TommyBelgum

Ms.Miller
APEnglishLanguageandComposition
20April2015
IndieRockandShortShorts
Therecanonlybeonedefinitionfortheterm"Truth",andmust,therefore,bemeasured
inabsolutes.ThefaithIhaveinanomnipotentGodhasleadmetobelieveinatruththatgoes
beyondwhatismeasuredinKelvinsandCoulombs.However,itisnotjustabeliefinan
invisibledeitythathasleadmetothisconclusion,itiscommonsense.Therearecauses.There
areeffects.Thereareevents.Therearefacts.Althoughnotalwaysdisplayedaccuratelyintext
books,historyhappenedinanabsolutemanner,andthestudyoftruthisthedoctrinethatbegan
thestudyofallthings,ofhistory,ofscience,ofmusicthisdoctrineisPhilosophy.Toseektruth
istobeenlightenedabouttherealityofourexistence.
Whendefiningaconcept,itmustbegivenafoundation,aplatforminwhichtherestof
thestructurecanbestackedupon,asteadytableforagameofJenga.Therearefourmain
principlesthatmustbeestablishedforunderstandingwhattruthis.Thefirstisthatitmustbe
universal.Itmustbesobecausephysicswontchangeonthebasisofapersonssex,creed,age,
oreconomicstatus,eventswon'thappeninadifferentway,nofactwillbealteredbetween
people,(thisisnottobeconfusedwithpreference,which,initsnature,changes.)Truthremains
universalbetweenallthings.Secondly,truthmustholdvalidinbothextremecasesandminor
cases.Ifitcannotholduptothistestitcaneasilybedisprovedandisnolongerlegitimate.To
sayterrorismismorallywrongcanbeappliedtosimplyachildishbullyatlunchtimeanda

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planedivingintotheWorldTradeCenter.Truthmustalsorevolvearoundbeingenlightened,
increasingunderstandingofatopic.Whenafactisexplainedordiscovered,thelearnercannow
seethetopicinanewlight.Interestinglyenough,thephilosopherC.S.Lewissaid,
Youcantgo
onseeingthroughthingsforever.Thewholepointofseeingthroughsomethingistosee
somethingthroughit.Toseethroughallthingsisthesameasnottosee(
TheAbolitionof
Man
).Inotherwords,onelooksthroughawindowtoseeagarden,butifthegardenwasalso
transparent,therewouldneverbeanythingtosee.Theworldmustbelookedatthroughthelense
oftruthinordertoberelevantatall.Tounderstandthesheerrelevanceoftheworldiswhythe
ancientGreeksbegantostudyPhilosophy.Logically,then,truthmustbeanexternaldoctrine,it
cannotsimplybeourownmadeupideasifitisgoingtobringrelevancetotheworld.InJohn
8:3132

JesussaidtotheJewswhohadbelievedinhim,Ifyouabideinmyword,youare
trulymydisciples,andyouwillknowthetruth,andthetruthwillsetyoufree.Godbrings
relevancetolifebybeingtheonlypersonwhohistoricallyclaimedtobetruth.Heistheexternal
forcethatsupersedesallraces,genders,andeconomicstatuses.Heisrelevantinallcasesand
enlightensanindividualbygivingamoralstandardtolivelifetothefullestby.
Amisconceptionmustbeclearedup:truthisnotrelative.Preferencesarerelative.
AlthoughitistruethatIenjoyindierock,asliceofBigSurpizza,shortshortsandaHawaiian
shirt,thosearesimplythingsIprefer.Thisideaofrelativismisthatofwhichapersonbelieves
thatwhatistrueformeisnotnecessarilytrueforthem.However,thisbreaksitscharacteristicof
beinguniversalandpresentstruthasbeingsimplyamatterofhowonepreferstoseetheworld,
whichitcannotbeifitisanexternaldoctrine.Tosaythatalltruthisrelativeisanabsolute
statementandthusisamajorflawinthinking.Tobeaskedtodefinetruthinanintrospective

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wayisafallacybecauseitassumesthatthatisapossibletask.Todefinetruthinternallywould
bearelativisticwayofaskingforapreference:preferencesinnaturearenottruths.Theremust
beanexternalforcethatdetermineswhatthestandardsoftruthare,afigureofauthority,afigure
ofomnipotence.
Simplyput,truthisauniversaldoctrinethatexistsoutsideofourselvesandbrings
relevancetotheworld.IhavemostclearlyseentruthinmyjourneytodiscoverwhoGodis,
historicallyandspiritually.Thedepthofevidencegoesfarbeyondadustybook,butdivesinto
archeology,corroboration,eyewitnesses,rebuttals,anditsdocumentarialintegrity.Aswind
cannotbeseen,truthisnotvisible:itseffectsarerelevantnonetheless.

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WorksCited
Lewis,C.S.
TheAbolitionofMen
.Durham:SamizdatUP,1947.Print.

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