Abosolutes versus Absolutism

In his new book Lies that God Unchallenged in Popular Culture, Charles Colson calls attention to a distinction between absolutes and absolutism made by Art Lindsay of the C.S. Lewis Institute. Absolutism weaves in bigotry, arrogance, and close-mindedness. Christians can stand for absolutes without succumbing to absolutism. Christians also need to learn to speak about truth in ways that help others see the difference. Colson notes that we need to model the demeanor of Jesus who embodied absolute truth without becoming an absolutist.

Colson notes that those who argue that everything is relative (they argue it, but I don't think anyone really believes it) are often absolutists about it. I'm not sure that pointing that out to most of them usually advances any discussions, but it is extremely ironic, even frustrating at times.

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