OK, I know it's old. But, I remember how fresh and accurate it was when I first saw the phrase on a church sign in rural South Carolina. It's slightly comforting to encounter so many new references right now. Do a Google search and you'll access 31.4 million possible hits in .47 seconds. Maybe it's not just Geezer memory after all. Some pretty current minds are writing books and articles about Truth Decay at the moment. My take is that it is still in the public domain because it's still a element of cultural concern. Day by day and moment by moment we find ways to skew deeply held beliefs. My personal take is that we twist them. They still have meaning. But, it's not the meaning that identified the concept in the first place.
Truth Decay is "diminishing the role of facts and analysis in American public life" (see Jennifer Rand and Michael Rich, Rand, 2018). In this space, let me take a more limited view. Truth decay in this sense in the abandonment of the authority and inerrancy of Scripture in church and religious life. This kind of twist is so visible in our secular world, where truth is defined as science and the personal views of the people in it. In a broad sense culture exists today under the question marks of human opinion rather than the dictates of Scripture or any other established spiritual guidelines. Yes, most churches have statements maintaining the authority of the Bible in religious and personal life. But, the decreasing influence of Christian principle and precepts in daily life leaves room for interpreting truth. Even those affirming a biblical Christian worldview will hedge in the discussion of absolute truth.
The truth decay is our nation right now extends farther than biblical authority. Many scholars and historians question the reliability of our founders thoughts, the ruling documents of our nation, The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Each twist challenges our population with an anything goes mentality that threatens the basic tenets of faith, our system of government, the laws that guide us, our judicial system and courts, economic policy, educational processes, and nearly every dimension of American life.
Basic to any understanding of truth is the existence of truth as a governing human principle. And, ultimate truth is that which is provided by our Creator---
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Proverbs 30:5, ESV
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait
all the day long.
Psalm 25: 5, ESV
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as
of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1: 14, ESV
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are
truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8: 31-32, ESV
Yes, our culture lives under the whims of truth decay. And, we must grasp truth, God's truth, if we are to live in harmony under a rule of law.
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