Truth is often assumed. Every person works from a system, developed for them by culture, family or some other external source. These values are usually taken for granted. They are not often, or ever, taken out of the garage and tested on the track. Combine these untried presuppositions with the postmodern mindset
of “your truth and my truth,” and you have a showroom quality car with no engine.
Presuppositions are funny things. They are often easy to spot in others, but are like carbon monoxide to the holder: unseen, no smell and are usually a silent killer. So, how can a person understand their blind spots and why is this important?
First, lets define our terms. Presuppositions are the underlying assumptions that each person uses to work through daily situations. It’s the baggage that you bring to life’s decisions. It’s what you project without question when you’re asked a question. It’s the worldview prescription that has formed the lens which reality is viewed through. Presuppositions are important to identity, as in them your arguments will rise and fall. What does this all mean?
If your worldview is based in a false reality, created in the minds of academics or societal movers, absolute truth will strike down that lie, leaving the holder inconsistent or a complete hypocrite. Many people will mold, massage or create definitions to suit their purposes of deception. These hijacked or stretched terms have the illusion of academic prowess, which desires to embarrass or intimidate the hearer into compliance. However, these posers are often paper tigers.
Why is this important? Well…obviously we live in a time and society filled with talking heads spewing their ideas through manifold media outlets. Each day, we are bombarded with social messaging demanding our attention, shaming us into line behind a certain cause. In order to cut through all the noise, we need a
framework, a filter to sift through and separate the truth from the lie. Understanding presuppositions and having a granite foundation for truth to build upon, is critical for survival.
Survival of a culture depends upon the foundation and the structures which hold it up. Ideas are the framework of the building of a society, absolute truth is the foundation. Reality, through examination, comes along as the building inspector. It’s tests and inspection will either allow occupancy or condemn the whole of the building. This is why ideas must be examined, why definitions must be grounded and truth must be found outside of ourselves.
God has made His universe to be governed under His laws. Reality is not made by us, but structured in absolute truth found tethered to the character of God. A society which ignores or suppresses reality, as defined by its Creator, can not last. Our culture has been using inferior materials for some time now. The cracks are spreading in the foundation of society, termites are in the load bearing walls, the roof is caving in—we needed a complete gutting and remodel yesterday.
Unexamined presuppositions, unattached terminology and empty realities have built this house. To get to the studs, to get to the foundation, to purge out the infestation, we need new materials. We need to question the philosophies, define our terms and build again on truth.