You could probably make the case that we are living in the era of the lie. Maybe every era on this side of Genesis 3 has been an era of the lie, but lies seem to have taken on greater prominence than ever at a time that has been labeled as “truthy” and “post-truth” rather than truthful. Here’s how Douglas Groothuis, a long-time professor of apologetics, worldview, and philosophy, expresses this:
The concept of truth has been roughed up and bloodied recently. After a bestselling author was exposed as having invented some of the stories from his supposed memoir, a term was coined to fit such cases: truthiness. This means a claim that is not literally true but somewhere in the vicinity. A case of truthiness, however, is a falsehood, because it makes a truth claim that answers to no matching facts. … But something worse was fouling the atmosphere of truth in 2016 when the Oxford online dictionary dubbed post-truth the word of the year. A post-truth society values politics, personal meaning, or just about anything above truth. Truth, whatever that is (or was), can take the back seat.
Some people now also speak of “alternative facts,” which can reinterpret or spin a situation, while others insist that revering truth may actually get in the way of finding common ground and making societal progress. Still others claim that objective truth is associated with oppression and racial supremacy. Put it all together, and it’s clear that truth has fallen on hard times.
Yet, as Groothuis says,
While there are many different beliefs, there are not many different truths. There are many different true beliefs and many different false beliefs, and we do not get our own customized version of truth, since truth is not relative to our beliefs. Truth stands independent of our whims, fears, desires, ignorance, and achievements. A belief is true if it corresponds to reality and if it agrees with every other true belief. And no false belief corresponds with reality. Although we can be arrogant in thinking we know the truth when we don’t, and we can hold the truth in an arrogant fashion, the truth itself is something sacred that should be pursued.
That pursuit of truth is the theme of his new book Taking Back Truth: A Biblical Response to Common Cultural Lies. He takes a logical and philosophical approach to evaluating and refuting the lies we hear just about every day in the twenty-first-century Western world.
The first lies relate to the existence or non-existence of God: that he doesn’t exist (atheism), that he takes many forms (polytheism), or that he is essentially the universe (pantheism), rather than that he exists as the only true and personal God (monotheism). In this chapter, Groothuis makes the case for God, and in the next he defends a biblical account of human nature as created by God and of special value and worth. Where some around us undervalue humanity and others overvalue it, only Scripture leads us to value it rightly as great and unique among all that exists, yet also wretched and miserable because of sin. He goes on to expose lies related to morality, countering the moral relativism that is so common today, then lies related to sex and gender, lies about race, and lies about abortion and human life. While his work overlaps other existing resources (e.g., Shenvi & Sawyer, Trueman), it is unique in its consistently philosophical approach so that it addresses the same issues and arrives at similar conclusions, yet through different means.
As Groothuis wraps up, he provides a “truth tonic for a sick and sad society,” which involves having the right attitude toward truth and healthy habits of thinking. “The reader—no matter how assiduous—must continue to read and learn more about the world, God, culture, and oneself to faithfully fulfill their services in restoring and preserving truth today, tomorrow, and unto the end.” To that end, he offers a series of principles for acquiring the kind of truth that will allow us to serve God and our neighbor. Much of this guidance equips us to expose and overcome the logical fallacies that lead people away from the truth rather than toward it.
Groothuis writes that Taking Back Truth “is meant to chart a long-term strategy of restoring the truth about what matters most concerning some of the pivotal issues of our day.” That is his goal, and he accomplishes it well. Some Christian readers will have quibbles with some of his positions, such as an old versus young earth, but all Christian readers will be challenged and encouraged by his commitment to God’s Word. He consistently exposes the lies, counters them with truth, and equips Christians to live according to Scripture and to serve the world around them.
