Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-05
Religious Questions
DISCUSSED BY
DR.. S. PGrkes Cadman.

@. What is meant by the statement
that truth is relative?" If God Him.
self is true, must not truth be abSolutei
A. Obviously everything must exist
before it can be known. But knowledge
involves two factors-the thing that /:
known and the mind that knows it
Different minds know the same thing
in different ways. So the quality Of the
mind and the sum total of its ex-
perienceS exert a modifying influence
on the new knowledge. The stars are
one spectacle to the astronomer and
another to those who are ignorant OF
astronomy. A savage in the jungle in
terprets nature according to his lights
Scientists like Darwin and Edison live
in another universe than that in which
the savage lives, because they glimpse
the meaning Of the universe as he does
not.
Yet both the savage and the scientist
suppose their interpretations to be true
This is why truth is relative to the
total situation. 1t is also the underlying
reason for the growth of truth. It
develops with mans enriched acquaint-
ance with facts and makes the reality
of yesterday appear paltry in compari-
son with the reality of today.
1t should not be forgotten that some
truths are only confirmed by our growth
into life. The proverbs of the race
illustrate this process. It is always true
for example, that honesty is better than
dishonesty, or chastity than unchastity
Yet here again opinions separate. What
is honesty and what is dishonesty?
The conclusion is that God alone is
absolute in the supreme sense, and that
the truth as He sees it is likewise alb
solute. Mans ideal, therefore, Is tC
appropriate the truth of God by every
means at his command. Necessarily
this process is one of gradual acquisi-
ton. giving to much we conceive. even
to God, relative character. Christ
declared Himself the life, the truth. the
way, and from the fruits of that declara-
ton the world has received its noblest
spiritual culture. In Him are certitudes
none other has given us, and those who
obey Him shall not walk in darkness
but shall have the light of life.
O. The Bible states that Christ is
to return personally to. earth as the
reigning Messiah. This doctrine /:
sealed by the Holy Spirit, who inspired
those who taught it. Why do so many
learned Christians reject it and so dis.
credit the authority of God?
A. The scholars to whom you refer
arc IlOO NAoSlCNiIAAA6 tAAS
doctrine of our Lords return. They
wish to understand it for themselves
and make its meaning plain to others
They do not agree with those who
! assert that His return will be that OF
localized Christ confined to bodily
form. Nor do they concede that the
literal Interpretation of highly SYM
bolical Scriptures elucidates the issue.
Much biblical language is pictorial
because this was the favorite medium
of expression for its authors. They
inclined 70 the mysterious, the ma
jestic, the apocalyptic, and never more
so than when they dealt with the
transcendencies of Jesus and the
risen Redeemer and King. But, while
all that is obvious. it is equally cleal
that the essential teachings of the
Bible are direct and universal in theil
appeal.
Take, for example, the Fourth Cos