Princesses in Disguise

“A pure heart is one to which all that is not of God is strange and jarring.” ~ John Tavler

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” ~ Matthew 5:8

For the past three weeks, I’ve been taking a Biblical Worldview class as part of Verity Institute’s dual-enrollment program.  The textbook we’re reading is I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler, and it has been very interesting!  Here is one of the essays I’ve had to write for the class… (the topic was moral relativism, which I found intriguing)

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            Imagine that you are walking down the street when suddenly you see a man attempting to steal an elderly lady’s purse.  What is the first thought that comes to your mind?  How do you react?  Do you see the events unfolding before you as right or wrong?  Now we can presume that most people would declare the act of stealing as wrong.  This is because of the God-given Moral Law inside each one of us.  The reaction we, as humans, have to seeing a wrong action being committed is evidence to its existence.

            It is possible that someone who believes in moral relativity could argue that it was not wrong for that man to steal the lady’s purse as he is entitled to his own tastes and opinions.  However, if this person were to become a victim of such a crime, it is doubtful he or she would have the same reaction.  As Ronald Reagan said, “I’ve noticed all those in favor of abortion are already born.”

An individual who believes that morality is relative does not have a solid foundation on which to build his or her life.  He or she is like the foolish man described in Matthew 7 who built his house on the sand.  “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26-27)  If personal taste is the only thing that determines what is truly right or wrong, then life is uncertain, confusing, and chaotic.

On the other hand, someone who builds his or her life, morals, and values on God’s Moral Law has a solid foundation.  “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”  (Matthew 7:24-25)

To quote Norman Geisler, “What people do is subject to change, but what they ought to do is not.”  God’s Moral Law will never change.  Murder will always be wrong.  We cannot base our own values and morals on what those around us are doing because that will always change.  If we believe that taste is the only morality, we are going against the God-given Moral Law inside of us, building our life on a sandy foundation, and conforming to the ever-changing values of the world.

image from art.com