Caleb Harrelson
[Originally published as Where do you see the two story view of truth? Written by Genesis Duran, Engage Worldview Academy Student, age 16]
What makes up a building? Other than the bricks and windows, a building consists of an upper story and a lower story. In Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey, we use the building as an analogy for truth — specifically the two story view of truth.
In our world today we see this two story view of truth where religion and topics that are considered “personal or opinions.” These go in the top story (subjective and personal) while ideas that people should agree with or apply to all people belong in the bottom story (objective). In this paper I will explain the three ways that I have seen the two story view of truth in schools, in court, and in our own government. I then will explain two ways that Total Truth has helped me understand the two story view of truth better.
Schools
(Please, note that the schools I’m referring to are public schools and not private schools that can have different systems.)
The first place where I have seen the two story view of truth is in schools. Before kids would say a prayer, had a sheet of the Ten Commandments, and were taught Christian values; however, as times have gone on, schools no longer allow teachers to put the Ten Commandments up (though that is changing recently).
In the article, “Unconstitutional or not, are the Ten Commandments in line with American values?” By Josh Bernoff, he says “The Supreme court declared a similar law in Kentucky unconstitutional in 1980. A federal judge ordered the removal of a monument featuring the Ten Commandments from an Alabama courthouse in 2003. And the Supreme Court ordered the removal of the Ten Commandments from Kentucky courthouses in 2005.”
Previously, religion or Christianity was seen as belonging on the bottom story (applying to all). As kids we could go to schools and see the Ten Commandments reminding us to behave. But sadly because of our sin infested world, that has changed, and religion is no more seen as something that everyone can agree on. It has moved to the upper story where many will say that their faith can not be expressed and that one should be silent about their Christianity. It’s in the subjective realm.
Court
In many states there is a program called Teen Court. Teen Court is an alternative to the Juvenile detention center and allows teens to be in a court run by teens. The whole program is to give kids a cleaner record for when they go to jobs.
I was a part of the program in Texas and on training day we were told specific instructions. We were told to be as objective as possible, and that meant that whatever beliefs or personal ideas we had, were to be kept to ourselves so we could give the best judgment possible. Once again, Christianity (as it is a belief) has been put into the upper story building. We are told to not judge on the basis of our faith, rather to judge on the basis of law and logic, therefore putting a wall between our faith in Christ and the law.
Government
My last example of the two story view of truth in our lives today is the separation of church and state. It’s pretty much self explanatory as in our world today, people have come to say that there is a wall between government and church. And yes, there is somewhat of a wall, but not in the way that religion and beliefs should not interfere with government issues.
I believe that we should allow the Bible to help us run our country. In fact the United States was created by men that believed in God and the Bible. The phrase separation of church and state was from Thomas Jefferson and it was meant to refer to the idea that the government should not make a law giving preferential treatment to a religion and it was to give more freedom to people to pursue their beliefs.
How This Book Has Helped Me
After reading a couple of chapters of Total Truth, I do have to say my mind was overwhelmed. This book is packed to the brim with information and truth. It has given me the ability not only to view our world in a different way, but it has shown me the ever growing need for a total truth view of reality.
I can now see clearly the way that our world has divided religion and beliefs from the rest of society. But if you can not tell, they themselves are pushing for something for everyone to believe. So this book has helped me to see that the Bible is our truth and we should rely on it. It has divine authority, it is never changing.
In Matthew 24:35 it says, “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” And in 2 Timothy 3:16 it says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” The book has also shown me how much our personal beliefs really do affect what goes on in society. What we believe affects how we act which affects our community.
Conclusion
As you can see, our world needs a truth. Our world needs something to rely on, something that will never change, that will determine right or wrong. An objective truth. And that truth is the Bible. We need it. No matter what people say or if people decide not to believe in it, we should follow the Bible as our truth. In our world there are many examples of the two story view of truth and many of those times, religion is put into the upper story. I encourage you to keep this objective truth of the Bible, for it is the Total Truth that our world needs today.
