Everybody has presuppositions, even if they deny it.
A presupposition is simply a belief you start withâa thing you assume is true before you ever begin to argue, study, or debate.
You presuppose, for example, that your own mind is rational and capable of weighing facts and drawing sound conclusions. But you cannot prove that without using the very mind youâre trying to justify. Thatâs a logical circle.
Thatâs how presuppositions work. Theyâre unavoidable.
The real question is:
Will I be honest about mine, and am I willing to challenge them if truth demands it?
I care more about truth than comfort.
Thatâs why I start here.
Foundational Presupposition
I presuppose that the Holy Scripturesâcontained in the Old and New Testaments of the Bibleâare true and understandable.
Iâll go further: I believe that if the Bible were not true, we would lack a deep, coherent basis for trusting our reasoning, our investigation of the world, or our judgments about good and evil.
Thatâs a bold claim. It should be. Truth claims ought to be tested.
So donât treat this as a slogan. Treat it as a starting point and ask the real question:
Does this starting point hold up under honest, careful examination, or does it collapse into contradiction?
My conviction is that this presupposition does hold up. What I write and share is my attempt to explore that openly and invite anyone willing to think carefully and honestly to follow along.
If you reject the idea that the Bible is true, Iâm not shocked or threatened. There are plenty of voices that start with âThe Bible is falseâ and build from there.
What Iâm doing is the opposite: Iâm exploring what follows if the Bible is true.
The issue is not whether you already agree with me.
The issue is: are you willing to examine a starting point other than your own, or are you too committed to your own presuppositions to let them be questioned?
Truth Is Knowable
Hereâs another crucial presupposition:
Truth is real, and truth is knowable.
If thatâs so, then you and I can:
- distinguish truth from fiction,
- call something right and something else wrong,
- and choose what to believe based on more than preference or mood.
If you deny that truth can be known in any meaningful way, then thereâs no real point in arguing with anyone about anythingâleast of all with me.
If no one can know what is true, then:
- you canât know that Iâm wrong,
- you canât know that youâre right,
- and you canât even be sure that âtruth is unknowableâ is true.
For those who insist, âThere are no absolute truths,â I have one simple question:
Are you absolutely certain about that?
If the answer is yes, youâve just affirmed at least one absolute truth.
If the answer is no, your statement refutes itself.
Either way, radical skepticism about knowable truth canât stand on its own feet.
The Scriptures Are Profitable
Because I believe God has spoken in the Scriptures, I also believe His words carry real authority and real power.
Few books have been as banned, burned, twisted, and hated as the one that exposes humanityâs corruption with such relentless clarity. And few books have so consistently transformed individual lives and entire cultures as the one that claims to be the very word of God.
Its power is not merely claimed; it is historically, personally, and spiritually demonstrated. But Iâm not asking you to grant all of that upfront.
My posture is simple:
I want to speak where Godâs Word speaks, stay silent where it is silent, and let God do the heavy lifting in your mind and heart.
Here is what I affirm:
-
Godâs Word is completely true.
(Psalm 119:160; John 17:17) -
Godâs Word is for mankind today.
(Psalm 100:5; 2 Peter 1:2â4) -
Godâs Word is knowable and understandable.
(2 Peter 1:20â21; 2 Timothy 1:13) -
Godâs Word is given so we can know Him and walk with Him.
(2 Timothy 3:16; Psalm 119) -
Godâs Word is alive and powerful.
(Hebrews 4:12)
These are not abstract doctrines to me. They are the rails my thinking runs on and the ground my life stands on.
If youâre willing to test these claims honestly, then youâre exactly the kind of person Iâm talking to.