In search of truth
Well, kind of. If you actually stop to think about it, all the (passably credible) political parties seem to have arrived at a consensus for the big ideas by now. Foreigner inflow - yes, probably too much too fast. Transport system - yes, probably should have built more capacity. Support for the elderly - yes, probably should provide some social safety net. Cost of housing - yes, probably too high. Any contention about these big issues is now mostly about finger pointing - why didn't we fix these earlier? Which, if you think about it, is a great luxury for us as Singaporeans. Most other countries don't get to ask "why didn't you fix this earlier?". They're still stuck at "why didn't you fix this earlier?"!
What about other issues?
I expect that many of you will agree, and many others disagree with the above. I think I'm right about these things, but OK, maybe I'm mistaken. Some might even mediate, in an attempt to convince everyone that We Should All Just Get Along, using the relativist's favourite quote "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
There is an old story about the blind men and the elephant, where the blind men touch different parts of the elephant and conclude that the elephant is a wall, a spear, a fan, a tree or a rope. This story is sometimes used to argue that truth is merely perception. But it's actually the reverse. It demonstrates that there is absolute truth - the enormous, very solid, very real elephant. And if only we could open our eyes, we'd see it.
a."Return my CPF!" Eh, what do you think you have been using to pay for your flat? And your hospital bill? And your retirement kitty? Oh, you want all those things to be free. I see. *roll eyes*
b. "Scrap the PSLE!" I asked my 11-year-old yesterday what he thought - you know, why not have no big exam until you're say, 16 and more mature. If you know my boy, he is constantly grumbling about having to study. But even his spontaneous response was "if there is no exam, no one can rise, no one can fall. No one will be scared to fail, no one will need to succeed". And to my question, "what about the pressure on little kids like you?" "Aiyah Daddy, you think the real world got no pressure ah? If I only learn when I'm 16, I can't change my habits!" Well said, buddy. Now go and practise your composition :) "HAR?!?!"
c. "Pay a minimum wage!" What do you think Workfare, Comcare, and subsidised healthcare are? And then all your domestic workers and construction workers how? All minimum wage $XXXX also lah. Not fair right? And if you are a Singapore business owner, and you have to pay minimum wage for work that is worth less than minimum wage... what do you do? Close shop and set up your factory somewhere else lah.
But... nonsense. There are always facts. There is always truth.
My point is, just because there are multiple perspectives, and multiple incomplete and flawed perspectives, doesn't mean that there isn't a single gleaming truth. With perfect foresight and hindsight, there is a truth, as to whether or not it is a good idea to scrap the PSLE. Whether CPF should be returned. Whether there should be a minimum wage.
It's true that we don't have perfect foresight and hindsight, and we never will, but we know that there's truth out there. As rational, reasonable people, we don't throw up our hands, give up and say, everything is relative! No, we should seek and come to a conclusion on the truth. The truth is important.
In this regard, Christians are often tarred with the "blind faith" brush. Ah, all these Christians. Gullible, no logic. In fact, the reverse is true. The faith journey is all about searching for and pursuing truth and reason. To revisit the verse from last week's post - the apostle Paul describes it thus in 1 Corinthians 13:11-12: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then, face to face [clearly]. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
So how do we know that the Bible is true, for example? This is a common question posed to Christians. This post is already pretty long, and whole books have been written on this topic, so I'll try to keep this short!
a. the Bible is not a storybook and was not written as a storybook. It is split into two main parts - the Old Testament (essentially, before Jesus) and the New Testament (after Jesus).
b. The Old Testament is a collection of historical accounts, songs and poems. All the wars, kings, genealogies, peoples and cultures are real, and they all match with archaeological findings. We are not talking about Atlantis or Avalon, places which have no evidence of historical reality. The Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Israelites, the Canaanites - all real. Many of the accounts are historical accounts. The books of Judges, Kings and Chronicles are essentially history books. The book of Psalms - most of the poems are written by David or his musicians, describing life as it was known then. The book of Proverbs - written by Solomon. Real people, real events.
c. The New Testament is also not a storybook. It is a collection of contemporaneous historical accounts and letters. So, the Gospel of John for example, is written by the apostle John, who was actually there with Jesus. The letters by the apostles Paul, Peter, John etc were all literally, letters. Actual letters written at the time to actual people, accounting for events which the writer knew was true, because he was actually there, and which the recipients also knew to be true, because they were also there and couldn't be so easily lied to. So when Paul writes that Jesus was crucified, for example, we know it must really have happened. Otherwise the recipients of his letter would be, like, "what are you talking about??". They were actually there.
d. The truth of the Bible is especially evident because the writers, like the apostles Peter, Paul and John, were all prepared to die for it. Today, we sometimes have "religious" terrorists who die for their faith too. But they don't have first hand truth. They often die for something they themselves have not seen personally. But Peter, Paul and John all knew the truth. They were actually there. If Jesus was not real, they would know. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, they would know. If Jesus did not heal the sick, they would know. So they knew the truth. First hand. And they knew it to be so true, that they were prepared to be imprisoned, tortured, and eventually killed for it. That speaks pretty loudly.
e. The truth of the Bible is even more evident because it is a compilation of writings across a few thousand years. Yet it is incredibly internally consistent. The book of Isaiah for example, dates to about the 8th century B.C. i.e. 800 years before Jesus was born. Yet read Isaiah 53, and it is an incredibly accurate description of Jesus' life. Another example - the book of Daniel dates to about the 6th century B.C. and yet describes the 3rd century conquest and subsequent fall of Alexander the Great. According to 1st century historical records, somewhat spine-chillingly, Alexander the Great subsequently actually reads this prophecy, and realises that it is about himself!!!
This blog doesn't have enough space to talk about all the other reasons why faith is about truth. This election season, we seek truth and what's right. We may well disagree, but there is truth, and it's out there. And I pray that we don't just stop at political truth, important as it may be. There is an even bigger, better truth - that God loves us, sent His Son for us, has planned work in advance for us to do, and the plan is to prosper us, to give us a hope and a future. Majulah :)
In this regard, Christians are often tarred with the "blind faith" brush. Ah, all these Christians. Gullible, no logic. In fact, the reverse is true. The faith journey is all about searching for and pursuing truth and reason. To revisit the verse from last week's post - the apostle Paul describes it thus in 1 Corinthians 13:11-12: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then, face to face [clearly]. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
a. the Bible is not a storybook and was not written as a storybook. It is split into two main parts - the Old Testament (essentially, before Jesus) and the New Testament (after Jesus).
b. The Old Testament is a collection of historical accounts, songs and poems. All the wars, kings, genealogies, peoples and cultures are real, and they all match with archaeological findings. We are not talking about Atlantis or Avalon, places which have no evidence of historical reality. The Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Israelites, the Canaanites - all real. Many of the accounts are historical accounts. The books of Judges, Kings and Chronicles are essentially history books. The book of Psalms - most of the poems are written by David or his musicians, describing life as it was known then. The book of Proverbs - written by Solomon. Real people, real events.
d. The truth of the Bible is especially evident because the writers, like the apostles Peter, Paul and John, were all prepared to die for it. Today, we sometimes have "religious" terrorists who die for their faith too. But they don't have first hand truth. They often die for something they themselves have not seen personally. But Peter, Paul and John all knew the truth. They were actually there. If Jesus was not real, they would know. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, they would know. If Jesus did not heal the sick, they would know. So they knew the truth. First hand. And they knew it to be so true, that they were prepared to be imprisoned, tortured, and eventually killed for it. That speaks pretty loudly.
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