Chapter 1

The World We Live In: Truth and Reality

The Miracle of Your Existence

Against astronomical odds, you exist. An estimated 100 billion people have walked this earth, yet when considering the infinite genetic combinations that could create human life, the number of potential people who could have existed but never did is unimaginable. Statistically, your specific existence is so improbable that science would consider it negligible—virtually impossible. Yet here you are, uniquely experiencing sunsets and gazing at stars, unlike anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.

This profound uniqueness raises fundamental questions: Why were you born? Is there purpose beyond the conventional path of being born, school, career, family, and death? Even if we find temporary meaning in these pursuits, is there something deeper?

The Investment of Life

We dedicate twelve years to basic education, often followed by three to seven or more years in higher education, all to prepare for a career that spans forty to fifty years. This investment seems logical for earthly success and satisfaction. But what if existence extends beyond our seventy, eighty, or ninety years on earth, shouldn't we consider investing effort in matters with eternal consequences? Only a fool would dismiss the possibility of eternity without compelling evidence that death is truly the final curtain.

Facing Life's Challenges

Life presents unexpected challenges that test our deepest beliefs. These might include compelling atheist arguments, discussions about the impossibility of an afterlife, encounters with different worldviews, or personal crises triggered by loss or health setbacks. When such moments arrive, will we find ourselves standing on solid ground or sinking sand? Do we possess rational evidence to support our beliefs during times of uncertainty?

The Question of Purpose

If Christianity is false—if there is no God and we are merely highly evolved animals—can there be any ultimate purpose to life? If we exist solely to survive and reproduce, what explains our deep-seated sense of purpose? There seems to be no evolutionary advantage in believing we have purpose if our only objective is genetic survival.

C.S. Lewis observed that humans possess an innate longing for something beyond the material world, a desire for transcendent reality that points to a higher purpose. Without God, meaning becomes merely a subjective illusion of short duration—temporary meaning we create through work, relationships, or other pursuits, but nothing lasting.

The Role of Worldviews

We all operate from personal worldviews—frameworks we've developed over time that shape how we interpret and understand life. These are influenced by family, education, career, social interactions, and religious teachings. A worldview functions as a lens through which we interpret the world and answer life's biggest questions about existence, purpose, morality, and knowledge.

Different cultures and regions produce vastly different worldviews. However, the Christian worldview offers a perspective that transcends cultural distinctions. Rooted in the Bible, it addresses key existential questions by grounding reality, knowledge, and values in God's revelation. It emphasizes that without God, life lacks ultimate meaning and value, while providing a coherent foundation for purpose and significance.

The Nature of Truth

Truth is not determined by belief, feeling, or consensus. Even if you believe something with complete conviction, or if many people agree with you, truth remains independent of human opinion. Truth denotes conformity with reality or factuality—it stands on its own, just as mathematical equations remain true regardless of human feelings.

Several theories help us understand truth: the Correspondence Theory suggests truth faithfully reflects reality; the Coherence Theory emphasizes internal consistency within belief systems; the Pragmatic Theory focuses on practical success and favorable outcomes; and the Logical Theory analyzes language structure and truth conditions.

The Problem with "My Truth"

Today's culture promotes phrases like "live your truth" and "you are enough," which may sound empowering but can lead to spiritual deception and moral relativism. Living by our own truth, detached from objective reality, ultimately leads to confusion, anxiety, and isolation. As Frank Turek observes, humans have a fatal tendency to adjust truth to fit our desires rather than adjust our desires to fit truth.

The idea of "living your truth" is flawed because "your truth" is not real truth. Truth aligns with reality and doesn't change based on personal feelings. When culture encourages people to "live their truth," it raises critical questions: What happens when my version of truth conflicts with someone else's? If there's no objective standard, those with power could define right and wrong however they choose—a pattern we've seen throughout history with harmful consequences.

The Burden of Self-Reliance

Statements like "you are enough" place an unrealistic burden on individuals, implying that we alone must solve every problem and manage every struggle. This mindset often leads to exhaustion and self-focus. Rather than being empowering, such thinking can become overwhelming and isolating.

The Ultimate Stakes

On the final day of our lives, the ultimate meaning of life will become clear. For Christians, this represents personal fulfillment and the realization of purpose that carries into the future—the promise of ultimate Truth. For non-Christians or atheists, this final day could signify the end of meaning altogether, or worse, lead to an unexpected reckoning if there is indeed a God.

This is the paradox of life without God: if there's no divine foundation, everything once meaningful fades into nothingness. The stakes are enormous—if life holds more than the cycle of birth-life-death, how much effort should we allocate to eternal matters?

The Evidence for Faith

Faith, especially during times of crisis, requires more than emotion—it needs reason and evidence. Christianity offers verifiable evidence supporting God's existence and the truth of its claims. This stands in contrast to subjective truth, which consists of beliefs people hold without evidence or alignment with reality.

As J.P. Moreland, professor of philosophy of religion at Biola University, notes: "You might not have the answer, but Christianity has an answer because Christianity is true." The key is to keep seeking when satisfactory answers aren't immediately available.

Engaging with Questions

Jesus, as the greatest communicator, often responded to questions with insightful questions of His own, encouraging people to explore the heart of what they were asking. There are 339 questions recorded in Jesus' teachings, providing a perfect model to follow. When addressing questions about God's existence, it's important to ask clarifying questions like: "What do you mean by 'evidence'? Why do you think God doesn't exist? Have you ever believed in God, and if so, what changed your mind?"

The Foundation for Belief

This exploration of truth, purpose, and worldview highlights the importance of pursuing objective truth beyond individual biases. We've examined the distinctiveness of human existence and considered whether life encompasses more than routine activities and transient ambitions. While education and careers demand much of our energy, we must consider whether these pursuits alone fulfill our deepest longings.

The Christian worldview provides a coherent and compelling framework rooted in divine revelation. Truth, by nature, is objective—independent of our feelings—and worth pursuing. Rather than settling for subjective truth or cultural relativism, we can build our lives on a foundation of evidence-based faith that addresses life's most profound questions.

Looking Forward

The journey toward understanding truth and purpose requires courage to examine our beliefs critically and openness to evidence that may challenge our assumptions. It demands that we resist confirmation bias and seek objective truth, even when it's uncomfortable or inconvenient.

As we face life's inevitable challenges and questions, we need more than emotional responses—we need rational, evidence-based foundations for our beliefs. The Christian worldview offers such a foundation, providing answers to humanity's deepest questions about existence, purpose, and meaning.

The stakes could not be higher. If there is indeed more to life than our brief earthly existence, if there are eternal consequences to our beliefs and actions, then pursuing truth becomes not just intellectually satisfying but eternally essential. The question remains: Are you willing to seek truth beyond your own perceptions and desires?

The journey toward truth requires intellectual honesty, emotional courage, and spiritual openness. It's a journey worth taking, for it leads to a deeper understanding of life's purpose and a firmer grasp of truth that transcends individual opinion—truth that can withstand life's greatest challenges and provide meaning that endures beyond our earthly existence.