Black Eye Galaxy M64. There are Absolute Truths in our Universe, the trick is that most of human truth, in practical terms, is Relative (especially Morals/Ethics), because we simply lack the ability to observe and to correctly understand the complex Universe around us.
My Literalist, Biblical Inerrantist, “Bible is God, every jot and tittle” Christian* Fundamentalist friends have the Truth!
My New Atheist, Strict Empirical Science and Reason, “Richard Dawkins is God” friends have the Truth!
The bible proves it cannot be a Moral/Ethical or reasonable Absolute…and even Richard Dawkins (see his debate with Rowan Williams) has to assent to the fact that he cannot, necessarily, disprove the existence of a “God” (in whatever form).
Who’s right? The Truth probably lies somewhere between the Extremes.
A core of my personal Belief System based off of Conscience and Reason applied to the very limited information we have available about our existence, our Universe and spirituality or metaphysics is this: Everything, every “Truth” we each believe boils down to this dynamic:
Absolute/Objective vs. Relative/Subjective Truth and Authority.
Truth, in human terms, is based off of our perception…our experience…our ability to correctly understand. Truth, in Absolute terms, is waiting to be observed, and once observed, waiting to be correctly understood as what it really truly is in its entirety.
The Earth was flat, until we experienced and correctly understood that it wasn’t. Hearing voices was demon possession, until we experienced and correctly understood it was chemical imbalances in the brain (Schizophrenia). Owning slaves was not immoral and a commonly accepted cultural norm throughout many human societies in history (including the bible), until our collective Conscience evolved and we correctly understood it as immoral.
Despite our many advances, our vision is still blurry and many would disagree with the previous statements as fact (though there is probably Universal Consensus that the Earth is in fact round…but there might be a few Christian* friends who still disagree 
). This illustrates the reality that nearly all of our truth is individual in nature and more our perception of what we believe is true, without our ability to correctly understand the limited information we have available to us.
Christians* will claim Absolute Truth via the bible, but then disprove their claim by Relativizing large portions of it. New Atheists aren’t as rigid, but do similar when they cross over from Scientific Observation into Philosophical Conclusion.
Tell me what you believe is Authoritative (to you) in measuring what is true and what is not, and I can predict what you believe (what your Philosophical Belief System includes).
If you believe the bible is the source for all truth and that the bible is an Absolute Authority, if you believe a particular Guru or Sect of Christianity* is Authoritative in their particular interpretation of what the bible says to be true and if you believe observations made by Science and Reason are suspect and tools of the devil to trick humans, then I can predict what you believe, nearly to a “t”.
Conversely, if you believe the bible is a collection of myths written by an ancient and barbaric people and was not inspired by some unseen Force in any manner, if you believe that Science and Reason are the sole Authority for what is true and real in our Universe, and if you believe that only that which you can see, taste, touch, test with your senses, verify and repeat (i.e. Empiricism) is true and real, and that anything that is not detectible within those Authorities is invalid…and if you follow a particular set of Philosophical Gurus and/or Scientists (think a Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Stephen Hawking, etc.) then I can predict what you believe, nearly to a “t” as well.
Of course there are some variables and some nuance and humans tend to hold inconsistent beliefs despite their professed following of a particular set of Authorities (that “they” deem as Authoritative). We see this in spades among Selective Fundamentalist Christians* who pick and choose which bible verses to be militant and rigid about and which ones to discard as “well that’s not for today” or “that’s not what it really means”, etc.
In the Science/Reason Only Camp, we see similar inconsistencies in professed belief systems as many quickly venture outside of the stern rigors of Science headlong into the wide open spaces of Philosophy…but still maintain (intellectually dishonestly) that they are still within the realm of some sort of certainty Philosophically.
In essence, then, while I can predict your beliefs based on what you view as Authoritative, I can also observe many inconsistencies in your professed Belief System because most, in the extremes, have swallowed whole some very contradictory Presuppositions.
The Christian* Fundamentalist: The bible is unchanging and Absolute. The New Atheist: There is, necessarily, no “God” because I can’t see him/her/it.
