Truth Claims and the Ministry of the Contemporary Church
Janel Curry, Professor of Geography and Environmental Science
Perspectives
August/September 2006

Recently I was quoted in the local paper on the topic of global climate change, commenting about a call for action that had been released by a group of Evangelical leaders. The first response I got via email soon followed ...

This response gets to the heart of contemporary disputes within the church and between the church and society: how do we know what we know? The statement from the author of this note included truth claims related to science, truth claims related to politics, and truth claims related to theology. I have come to believe that understanding the many facets of this central question--how we know what we know--is essential to an effective ministry in the contemporar y age. How do we know what we know? What assumptions about "knowing" do we bring to disputes over truth claims? Do our disagreements involve fundamental faith issues or our methods of "knowing"?

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