Lessings ditch
Lessing's ditch is a term used to describe a view of Gotthold Lessing (1729 - 1781) which argues that there is a 'ditch' between history and eternal truths that cannot be crossed. As a result, revelation in history is not possible, for historical truth cannot be demonstrated. Furthermore, he drew a distinction between the accidental truths of history and the necessary truths of reason. This view "grew out of his conviction that rationalism could be the only universally acceptable mode of understanding the world," and thus he was "convinced that the bible could not be trusted as a source of description of any truth, let alone the truth of God."^[1]^