The Validity of Truth and Ethics

The concept of objective truth is essential to any ethical system. Without it, personal responsibility for cruel or destructive acts is reduced to a mere opinion. Many people, therefore, gladly accept only a relativistic concept of truth, because it allows them to rationalize their deeds. The reconstruction of the concept of truth is therefore crucial in the context of humanistic theology. As there is only one reality, there is only one truth, namely the statement and perception of this reality. Many people dichotomize this important issue, asserting that absolute and relative theories of truth are mutually exclusive. The following synthesis seems helpful in resolving this conflict: while an absolute or objective truth exists about anything, the same truth is also relative to other phenomena. Thus, the concept of truth is both, absolute and relative, and that without contradiction.

In humanistic theology we do not claim to possess or represent an absolute truth, nor do we attempt to impose it on others. We are concerned with the search for truth and living it. In moving closer to the truth we are coming closer to God and towards the good life for all.