What is that? A self-evident truth, I mean. When we think about self-evident truth, most of us recall that famous line from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” What an indescribably rich and precious piece of historical, philosophical, and theological writing expressed in exquisite English prose. All the same, one could ask: “What, exactly, is so self-evident about these truths?
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, “a self-evident truth is a proposition whose truth is known immediately, without need of proof, because its denial is logically or intuitively absurd.” A simplistic example might be the self-evident truth of gravity on Earth. After all, the truth of gravity is immediately known; it needs no proof, and its denial is logically absurd. So far, so good.
Things get interesting, though, when we begin to consider selfevident truths as they complement what it means to be human. Sure enough, what it means to be human is nothing like what it means to be a chimpanzee. The reason this is true, well, should be self-evident. But more than that, the distinct difference between humans and chimpanzeesisgroundedandrooted inthe tenets of humandignity.After all, that is what the Declaration takes great pains to enumerate as “inalienable rights” that are inherent in the human species alone. This is not some arbitrary measure of dignity assigned or awarded to the best and brightest of the race, but is something that is an aspect of being human and therefore cannot be trampled or taken away with impunity. After all, what we are talking about is the very moral foundation that is an innate aspect of what defines us as human.
While this brings us closer to describing the relationship between human beings and self-evident truth, it says little about where the self-evident truth of a moral law actually comes from. While it is often argued that it is a type of learned knowledge, that may not necessarily be the self-evident truth of it.
Law professor Robert George tends to agree with the 17thcentury philosopher John Locke, who believed that all human beings are born with their minds a “blank slate.” George says, “knowledge of [morality], then, is not innate. It does not swing free of experience or of the data provided by experience.” Inotherwords,Georgeclaims that people are not innately moral beings, but rather learn morality through experience. Nevertheless, I am not sure the theory that moral consciousness is a learned response is true; at least it is not a self-evident truth.
Even so, there is a strong argument to be made that the human moral compass of a person is set even before their birth. Just about every mother of twins (or more) can tell you that even early in the crib infants begin to display jealousy, anger, and retaliation between one another. Such behavior seems to demonstrate that at this early age, infants have an innate moral sense of right and wrong, and they instinctively act on it. However, it is not just American infants, nor is it infants from the West only. The same moral behaviors have been observed among cribmates in all cultures, among all peoples at all times. In fact, it seems to be such commonplace that it could even be described as a “self-evident truth that human beings are born with an internal moral conscience. Coming full circle, then, I ask again, “From whence does self-evident truth of a moral compass come?”
Christian doctrine, it turns out, holds that the self-evident truth of an innate moral consciousness is actually the byproduct of mankind being created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26). Christian believers have a reflective nature in that they reflect, to some degree and in an imperfect sense, the perfect nature of God including His moral perfection which was demonstrated by His Son, Therefore, and contrary to the belief of some, Christians believe mankind’s moral compass is inputted into the very soul at its creation rather than being a learned response to ethical pressures. You might even say that man is “endowed by their Creator” withmoralconsciousness.TheBible terms this imputation as God having written His law upon the hearts of men (cf. Jer 31:33; Rom 2:15; Heb 10:16). But there is still more. Paul says that God and His moral law can be so clearly seen that those who deny it are “without excuse” (Rom 1:20). Now, I don’t know about you, but it sounds to me like Paul lays out a self-evident truth claim about where, exactly, the self-evident truth of human moral consciousness clearly comes from. And not only that, but our experiences with our own consciousness seem to bear witness to this truth. After all, it is nothing less than a self-evident truth.
Join us again next time as we continue to probe the question: Is God Dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.