The Truth about Truth

“My niece attends a state university. She told me on the first day of her English class, the professor said, ‘There is no such thing as absolute truth. If you believe there is, you are an idiot and don’t deserve to be in college’” (The Age of Whatever, Chuck Durham, Focus Magazine, March 2001, p. 6). Many seem to have given up on believing in absolute truth, in fact, one bumper sticker admits, “I’ve given up on reality. Now I’m looking for a good fantasy”. American philosopher, Richard Rorty claims that truth is what one’s peers let one get away with.

“What is Truth?”

Pilate may have been either sincere or cynical when he said to Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Yet, “Pilate himself illustrates that truth is the concern of men even when they claim otherwise” (“What is Truth”, Jason Moore, Focus Magazine, p. 8). Truth may have not been his number one concern, but Pilate knew that Jesus was an innocent man (John 18:38), and that was truth. “There have been men through the ages—‘skeptics’, we call them, who have denied the existence and relevancy of truth. But in prescribing as a truth that there is no truth, or laying down the rule that there are no rules, they refute themselves and play the hypocrite. The mere fact that the skeptic reasons about reality, albeit poorly, is against him. Charles S. Pierce said correctly, ‘Every man is fully satisfied that there is such a thing as truth, or he would not ask any questions’” (Moore p. 8). In fact, Pilate was so concerned with truth that he ran from it. “Men, like Pilate, question truth, not because of keen intelligence, but because of acute fear. He knew of Jesus’ innocence. He knew of the Jew’s malicious hatred and envy. The continued pursuit of truth, which meant getting to the bottom of Jesus’ identity, would cost him too much. He knew enough already to know that he did not want to dig any deeper. With his question Pilate suggested that truth could not be found. But the fact that he had already found some parts of it proves that he was just unwilling to look for the rest. The truths he had found suited his purposes. The truths that still lay hidden might not suit him so well. The demands of seeking and the risk of finding the whole truth are what make skeptics of men” (Moore pp. 8-9).

Truths that are Relished

While some may claim they are not interested in God’s truth, yet actually men are happy with many of His truths. They rejoice in the truths of the physical creation that give them the ability to make their lives more comfortable (Acts 14:17 “And gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness”). In one sense, truth is actually the main concern of men. Governments are founded upon various truths (things self-evident). Every occupation is governed by various truths. The pursuit of truth is the foundation for every school, university, laboratory, and hospital. In addition, many people are pleased with “truth” when it exposes the sins and hypocrisies of their neighbors or famous people, or when such truths enable them to make a good living. “It’s when the light of truth exposes their own hypocrisy, or ignorance, or guilt, or responsibility, that men ask, ‘What is truth anyway?’ It’s moral truth that troubles men at least as it relates to their own behavior” (Moore p. 9). Truth is not necessarily difficult to see (Romans 1:20; Mark 16:16), rather, the hard part is the living up to what the truth demands of us, or sticking with the truth when everyone else seems to ignore it or argue otherwise.

The Truth about Truth

· It can be known by all men:

1 Timothy 2:4 God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”. The gospel is the “word of truth” (Colossians 1:5), a gospel that is to be shared with all men (Mark 16:15). What I have observed is that many people do not want truth to be exclusive, for example, that God’s truth declares that Jesus is the only way to heaven (John 14:6). Yet they do want truth to be exclusive in the sense that only a few, “exclusive” people can understand or obtain it. Any interpretation of Scripture that the average person cannot see is probably not the truth.

· Truth is Liberating:

In that truth does not demand upon man to come up with a reality, rather it has its origin in Deity. It is not the task of the Christian to be clever and come up with his or her own novel twist.

· Truth is Objective:

This means that it is not determined by the person viewing it. The source is outside of man. “It reads the same for every person who encounters it” (“Truth is Objective and Knowable, Allen Dvorak, Focus Magazine p. 14). I find this comment to be very helpful, because in view of how many people argue with Mark 16:16 or some other passage, at times I might be tempted to think that maybe the passage actually does read differently to the rest of the world, yet this is not the case. Thus, if someone rejects the teaching that “baptism now saves us” (1 Peter 3:21), I know that the problem does not exist in the text or my view of the text, for that is what the text says, rather, at this moment accepting what the text says would require of them something that they are presently unwilling to give. Thus the problem at this point is not a “different view of truth”, but rather, the problem is obedience and submission. Thus when someone argues, “But the text doesn’t read that way to me, they are not being honest. The text does read ”that way”, and it reads that way to everyone. What they should say is, “I cannot accept the way that this text presently reads”. The statement that one can “prove anything by the Bible” is only true if one is willing to completely ignore the meaning of the words that are in the Bible. Saul claimed that he had “obeyed” the command of the Lord, but God disagreed (1 Samuel 15:22-23). Saul’s interpretation did not establish truth and neither did it change reality. All that Saul’s interpretation changed was his status with God. Thus unscriptural interpretations only alter one significant thing, one’s own salvation (2 John 9; Galatians 1:6-9).

· Truth is an Objective Body of Doctrine:

“The view that truth is an objective body of doctrine seems too legalistic to many religious people. They argue that Jesus desires a relationship with us, that we be His disciples rather than assent to a group of ‘facts’. The Lord Himself responded to this false view when He said, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed’ (John 8:31). Jesus indeed seeks a relationship with us, but discipleship cannot be separated from the truth” (Dvorak p. 14).

· Truth is Impartial:

Another problem is that often people will accept one of God’s truths, but they want there to be some exceptions or loopholes for them, if they need them in the future. For example, most people would agree that divorce is not a good idea (Malachi 2:16), at the same time many people are not content with Jesus’ exception when it comes to divorce and remarriage (Matthew 19:9). They agree that marriage should be for life but no way are they going to stay in a bad marriage with someone who just happens never to stray in the sexual area.

· Truth Originates with God:

“Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Only a timeless and eternal God, who is able to see the end from the beginning, could present truth that is timeless, not bound to a particular time or culture, universal, and universal in the sense that it applies to every person, and that it applies to every person in every situation. Only God could know all the possible and extenuating circumstances and yet still lay down absolutes like, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), or that all men everywhere need to repent (Acts 17:30).

· The Motive for Finding It:

Must be a desire to please God and be forgiven of our sins (John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free”). Yet I find that the common motive in the world for finding or discovering “truth” is one of self-exaltation. Men and women want to find something that no one else has ever discovered and thus gain some sort of fame or fortune in the process. But a love of self will never result in finding the truth, for the truth can only be found by people who love the truth more than they love themselves, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 “For those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved---in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness”. This equally reveals that sin will always get in the way of embracing the truth. The truth will demand that we make a decision. Either we sacrifice our self-interest (something Pilate was not willing to do), or we sacrifice the truth.

· It can be Exchanged for Falsehood:

Romans 1:25 “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie”. And God will allow this to happen. God is not in the business of preventing us from being deceived if that is what we are hoping for. The question then is, “In what direction are we running, to and away from the truth?” And what price are we willing to pay? Pilate decided that his own political future was more important than the truth. Let us buy the truth (Proverbs 23:23), and while we may sell many other things, never sell truth at any price.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017