Let’s define some terms:
Absolute/Objective Truth: Something that is true and valid for all peoples, in all times, in all cultures…it is a Universal truth. It is a permanent fact no matter who experiences it. Gravity is an example of an Absolute/Objective truth that all human beings know and understand as true in their existence and reality.
Relative/Subjective Truth: Something that is true depending on cultural context, biological makeup, a particular period in history. It is not a permanent or Universal truth as it may be perceived by one human being in one cultural or period differently than another. It is a truth that might be experienced differently by one biological makeup differently than another in their existence and reality. Slavery is wrong is an example of a Relative/Subjective Truth. In our culture today, Slavery is immoral and wrong (and illegal). In Roman times, Slavery was legal and a common practice and even the bible tacitly endorsed it in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the bible permitted Slavery by Levitical Law here:
Leviticus 25:44-46 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.
New Atheists accept Truth as largely Relative as Science is continuing to discover our Universe through constantly improving lenses that change what we believe to be true today vs. what we believed to be true yesterday. We can see atoms today, yesterday we couldn’t. Our truth changed…but in the Relative sense only. Atoms are an Absolute Truth, we just now have the ability to see them and perceive them differently and more correctly than before.
Morals/Ethics for all Groups swim in the ocean of Relative Truth, while there are Realities in our Universe, Multi-verse, Existence…that are Absolute Truth…we just cannot perceive them and understand them correctly at this point in linear time.
Theoretical Physicists are prophesying the world of the unseen. Quantum Physicists have observed some limited Absolute Truth that is amazing. An electron can be in two places at the same time. There are likely other dimensions all around us, a potential Absolute Truth…that we can prove mathematically, that we can faintly observe…but we can yet perceive fully and understand correctly.
Bible Literalists’ claim of bible Absolutism in all areas is false because of the fact that much of the Moral/Ethical codes that were true as prescribed by the same bible for one set of human beings (the Hebrews/Israelites) in the Old Testament is no longer true for the rest of humanity (according to the same bible) today. The Moral/Ethical permission to own slaves, sex slaves, have multiple wives, execute unruly children with stones, execute women with stones, sell your daughter into slavery, etc. in the Old Testament…and even some of the commands in the New Testament (women cover your heads, women don’t speak in church, etc.)…have changed for today, argued by the same Bible Literalists who practice a belief much differently than that prescribed by the Old Testament and even much of the New Testament. Their truth changed (and continues to change, depending on the next book or sermon by a particular Guru whose views and interpretations often change and evolve over the course of their lives).
The bible may be Absolute in the sense it asserts a Deity or God or Force…that we have simply yet to observe/discover with our physical senses and correctly understand…but the bible proves itself Relative in most other areas that it asserts. This is the reason there are 9,000 to 30,000 different Christian* denominations and Main Line Sects. If the bible were truly 100% Absolute Truth…there would be one correct interpretation, like Mathematics. The bible may be Universally true in some areas regarding Morals/Ethics (despite the many other Relative Truths that have changed). “Love Your Neighbor” and “Law of Love” seem to be truths that the collective Conscience of many of today’s Peoples agree…but in 1,000 years, the Zeitgeist of that particular future day could revert back to a more barbaric Moral/Ethical Consensus, or we could progress to a more Hippie/Gahndi Jesus Consensus. Man’s history seems to suggest we’ll be perceived as barbaric today by mankind a thousand years from now and they will have found new ways to rationalize their own barbarism (i.e. our Current Culture’s widespread Abortion).
Science will continue to discover the complexity and wonder of the reality of our Universe and Multi-verse. Our vision will continue to improve slightly…to the point that our New Atheist friends may become less certain in their “No God, No Way!” thesis. Our Fundamentalist Christian* friends may come to understand that the Earth isn’t flat.
The Truth is we don’t know much, neither Group…and the more we discover, the more both Groups seem to be partially right and partially wrong.
The Truth probably lies somewhere in between the Extremes.
