“I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of”
[Clarence Darrow, Lawyer]
Subjective Reality
This describes something that exists in the mind of a person. Everyone’s experience of an event is subjective, because each person’s circumstances and background are unique, leading to different interpretations. It is the world of emotions and feelings and personal opinions. The scent of a flower is subjective reality since it depends upon the observer. All art is an example of subjective reality.
Objective Reality
This is not influenced by an individual’s personal viewpoint or feelings. It is unbiased and deals with the known facts. An objective fact is a statement that can be verified as true independently of personal opinions or beliefs. An awareness of an objective reality (as in “God”) comes through the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell – as in subjective realities.Some reason that there is almost certainly an objective reality, existing independently of any observer. They argue that physics, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology all converge on a picture where such a reality is there, yet no human perceives it as it actually is. Objective reality exists – you just don’t have direct access to it, and you weren’t designed to Objective Reality Exists. On the other hand, some in the quantum world argue that objective reality doesn’t really exist, Does Objective Reality Exist?, Does Objective Reality Really Exist?
Fortunately, when considering the reality of God, it turns out that the Bible repeatedly points to a particular objective reality through various subjective realities (see later). As already mentioned, the use of biblical subjective realities is a huge step forward in seeing God as an objective reality.
Objective Reality in the Bible
When Moses was asked to go and rescue the Israelites he asked the name of the “entity” he was talking to. He got the reply:
“I AM WHO I AM” . . . tell the children of Israel “I AM” has sent me to you (Exodus 3:14)
What does “I AM” mean? Here’s a little grammar. Consider the statement “I am an engineer”. Here the verb “am” links the subject “I” to the predicate “an engineer” (a predicate tells what the subject “is”). So here “am” is called a linking verb. But in the phrase “I AM” the verb “AM” is the present tense of the verb “to be”, and indicates the subject’s self-existence. In other words, Moses was told “I AM” is a declaration that “I exist”. Other texts confirm this concept:
- In the beginning God . . . (Genesis 1:1)
- The Lord Himself is God . . . (Deuteronomy 4:35)
- Before me there was no God formed . . . (Isaiah 43:10)
- God is Spirit (John 4:24)
These are clear statements of an objective fact, namely, there definitely is a God. God “IS”, period, irrespective of man’s scientific reasoning or philosophical thought. The statements assume, without justification, that there is an objective reality, which they call “God”. Note that YAHWEH (or YHWH, the covenant name of God) has commonly been interpreted as a statement of God’s self-existence. “God is independent, all sufficient in Himself, the only source of all existence and life”, [Hermon Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, John Bolt, 2008].
Subjective Reality in the Bible
Can this objective reality be verified to some degree? Can we be pretty certain there really is such an objective reality which we call God? Probably only via subjective realities. On the basis that each subjective reality points to the same truth (albeit in a different way), collectively they build a picture of an unseen Reality. Consider:The Trinitarian view of God:
This states that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one Spirit (recall that the man Jesus arose as a life-giving Spirit to fill the universe – 1 Corinthians 15:45). So, these persons of the Godhead are invisible (Colossians 1:15) and seem formless and even illusory until observed as some form of subjective reality. For example, the Lord (YHWH) took on visible forms – a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire – to lead the Exodus (Exodus 13:21).Moses saw God:
God spoke plainly to Moses regarding the planned Exodus. Naturally, Moses wanted to see the person he was talking to, and so he said “Please, show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). It turned out that Moses saw a limited form of God (Exodus 33:23, Numbers 12:8) – some sort of subjective reality.Subjective experiences in Acts:
The Book of Acts records how different people saw or heard different things. Acts 2 records how different people in the crowd miraculously heard the uneducated disciples speaking in their own language. This was achieved through the Spirit of God (verse 4). Again, as Paul travelled to Damascus Jesus came to him through a blinding light and a voice from heaven (Acts 9:1-9). His companions heard the voice but, it seems, they were not blinded by light – another subjective experience.The baptism of Jesus:
The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased (Luke 3:22). Here we have three different subjective realities of the same invisible and indivisible objective reality – God. Verification that a triune God “IS” comes from a voice (the Father), a visible bird (the Spirit) and a visible man (the Son).Jesus suddenly appeared:
in supernatural radiance (Revelation 1:9-17) whilst John was exiled on Patmos, and Jesus suddenly appeared in recognizable physical (but immortal) form as the disciples were gathered behind closed doors (John 20:24-29).Note that in these examples (and many more in the Bible), the Being who is communicating with humankind often does so on a loving “personable” basis. This is a fundamental distinction from the assumed impersonal characteristics of “other gods” claimed amongst the nations.
Be First to Comment