AXIOMS

"Thinking out loud" tonight after finishing a long paper for one of my classes:

I heard a Christian podcaster talking about "axioms" the other day - how they are necessary, but should be limited. He was using the term in its technical sense: "a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true."

We all have axioms because so much of the "truth" we build our lives upon is, by nature, unproveable. 

So the believer has this among his axioms: "There is a God". 

I love apologetics and logical arguments and philosophical "proofs" for the existence of God. They have their place and serve a purpose. Still ... at the end of the day, we must admit there is no proof that God exists - at least not proof that is universally evident and accepted.

But here's the thing: The atheist is in the same boat. Among his axioms is this: "There is no God". 

That axiom is likewise unprovable. He must "take it on faith". 

And that's what an axiom is.

So this podcaster said his theology rested on just 3 axioms: 

1) God exists

2) God is good

3) Scripture comes from God

This seems pretty solid to me. Each axiom is necessary. And each is ultimately unproveable. 

They function as "givens". And that's what an axiom is. 

All other propositional truth claims can be built with these 3 axioms as the base.

So, for example: "If God is good and Scripture comes from Him, then Scripture is true."