WHAT IS TRUTH?
A simple definition of Truth is: that which conforms to reality, fact or actuality.
It could be stated that there are aspects of truth which are relative to a particular person or place, for example I could say that it is TRUE that I have blue eyes and that I am left-handed. It is also true that I am an Australian citizen by birth, and that I am a resident of the township of Sorell in Tasmania. It is also true that I am married and have two grown children - and two grandchildren. All these facts are true in relation to me, but most of these facts may not be true for you who are reading this.
When I was a student at Bible College in 1980, I remember being struck by the statement made by one of the college lecturers, that ALL TRUTH IS GOD'S TRUTH. Examples of this could be stated as the laws of nature, physics and mathematics which are always true and cannot be changed. Let me clarify this by suggesting that in mathematics 2+2=4 will always be an example of mathematical truth. Sir Isaac Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation is another example of God's truth in the natural world proving reliable one hundred percent of the time. Newton postulated that any two objects in the universe attract each other with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. HUH! The simplified version concerning Gravity is: What goes up must come down!
There are other reliable and consistent laws in nature which were designed by the Creator God of the universe. At this point, anyone reading this who believes the universe just came into being as a result of the Big Bang, and out of that, over time everything evolved over millions or billions of years without any intelligent design, may not like my conclusions - but I make no apologies in believing God is the Prime Mover for everything in this universe, including the complex life forms on our own planet Earth. As evangelist Ray Comfort so rightly says:"Every song has a composer, every book has an author, every car has a maker, every painting has a painter, and every building has a builder. So it isn't irrational to take this simple logic a little further and say that nature must have had a Maker. It would be irrational to believe that it made itself." So, looking at the Big Picture, ALL TRUTH IS GOD'S TRUTH.
As a committed Bible-believing Christian, I believe the Bible to be the written Holy-Spirit inspired Word of God. We are addressing the question: What Is Truth? in this blog.
Truth is personified in the eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who in John 14:6 stated concerning Himself: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." What a remarkable statement Jesus made in response to a question from Thomas, one of his disciples.
Earlier in this same Gospel of John, Jesus addressing some Jews who believed in Him, said: "If you continue in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31,32
The unmistakable fact of history since the time of Christ's ministry on Earth and His subsequent death on the Cross of Calvary and His triumphant resurrection on that first Resurrection Sunday is that those who have embraced THE TRUTH in the person of Jesus Christ, and who have availed themselves of the reconciliation to God the Father offered by Christ's sacrifice on the Cross in our place, He who knew no sin, dying in our place - if they give heed to the Word of God, find that Truth to be life-changing, in fact liberating from the bondages of sin and Satan, the Arch-Deceiver, whom the Bible calls the Father of Lies.
As I was contemplating what to write in this blog "What Is Truth?", I Googled this question on the internet. I discovered a lengthy Wikipedia article which outlined some of the philosophical theories concerning Truth, and what it means. These include: What are known as Substantive Theories, including Correspondence Theory
-Coherence Theory
-Constructivist Theory
-Concensus Theory
- Pragmatic Theory
Then there are Minimalist or Deflationary Theories. These include:
-Performative Theory Of Truth
-Redundancy and Related Theories
There are also what are known as Pluralist theories.
I discovered that of the above, the Correspondence Theory seems to have the highest percentage of support in relation to the definition of Truth - in philosophical terms.
I am reminded of the verse in 2 Timothy 3:7 where the apostle Paul speaking of the days in which we are living describes people who would be "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
If you who are reading are on a quest to know ultimate Truth in all its dimensions, may I suggest you take a look in the Bible at the one who is TRUTH HIMSELF, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus finished His earthly ministry, He told His disciples that He would send them a Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:13 that "....when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
In John 18:36-38, as Jesus stood before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who would decide whether He lived or would be condemned to be crucified, Jesus said: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are you a king then?" Jesus answered: "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."
