In the final part of this series, we will critically examine the transformation of lies into something far more dangerous than mere untruths. This is when a lie gains so much popularity and notoriety that it becomes the driving force of the lives of a great number of people, thereby influencing their very thoughts and actions. The lies coagulate into an entity greater than the base lie itself and become a stronghold in the minds of people. Some worldviews, philosophies, religions, doctrines, ideologies, and trendy perspectives all fall under this umbrella. 

In most cases, coagulated lies lead to the prevalence of specific sinful activities amongst people groups like families, tribes, nations, generations, etc. Other times, they may not necessarily lead to sin, but to subtle negative human traits like gullibility, lack of purpose, laziness, skepticism, loss of hope, etc. The bottom line is that if a lie you believe goes unchecked, it grows to become a monster you are not equipped to deal with. 

Let’s take, for example, Postmodernism as an intellectual movement. I am no expert on the topic, but it is a philosophy that I find interesting, especially because of its prominent yet discreet presence in the trendy ideas of today. 

• Postmodernism is a movement that is characterized by skepticism, relativism, and a critique of grand narratives and universal truths. This philosophy indicates that there are no absolutes; everything about human reality is subjective. It has influenced disciplines such as architecture, art, and literature, creating unconventional approaches and non-uniform interpretations. By its name, it is obvious that it is a reaction to the earlier prevalent philosophy of Modernism. 
• Modernism is an intellectual movement that holds to grand narratives such as objectivity, rationality, historical progress, and identity. 

I would like to go on to share two postmodern ideas, and perhaps we can see how they play out in our world today: 

1. According to postmodernism, objectivity is dead. This is a very serious idea that has severe implications. The death of objectivity implies the death of truth. It means everything is subjective; ideas find their basis in the perspectives of individuals and not in this grand, imposing reality that we call the TRUTH. Postmodernism centers the individual’s feelings and view of things as the major driving force of their life. You can imagine the kind of chaos that this will generate in public discourse, education, life, and co-existence with other humans. Before I go down the never-ending rabbit hole of this postmodern idea, let me point out its impact on humanity today. I believe this idea has both catalyzed and radicalized the atheist movement in our world today. Atheism, itself, holds to the idea of subjectivity, especially regarding morality. To the atheist, the idea of an objective moral standard that all humans are supposed to submit to is non-existent. The truth is, objective moral reasoning points back to the existence of God, who is the objective and ultimate Moral Lawgiver. So, it is no news that atheists, the world over, will subscribe to this. The philosophy of the day also influences the language of the day. Hence, today, you will hear a lot of people using the term “my truth” or “your truth” in their speech. This personalization of truth is often a direct reference to the individual’s perspective or opinion. But truth, by nature, cannot be personalized; it is objective. Therefore, it should be classified as “THE TRUTH”; truth should always be preceded by the definite article “the”, not the indefinite article “a” or by any personal pronoun. Opinions and perspectives can be preceded by personal pronouns, but not the truth. All this is indicative of how pervasive and influential the postmodern philosophy can be. 
2. Postmodernists do not believe in dialogue (according to Jordan Peterson). This implies that they are often unwelcoming of divergent views on a topic. Hence, they tend to only entertain ideas similar to theirs or those that affirm theirs. I believe that this gave rise to the “cancel culture” we see pervasive in our world today. Where individuals are stripped of their credibility and credentials, sometimes because they shared an idea that is not in tune with the trendy philosophy of the day. Some speakers have been banned from speaking at some universities for this reason, and public figures have been ‘cancelled’ for things they said or shared on their social media pages. To be cancelled in this generation is to be boycotted; you, your person, anything that concerns you, and anything you produce will be disregarded by the masses. 

This is what I mean by untruths coagulating into something far more dangerous than the base lie. Postmodernism is only one of such philosophies. You can imagine how deadly this reality of coagulated lies and their impact on humanity is. My focus in this write-up is on the mob mentality of most people who hold to such philosophies. Usually, you will find that they act and serve the community of people who think like them without necessarily interrogating issues. So long as they identify with an idea and the community that is pushing it, that is always ample reason to act in the interest of that group without seeking the truth. 

Moving on, I will illustrate the above-stated argument from the bible. The biblical case study for this write-up is found in Acts 19, which tells the story of Paul’s missionary work in the city of Ephesus. I won’t bore you with the details; I will only highlight the aspects relevant to this article’s theme. 

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul achieved great things in his ministry. Entire cities turned to God, forsaking idolatry; case in point, the city of Ephesus. Not only in Ephesus, but throughout the whole of Asia, according to Acts 19:25. This alarmed Demetrius, a silversmith and astute businessman, who made and sold silver shrines of the goddess Artemis. He gathered the craftsmen and others in the city and stirred them up against Paul’s ministry for the following reasons: 

And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship. 

Acts 19:27

We can draw a few conclusions based on the quote above, but the most outstanding claim here is that the worship of Artemis was widespread in all of Asia and the ancient world. Paul’s message seemed to draw people away from it and rather towards God. In verse 26, Demetrius states that Paul taught throughout his ministry in Asia that “… gods made with hands are not gods”. This is very consistent with Paul’s teachings, seeing that he speaks against idolatry in 1st Corinthians 8, where he said: we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one”. And even in 1 Corinthians 10:20, Paul states that when pagans offer sacrifices to idols, they do so to demons instead.

The point here is: Is it true that gods made with hands are no gods? And is it true that idols are just props with demonic backing? I believe these questions are legitimate. The people of Ephesus, especially the business community, should have been preoccupied by these questions and a quest to find answers, instead, they thought of the decline in the demand for their products and the waning interest in the worship of Artemis. 

Demetrius’s campaign threw the whole city into an uproar. I would like to emphasize two interesting characteristics of the riots that accompanied it. 

1. The people were enraged, and they came together chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”. The chants went on for 2 hours (v. 34).
2. Now, some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Acts 19:32.

I would like to stress the second point here because it relates to the mob mentality point I made earlier. When a lie grows to become a philosophy, religion, worldview, or even church doctrine, sometimes it tends to be a strong movement that fuels a lot of disorderliness and chaos. People often subscribe to it without knowing the full implications of their choice. Especially in the story of the revival in Ephesus, many joined in the religious chant of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” who knew nothing about the origin of the riots. Yet they joined in the riots. The chaos is proof of who is behind the riots: the father of lies. He is behind the idea of men worshipping man-made artefacts and serving them as gods. This is why Paul refers to idols as mere props with demonic backing. Demetrius was a businessman who played on the religiosity of the people. He had selfish reasons for doing so and also a reason that he knew would resonate with the masses. He was looking out for his business and then presented an opportunity to the people of the city to stand up for the worship of Artemis. As a Christian, of course, I don’t believe idol worship is a true pursuit of GOD. The way, the truth, and the life is Jesus. The belief in idols had grown to the point where it was a coagulated lie in Ephesus that even influenced the kind of thriving businesses being done there. 

I would like to conclude by answering two salient questions:

How do you dispel coagulated lies? 

1. The GOSPEL: (So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily, Acts 19:20). This was the impact of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.
   1. “… the gospel functions as a critique of all temples, whether the Parthenon in Athens, the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, or even … the Temple in Jerusalem itself”.  (According to NT Wright)

2. Spiritual warfare: For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion (philosophies) raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

How do you guard against coagulated lies?

By being vigilant, keeping your eyes on Jesus, always keeping watch over your faith, and doing an inventory of your core beliefs to ensure that you are still holding strong to the core tenets of Christianity. I put the responsibility on the believer because the bible says in Colossians 2:8 that “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ”.