Relativism is not a coherent philosophical system. It is riddled with contradictions—both logical and experiential. Sophomores in col- lege know that something is fishy when someone claims the state- ment to be true that all truths are relative. They may not be able to name the law of non-contradiction, but they are wired with it, and they can smell it in the wind. Claiming truth for a statement that nullifies truth is self-contradictory. But if you are not claiming your defense of relativism is true, why do you expect me to listen?
And every businessman knows that philosophical relativists park their relativism at the door when they go into the bank and read the language of the contract they are about to sign. People don’t embrace relativism because it is philosophically satisfying. They embrace it because it is physically and emotionally gratifying. It pro- vides the cover they need at key moments in their lives to do what they want without intrusion from absolutes.
That’s what we see in the chief priests and elders. They don’t care about truth. They care about their skin. Therefore, they take the God-given handmaidens of truth—thinking and speaking—and prostitute them as slaves of self-protection. They think their way to an escape, and then use language to avoid shame and harm. Self- aggrandizement is the deepest root of relativism.
It is an enemy of the noble use of the mind. It is something we should avoid and grieve over and labor to overcome. One of the ways that we might make some headway in protecting ourselves and fol- lowing generations from embracing relativism is by pointing out how evil and destructive its effects are.
- John Piper,
Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God
, p. 98, 99
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