This week’s readings were very interesting to me. I have been trying to grasp the differences in research methods throughout this semester. It is taking me some time to learn the differences between the many technical terms. Strom, in chapter 13, outlines these techniques while writing about the social sciences. However, I mostly appreciated the way Strom has discussed the three views of truth.

The objectivist believes “one can study human behavior free from personal bias through experimentation and surveys” (2009, p. 316). They believe that they can objectively find truth through human research means.

Subjectivists seem to be more realistic in that they know that they are flawed as humans and therefore what they find to be truth is flawed in some ways. Strom writes that the subjectivist’s reality is “influenced by sensory limitations, brainpower glitches, and sin” (2009, p.316).

Constructivists believe that people have the power to construct reality. This makes them relativists.

I have to say that I am a subjectivist. Strom’s explanation of subjectivist Christians fits me very well. I believe that there is one truth, that we cannot fully know it, and that we need the Holy Spirit to guide us.

However, I do see the benefit of scientific inquiry and research. God made us as inquisitive, creative images of himself. I believe that God expects us to not only navigate our world, but to learn about it extensively. I don’t believe that God would have created in such detail or put us over the Earth and all that is in it, if God did not want us to enjoy and learn from it. “Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26, NIV).

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Strom, B. (2009). More than talk: Communication studies and the Christian faith (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.