Blog

by Charlie Wolcott

Truthophobia? What is that? It’s actually a word I completely made up. The Latin equivalent is alethephobia, but for this post, I will use “truthophobia” simply because it sounds better. Truthophobia is what I describe as the “fear of truth.”

Stephen Hawking once said, “Religion is for people who are afraid of the dark.” John Lennox replied, “Evolution is for people who are afraid of the light.”

Today, there is a great fear and outright hatred for truth. No one wants to listen to a standard not determined by themselves. As I have discussed creation and other topics with both militant atheists and other Christians alike, it is like finding a rare gem to come across someone who actually longs to seek the truth. Too many people are out to prove their position without examining the actual facts, only listening to that which supports their position. They are ultimately so easily swayed by any teaching that pleases their sinful flesh. Again, I’ve found this in both non-believers and believers alike.

Many of the atheists I deal with are emotionally charged in their attacks on Scripture. If the Bible or any truth standard that does not let them decide on their own what is right and wrong is mentioned, they are quick to attack. They completely reject the Bible as the standard of truth, and I have noticed that they are completely devoid of the use of logic, reasoning, or even holding to their own definitions. Yet they hold evolution as absolute fact. If it was true, why is it they have to keep the theory in muddied waters, where you can’t independently go out and test it? Why it is they have to keep multiple definitions to terms, like evolution itself, “transitional fossils,” “scientist,” “evidence,” and “science” itself. If I were paid a nickel for every time I heard someone equivocate definitions with these terms, I could pay off the United States’ national debt in one fell swoop. Why do they so hate being held to their own definitions, let alone an outside standard of truth?

The old earth creationists and theistic evolutionists are no different. The majority of them claim to be Christian yet with very few exceptions, I cannot tell them apart from the militant atheists who hate Christians and God and the Bible. They very quickly side with the militant atheists against those who stand for the authority of Scripture (regardless of one’s “interpretation” of Genesis). They also refuse to be held to any standard on how to read Scripture. Their entire basis for how they read Scripture is based on a “could be,” completely disregarding context, and all of it is based on their opinions on Scripture, not on what Scripture actually says. I will dig into that point more in another post soon. But they claim to hold to the truth, yet they dislike it. Why? If you have read Steve Risner’s posts for any part of almost the last year, he has been addressing a theistic evolutionist, someone who claims to be a Christian and yet whose doctrine is so atrocious and bears such disregard for a standard of truth to follow, you may notice there are problems with these positions.

But it is not just that. I see this problem with many in the church itself. If God were just a God of love, kindness, compassion, mercy, and that was it, most people would have no problems with him. If God just allowed people to do what they want without consequence and be there to give them what they want like some kind of genie, how many more would turn to God? That is what the emergent church and that type of thinking has done. They have tried to redefine, “repaint” what truth is, to make it malleable and foldable, bendable to meet our desires. It is taking the secular concept of “relativism” that truth is relative to the person who holds it, and decorating it with Christian terminology. Beware of such people because they are not followers of Christ, but of their own belly.

What does the truth say? How can we define truth? And why are so many scared of hearing it? They’re so scared that they fight and rage and do everything they can to silence it or minimize its effect. There are several reasons for this; among them includes a desire to please all different crowds. They want to sound smart before Christians and non-Christians at the same time. They want to please two opposing worldviews at the same time. Another reason is for moral reasons. They know that if they consistently sought the truth, their moral life and desires would be exposed, which they don’t want.

People like Sigmund Freud, who founded modern psychology, hated the Bible and hated truth. If you read his writings and dig further into him, you will find he was a pedophile who had a keen interest in young boys. But that’s an extreme example. Here is a much more common moral reason to hate truth: because the truth reveals that when you live your own life the way you want to, the end leads to death. Proverbs speaks this twice. Many people hate the truth because they love their sin. John makes this clear in John 1. People hate the truth and they are scared of it, because they do not want it revealing who they really are.

Here at Worldview Warriors, however, we do not have Truthophobia. We are not scared of the truth. We are not ashamed of the truth. When presented with challenges to our position, we are not afraid to stand our ground. We know (and are still learning at times) when to pick our battles, but we are not afraid of the truth, nor afraid of what standing for it entails. We are not afraid to take what Scripture says at its word and follow its logical conclusion, even if it does not bode well for us.

Samuel Clemens said: “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”

This accurately depicts the mindset of those who are not willing to change themselves when the truth speaks. If there are parts of the Bible that bother us, let it bother us until we bend ourselves to agree with it. Let us not be fearers of truth. Let us be lovers of truth. If you are a lover of truth, you will not be popular. You will not be well received by a generation that does not love truth. But as our leader Jason DeZurik has learned, which he wrote in his book “How Being Consistent Changed Everything,” when you focus on the truth, it is exhilarating and freeing. “Know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Are you free? Or do you think you are free, but actually enslaved? What the world says will enslave you (Scripture) actually makes you free. What the world says will make you free (their system) enslaves you. Be free. Find the freedom that can only be found in Scripture and the Author it points to. Be a lover of the truth. When you do, you cannot go wrong.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.