“What Is Truth?”

(Pilate- John 18:38)

Truth is probably the most discussed, least understood, and most dangerous concept that exists.
In the secular world, truth is always suspect. There is a general belief that truth is a matter of perspective, your truth and my truth, what works for you and what works for me. Steve Turner, a poet, is quoted: “I believe each man must find the truth that is right for him.” If that is true, there is no “knowable truth, separate from your observational platform.” This has direct impact upon religious belief- “In my view, the height of arrogance is to attempt to show people the ‘errors’ in the religion of their choice.”-Dear Abby.
A cross-section of quotes concerning truth illuminates this, the scientists being more logical in their approach: “There are no creeds in mathematics.”- Peter F. Drucker. “No one knows the truth.”-Molly Irvins. “Myths which are believed in tend to become truths.”- George Orwell. “What each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.”- Demosthenes. “Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.”-Buddha. “Believe those who are seeking the truth, doubt those who find it.”-Andre Gide. “There are no whole truths, all truths are half truths.” -Alfred North Whitehead. “No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right. A single experiment can prove me wrong.”- Albert Einstein.
Then is there really a truth that is absolute, not related to being “relevant” or “politically correct” or related to one’s personal perspective? Abraham Lincoln, whose philosophy was formed working on a farm with an axe in his hand, probably says it best: “How many legs does a dog have if you count the tail a leg? Four, calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” One’s perspective does not change reality. The famous quote by Carlyle B. Haynes, a Seventh-Day-Adventist author and evangelist, is the clearest statement I have found, and should be framed and placed on the wall of every place of learning in the world. “Truth is not what I believe. Truth is not even what I know. Truth is fact. I may not believe it. I may not know it. That does not change it. It is there nevertheless, waiting to be discovered and believed. Truth does not depend on the unsettled and changing opinions of men (and women). It was truth before it was believed. It will remain truth, whether it is believed or not. Reason does not originate or create it. It merely discovers it. Consequently reason is not a source. Truth goes back beyond reason.”
Truth, the dictionary tells us is “that which corresponds to reality or fact.” Truth, in Hebrew, Emeth, means truth, certainty, trustworthy, right, sure, verity. Truth in Koine Greek, is Alaythia, meaning truth or verity.
The Bible has much to say about truth. It tells us the Father (God) is “full of grace and truth” John 1:14. It is a characteristic of His being. John 17:17 tells us “Thy word is truth,” referring to the written scriptures and the actual verbal words of God. Galations 2:5 refers to the “truth of the gospel.” 1 John 5:6 tells us “the Spirit is truth.” Dan. 4:37, speaking of God states “All His works are truth.” Ps. 119:151 tells us of God; “All your commandments are true.” Ps. 19:9 states “The ordinances (judgments) of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” 1 Tim. 3:15 refers to “The church of the Living God, the pillar and bulwark of truth.” In John 14:6, Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” So what is truth? It is the Person, acts, judgments, commandments, words and writings of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ. There is no other truth.
This truth does not change with time, with human perception, with increased knowledge. “For I the Lord do not change.” Mal. 3:6. “The Father of lights, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning.” James 1:18.
There is only one truth. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Eph. 4:6. Jesus stated He was the “way, the truth, and the life,” in John 14:6. In the Old Testament Sanctuary where was only one door, one way, one access to forgiveness of sin-there were no side doors for those who choose to believe differently. In the heavenly Sanctuary, there is still one door to the Mediator, Jesus Christ. “There are all kinds of doctrines in this world, there is one truth.” RH April 3, 1888. “To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to these there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20. (Not “new light”- No light.) “There is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Acts. 4:12.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32. Knowing that the only truth is God and His word and acts frees you from searching for truth in all the wrong places, from living a life where “truth” is constantly changing and cannot be relied upon. It frees you from being the one who has to decide what is true and what is not.
There is a price to knowing what truth is and following it. It separates you from the world because you no longer fit in. It is not popular to stand for something and be unwilling to change your beliefs. The heroes of the Reformation, the martyrs of the inquisition, would attest to this. Truly “All who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Tim. 3:12. Yet to all those who choose to follow the truth, being separate is no less than a command of God. “Therefore come out from them and be separate from them, says the Lord.” 2 Cor. 6:17. “Come out from her My people, that you do not partake from her sins.” Rev. 18:4. And, the final judgment is not a great ecumenical movement, but a separation for salvation for those who choose the truth: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Matt. 25:31,32.
God is truth and is the source of all truth, there is no other. Truth does not change because God does not change. God created truth. Man’s perception of what is truth and what he should be doing with his life has no validity unless they are perceptions led by God. Accepting this is absolutely mandatory in the Christian life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his own succinct style, puts it this way: “Bewilderment is the true comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.” (The Cost of Discipleship. P. 93).- because God’s “comprehension exceeds yours.”

Personal thoughts:
Mankind is understandably suspect of those who have beliefs, of those who hold “truths” and stand up for them. The pages of history are littered with examples of intolerance, murder and suicide all in the name of held beliefs; from believing in ethnic purity causing the holocaust, to deeply held religious beliefs causing everything from the crusades to the inquisition, to the Jim Jones followers suicides, to the Catholic mission system destroying the culture of native peoples in South America and the southwestern United States, to the Northern Ireland catholic vs. protestant conflict, to the Islamic jihad.
Yet mankind has a need for a standard of truth to hold back the tide of disorganization and lawlessness, and it recognizes this. The Code of Hammurabi, the Talmud, the Roman jus gentium, jus civilium, and jus naturale, and even the U.S. constitution are attempts to bring order out of chaos and to raise a standard, a truth, to live by.
In this world, plummeting toward disaster ecologically, financially, politically, and religiously, it seems an ecumenical approach, a “new world order” of peace and cooperation, a “change” for the better is needed. Should these not be strived for and maybe even enforced if need be?....These thoughts, though they sound so good and full of hope send a shiver down the spine of any historian and any student of the Bible. They sound so good until one asks the price of ecumenism, which is the sacrifice of Biblical truth. The price of a new world order is the question: “Whose new world order, who sets the standards, who is in control?” The price of “change” is the question “who decides what needs changed, and what is destroyed in the process, and whose rights are trampled upon?” Man does not have the answers to these questions. This “good plan” would only perpetuate our cycle of history, and lead to more of the same- hope-belief-persecution-rebellion-war. We do need a religious reformation- God’s plan for our salvation. We do need a “new world order”- God’s plan, the New Jerusalem for the saved. We do need “change”- People recognizing their need for God, and Jesus’ second coming in the clouds of heaven. )