John 18:37 & 38 ...Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"...
Pilate here is asking a question that Men have asked since the fall, and a question being asked very loudly during this time period. It is a question that is very simple to answer:
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Please keep in mind through this article that "the Truth " is a person not a concept. That being said, not all "truths" are Jesus but, rather, all "truths" come from Him.
The Nature of Truth
When we consider the nature of truth we must ask ourselves some questions.
Is truth Absolute or Relative?
Is truth Objective or Subjective?
Is the opposite of truth a lie, or is the opposite of the truth, false?
If this subject is new to you, you should read the wikipedia article to see the different views
In the wiki article above it states that; "A common dictionary definition of truth is "agreement with fact or reality""
I would disagree with this definition and would say that rather that...
Truth is "that which actually is fact or reality"
This deals with the third question concerning the opposite of truth:
If truth is agreement with fact or reality, then the truth is subjective to the person doing the agreeing, and it may change as the person doing the agreeing learns new things. As we can see in history, such as it being "true" that the world is flat. This was considered "true" until folks figured out that the world is roundish.
A better explanation would be that the world has always been roundish and that it just took us some time to figure it out. Whether or not I agree that the world is roundish doesn't change the fact or truth that it is roundish. There is one truth about the shape of our earth, and the earth doesn't change its shape just because I change my belief. Now belief is agreement with some knowledge one considers to be true. Many people believed with certainty that the earth was flat. This belief was based upon what they currently knew and were taught and the trust they put in those teaching. For someone at that time to say that the earth was flat, they were not lying, they were just ignorant of the truth.
Lying is saying or otherwise communicating something opposite of what you believe or know to be true(usually with the intent to deceive).
So if truth is that which actually is fact or reality, how can we know what is actually fact or reality? How could those people have known that the earth was round? Well, first of all, we should not call theories fact or reality or teach them as such(evolution for instance).
Basically, we know truth based on the character of our teacher. If our teacher knows the earth is roundish we trust and believe that this is the truth. You should see some obvious problems at this point. What teacher can know absolute truth? God can.
God and His Word
God is Truth. He created this world and is the source of all truth. God knew that the earth was round because He made it that way. But more importantly, He knows the purpose of life for mankind. Well, if this is true then how can we know God?
1. He has revealed Himself in His Word/The recorded life of Jesus.
This is the primary way God has revealed Himself to us and is the only authority we have.
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
(2Ti 3:13-17)
Will post another blog on the Bible soon
2. He has revealed Himself in the creation.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(Rom 1:20-25)
3. He reveals Himself by His Spirit.
"These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
(Joh 14:25-26)
In Conclusion I Believe...
God is truth and therefore truth is absolute. We can know truth because God has revealed Himself to us. The Bible is our standard for truth and it is without error.
Beliefs concerning things not addressed in the Bible are relative and must be considered historically, scientifically, mathematically, etc, in order to come to a reasonable belief. The opposite of truth is false and not a lie, witch is saying or otherwise communicating something opposite of what you believe or know to be true.
