.