097: Abdu Murray on Saving Truth in a #FakeNews Culture of Confusion

Turn on the news, engage in social media, or even have a conversation with someone of a different opinion, and things can get heated easily. This week on the show, I sat-down with author of the brand-new book, Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World, and renowned apologist, Abdu Murray. Together, we dove into why he believes foundational truth has been hijacked and why instead, we find ourselves swimming in a culture of confusion. Today, we’re going to look at:

• Why those who are confused about morality are progressive pioneers, why those who are confused about spirituality are praised as tolerant, and why those who express certainty about any of these issues are seen as bigoted, oppressive, arrogant, or intolerant.
• We’ll also look at how culture has made truth subordinate to personal preference, and expose the danger about doing so.
• Why Christians are as responsible for keeping the antagonistic “us” versus “them” dialogue alive as anyone else.
• How to create safe places for pleasant discussion and questioning to happen without shame infiltrating the conversation.
• How to keep ourselves from weaponizing truth, forming alliances with people with whom we have agreement and then as a result, build silos of self-protection and self-righteousness.

This is a heavy conversation indeed, but one I believe is necessary for our personal growth and our ability to be relentlessly committed to people, even people with whom we have disagreement. And…if you want to watch the conversation, we filmed it, and it’s available right now on my YouTube channel or my Facebook page.

Watch the Interview

Buy the Book

Increasingly, Western culture embraces confusion as a virtue and decries certainty as a sin. Those who are confused about sexuality and identity are viewed as heroes. Those who are confused about morality are progressive pioneers. Those who are confused about spirituality are praised as tolerant. Conversely, those who express certainty about any of these issues are seen as bigoted, oppressive, arrogant, or intolerant.

This cultural phenomenon led the compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary to name “post-truth” their word of the year in 2016. How can Christians offer truth and clarity to a world that shuns both? By accurately describing the Culture of Confusion and how it has affected our society, author Abdu Murray seeks to awaken Westerners to the plight we find ourselves in. He also challenges Christians to consider how they have played a part in fostering the Culture of Confusion through bad arguments, unwise labeling, and emotional attacks.

Ultimately, Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World provides arguments from a Christian perspective for the foundations of truth and how those foundations apply to sexuality, identity, morality, and spirituality. For those enmeshed in the culture of confusion, the book offers a way to untangle oneself and find hope in the clarity that Christ offers.

About Abdu Murray

ABDU MURRAY (JD, University of Michigan) is North American director of RZIM, a regular speaker at churches and on college campuses, and host of the podcast Embrace the Truth with Abdu Murray. A scholar in residence at the Josh McDowell Institute of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, he is the author of many articles and two other books, including Grand Central Question.

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