I always used to think that the reality of Truth had to be objective.

If it wasn't
objective, or objectively realized, then it's not really Truth. If there is
Absolute Truth, which as a Christian, I believe is God, then that Truth must
be able to be reached objectively, and that's what we must strive for. I've
always been taught in this paradigm of modern thinking.

But as I've learned and grown more, and have been reading up on
postmodernism, I have come to understand t that Absolute Truth and
objective truth are not the same thing. Absolute truth refers to the fullness of
reality, which, I think we can safely say, we humans are far too dumb to
grasp. Objective and subjective distinctions refer to our perceptions of truth--
objective meaning that our search and knowledge is unaffected by our own
opinions or biases, and subjective meaning that our knowledge is affected by
those things.

The question that has recently come to my mind is, Can we really know any
truth objectively? Everyone sees reality from a different angle. This means
that all of our perceptions of the world are subjective to our perspective. If I
am looking at a cup in front of me, I only see that cup from one angle.
Actually, we must go further in this act of observation. My eyes see the cup,
the image is sent to my brain which then interprets the image. My
interpretation of that image is affected by many things: my education, my
experience, my background. And even though this all happens within a split
second, it is still an interpretation. And from my single, limited angle, I can't
know the full reality of the cup that I see in front of me. I can't, by myself,
grasp the fullness of the truth of that cup. My interpretation, combined with
my experience with previous cups and general knowledge about cups, leads
me to think that I've got this cup all figured out. But in that moment of
observing, I am forced to subjectively interpret what I'm seeing.

As a quick aside, I think this illustrates one of the great importances of

community (and diversity within community!): because we all see things
from different angles and perceptions, we must try to help each other to
know the different angles of the reality of something in order to grasp as
much of the fullness of reality that we can.

If we as Christians believe our Lord when he said "I am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life" (John 14:6), we must acknowledge (which I don't think any of us
will have a problem doing) that Jesus, the eternal Logos, is the embodiment
of the reality of Truth. He is the Absolute, in terms of what we might know as
the reality of Truth. There is no reality apart from, or greater than, Him. If we
believe that Jesus alone is the fullness of Truth, then we have to say that
someone can't know the fullness of Truth apart from knowing (or having a
relationship with) Jesus. If this Truth is something that you can only come to
know through a personal experience, then that is subjective. Therefore,
Truth, as we know (think intimately knowing here) it, is subjective based on
our own perspectives and relationships with that Truth.

But even Christians, who we can say know more fully the Truth through
knowing Jesus, can't know the fullness of Truth, because, frankly, it is far
beyond us. God is a mystery that cannot be subjected to our rationally
thinking minds. And, as we're always perceiving reality through our
subjective lenses, we will never know the fullness of Truth until we come into
God's Kingdom. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we
shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I
am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

When I brought this topic up in conversation with a friend, they said to me,
"So, you don't believe in absolute Truth then?" No, that's not what this
means at all. I believe in absolute Truth, which is the fullness of reality. But
our perceptions and perspectives of the world do not equate to the fullness
of reality, because we are so limited. We can only know reality through our
interpretations. And those of us blessed to know the salvation of God through
Jesus are blessed to know Truth itself in our Lord. Know Jesus, know the
Truth.