Pilate asked Jesus one of the most important questions He could have asked of the Son of God: "What is truth?" and he didn't bother to wait for the answer. Like Pilate, many today are searching for the meaning of Truth in Philosophy, Religion, Science - even Politics and always coming up short.
The apostle Paul warns in Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
He goes on to say in verses 9 and 10 For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Does it matter what we believe to be the Truth today? Isn't Truth relative to the circumstances, culture, socio-political setting in which we find ourselves today? Ah.........we shall have to leave the answers to these questions for another time in cyberspace in the not too far off future.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. If you have any comments, would love to receive feedback. Keep all comments civil. Thanks!
There are other reliable and consistent laws in nature which were designed by the Creator God of the universe. At this point, anyone reading this who believes the universe just came into being as a result of the Big Bang, and out of that, over time everything evolved over millions or billions of years without any intelligent design, may not like my conclusions - but I make no apologies in believing God is the Prime Mover for everything in this universe, including the complex life forms on our own planet Earth. As evangelist Ray Comfort so rightly says:"Every song has a composer, every book has an author, every car has a maker, every painting has a painter, and every building has a builder. So it isn't irrational to take this simple logic a little further and say that nature must have had a Maker. It would be irrational to believe that it made itself." So, looking at the Big Picture, ALL TRUTH IS GOD'S TRUTH.
As a committed Bible-believing Christian, I believe the Bible to be the written Holy-Spirit inspired Word of God. We are addressing the question: What Is Truth? in this blog.
Truth is personified in the eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who in John 14:6 stated concerning Himself: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." What a remarkable statement Jesus made in response to a question from Thomas, one of his disciples.
Earlier in this same Gospel of John, Jesus addressing some Jews who believed in Him, said: "If you continue in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31,32
The unmistakable fact of history since the time of Christ's ministry on Earth and His subsequent death on the Cross of Calvary and His triumphant resurrection on that first Resurrection Sunday is that those who have embraced THE TRUTH in the person of Jesus Christ, and who have availed themselves of the reconciliation to God the Father offered by Christ's sacrifice on the Cross in our place, He who knew no sin, dying in our place - if they give heed to the Word of God, find that Truth to be life-changing, in fact liberating from the bondages of sin and Satan, the Arch-Deceiver, whom the Bible calls the Father of Lies.
As I was contemplating what to write in this blog "What Is Truth?", I Googled this question on the internet. I discovered a lengthy Wikipedia article which outlined some of the philosophical theories concerning Truth, and what it means. These include: What are known as Substantive Theories, including Correspondence Theory
-Coherence Theory
-Constructivist Theory
-Concensus Theory
- Pragmatic Theory
Then there are Minimalist or Deflationary Theories. These include:
-Performative Theory Of Truth
-Redundancy and Related Theories
There are also what are known as Pluralist theories.
I discovered that of the above, the Correspondence Theory seems to have the highest percentage of support in relation to the definition of Truth - in philosophical terms.
I am reminded of the verse in 2 Timothy 3:7 where the apostle Paul speaking of the days in which we are living describes people who would be "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
If you who are reading are on a quest to know ultimate Truth in all its dimensions, may I suggest you take a look in the Bible at the one who is TRUTH HIMSELF, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus finished His earthly ministry, He told His disciples that He would send them a Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:13 that "....when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
In John 18:36-38, as Jesus stood before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who would decide whether He lived or would be condemned to be crucified, Jesus said: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are you a king then?" Jesus answered: "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."
Pilate asked Jesus one of the most important questions He could have asked of the Son of God: "What is truth?" and he didn't bother to wait for the answer. Like Pilate, many today are searching for the meaning of Truth in Philosophy, Religion, Science - even Politics and always coming up short.
The apostle Paul warns in Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
He goes on to say in verses 9 and 10 For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Does it matter what we believe to be the Truth today? Isn't Truth relative to the circumstances, culture, socio-political setting in which we find ourselves today? Ah.........we shall have to leave the answers to these questions for another time in cyberspace in the not too far off future.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. If you have any comments, would love to receive feedback. Keep all comments civil. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment