In three entries thus far I have tried to frame a contemporary debate regarding the nature of truth, argue for why believers must care, and introduce the biblical explanation for how people can know what is true.

Last time I introduced three approaches to explaining how we arrive at what is ‘true.’ First, some argue that we know truth through certainty. Second, others contend that we know truth through community. Third, I would argue that we know truth through God’s revelation.

My goal today is to provide some closure by mentioning three biblical statements that frame our perspective of truth and the pursuit of it.

God is the Source of Truth

Objective reality or those things that are constant regardless of circumstances come from the One who is constant regardless of circumstances.

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

John 17:17 (ESV)

The Bible defends the existence of objective reality and points to God as its Source. Even more, the Bible presents itself as the source of God’s word. Thus, if God’s word is truth and His word is found in the Bible, then the Bible contains objective reality.

Even though the Bible does not make declarative statements about all issues, it presents objective reality about those issues to which it speaks. In other words, the Bible does not answer every conceivable question about creation, but it presents God as the divine Creator of all.

Jesus is Truth Personified

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’”

John 14:6a (ESV)

The Bible identifies Jesus as God in the flesh. As such, He is the physical representation of truth. To this end, we can find truth by looking to and learning from His life and teaching.

The Holy Spirit Guides Believers to Truth

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,”

John 16:13 (ESV)

The Holy Spirit is a Guide into matters of truth. Believers can have confidence that God will reveal truth through the work of the Spirit in and through them.

Finally, these three statements reveal how God, working through the three persons of the Trinity, works to reveal truth. God reveals truth through His word, Jesus is reveals truth through His life, and the Spirit confirms the truth in our hearts as we read and see.

So even though truth seems elusive at times, believers are given help to navigate difficult waters. Our search follows a clear pattern. First, we look to the Bible to see what God’s word and Jesus’ life reveal about a specific objective reality. Second, we seek the guidance of the Spirit to understand and apply these statements to specific life situations.

In two entries last week I made a great deal about the rejection of absolute truth (and justifiably so I would argue). By showing two inevitable and detrimental consequences of dismissing objective truth, I hope you are convinced that much is at stake in these conversations.

Convinced that absolute truth is important for life, we turn to the next important question: how can we know what is true?

How can we know truth?

While the first question is important, the greatest danger related to the contemporary discussions about truth springs from this question. The rejection of a fixed reality stands in opposition to orthodox Christianity, but at least it generally comes at us from the outside. The misguided answers to this second question can come from people claiming to hold orthodox Christian views.

There are many answers to this question, but three responses are broad enough to include most and narrow enough to help us.

First, some argue that we know truth through certainty. A person can arrive at objective reality when he/she proves something is true. A person, therefore, uses reason or science to know truth. To use a popular debate as an example, a person might know whether abortion is right or wrong on the basis of scientific discovery.

Second, others contend that we know truth through community. A person can arrive at objective reality when he/she constructs it as part of a larger group of people. A person, therefore, uses a discussion among other believers (and some might say the Holy Spirit) to know truth. Again, to use a popular debate as an example, a person might know whether abortion is right or wrong on the basis of a group’s evaluation of its cost to or value for the people involved.

Third, I would argue that we know truth through revelation. A person can arrive at objective reality when God reveals it to him/her. God exists outside our reality and has knowledge of all things. Therefore, a person must rely on God’s self-revelation to know Him. This person must also rely on His general and special revelation to know all objective reality. Again, to use a popular debate as an example, a person can know whether abortion is right or wrong on the basis of what God has revealed.

So, to this question we would answer with the third option. However, much more needs to be said so next time I’ll provide the basis for this view and argue for it.

A couple of days ago I introduced a conversation about truth. In an effort to keep each entry to a reasonable size, I only began explaining why we must talk and think about ‘truth.’ So I return today to complete my explanation.

Again, please don’t lose sight of our goal with this series… “I want to challenge you to consider your beliefs regarding seven topics because they provide a foundation for your understanding of Christianity and the Church.”

Again… Why so much fuss about truth?

Remember, the redefinition of truth is a great challenge. If we embrace truth as a moveable concept that every culture or society must create, truth becomes dependent upon us. It is a product of our thoughts or ideals. Thus, no ‘truth’ is absolute or objective because all ‘truth’ is based on a circumstance or situation and is always up for interpretation. Hence, we’re left with the contention that something might be ‘true’ for me, but not ‘true’ for someone else. This worldview, however, carries radical and far-reaching consequences. I mentioned one last time and I’ll mention another today.

Relative truth creates an inconsistent worldview that leads to chaos. If ‘truth’ is up for grabs in every situation, then inevitably different people will grab it differently in remarkably similar situations. Thus, relative truth is moving target. It is here one moment and over there the next. And when ‘truth’ becomes a moving target, it won’t take long for chaos to reign.

Again thanks to Curt for reminding me of the example of downloading copyrighted music without paying for it. Many people are willing to ‘steal’ music, but try to steal from their bank account and they’ll call the police. Before you dismiss this example as proof that even thieves don’t want to be victims, understand that the issue is much larger. The real problem is that music thieves don’t think they’re stealing.

How could they miss that taking without permission is stealing? How could so many people arrive at such a widely-accepted and logically inconsistent reality?

The answer is most simple. ‘Truth’ is now a community-defined reality and not a fixed point. If the masses decided that music companies are making too much money and music should be cheaper, then it’s acceptable to steal it when you get the chance. What would ordinarily be theft is merely ‘working the system’ to level the playing field. The ‘truth’ about stealing is no longer a fixed point (i.e. taking what is not yours without permission); instead, the ‘truth’ about stealing is a moving target depending on a variety of circumstances.

And we’ve returned to the irrationality of relative truth, but we don’t stop here. Rather than ‘redefining’ theft and claiming a new ‘fixed’ reality, our culture is committed to leaving the options open. So we want our cake of protection from certain forms of thievery while we eat the cake of other forms of thievery. The dismissal of an objective reality which helps us navigate the right and wrong of theft in favor of a subjective reality that considers the circumstances produces chaos of theft as a moving target.

Before you think this issue is only important for seemingly-insignificant ideas like copyrighted music, the bounds of this ideology knows no limits. If ‘truth’ is not a fixed reality, who can say definitively that the murder of millions of Jews is wrong or evil? All we can say is that our community (or culture) would prefer it not to happen. You see, the consequences of relative truth are deadly.

Therefore, we must care about how our culture defines and determines ‘truth’ because when relative truth leads the way, irrationality and chaos are sure to follow.

Having established what’s at stake in the conversation about truth, next time we’ll return to begin a conversation about absolute truth and how we can know it?

A few days ago I introduced a book that deals with seven important topics promising to address each of them in turn. I return to the first of these topics – truth – to frame the discussion a bit for you. In an effort to keep each entry to a reasonable size, I will only attempt to begin explaining why we’re having this discussion in the first place today.

Also, please don’t lose sight of our goal with this series and with what will be several entries about truth… “I want to challenge you to consider your beliefs regarding seven topics (beginning with ‘truth’) because they provide a foundation for your understanding of Christianity and the Church.”

Why so much fuss about truth?

You might not be aware of it, but more than a little controversy exists in our culture concerning truth. In fact, some people today reject any sort of knowable or objective[i] truth. They claim that either there is no objective reality or if there is we cannot know it. For them nothing is ‘true’ all the time in every situation. A ‘truth’ is a commonly agreed-upon idea or concept in a particular community or circumstance, but not a fixed reality.

This redefinition of truth is a great challenge. If we embrace truth as a moveable concept that every culture or society must create, truth becomes dependent upon us. It is a product of our thoughts or ideals. Thus, no ‘truth’ is absolute or objective because all ‘truth’ is based on a circumstance or situation and is always up for interpretation. Hence, we’re left with the contention that something might be ‘true’ for me, but not ‘true’ for someone else. This worldview, however, carries radical and far-reaching consequences. I’ll mention one today and one next time.

On the one hand, relative truth leads to irrational conclusions. Consider a very practical issue to draw this view to its radical, far-reaching conclusion: the value of human life. Is human life valuable? Is it more valuable than animal life? Are some human lives more valuable than others? Are ‘healthy’ human lives more valuable than ‘sick’ human lives? Who decides which lives are more or less valuable?

If you reject the notion of a fixed reality concerning the value to human life, then the culture (or the persons who hold powerful positions in culture) must answer these questions. As my friend Curt pointed out to me this week, this situation produces all sorts of twisted, irrational decisions. For example, why can you legally destroy the life of an unborn child, but face jail time if you tamper with the eggs of a bald eagle?

The answer is most simple. Our culture values the life of an unborn bald eagle more than the life of an unborn human. How could a culture arrive at such an illogical conclusion?

Again, the answer is most simple. We have eliminated objective reality in favor of community-defined ‘truth.’ And in this example (as in countless others), community-defined ‘truth’ fails to arrive at a rational conclusion much less true truth.[ii]

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[i] [I use the word 'objective' a number of times in this entry so it serves us to understand what I mean by it. The word 'objective' describes things that are independent and do not rely on other things like opinions or feelings to find their meaning. A properly-worded true-false question is objective because it has only one 'correct' answer and does not require interpretation. An essay question, however, is not objective because the 'correct' answer is open to interpretation that is based on the mood and opinion of a person. So when I say 'objective' truth, I refer to a reality that is fixed and not dependent on the interpretation of a person.]

[ii] The final entry about truth will outline the biblical perspective and I’ll expound on the idea of ‘true truth.’

Today I return to Knowing God (the book by J.I. Packer that I pleaded with you to read a few days ago) to provide the 5 basic truths that form a foundation for our knowledge of God.

These truths are important in the same way an alphabet is important to written language. Without a common, objective foundation of symbols (we call them letters), written language is nonsense. In order for the words and sentences and paragraphs to carry meaning, the basic building block of letters must carry precise, universal meaning.

Likewise, without a common, objective foundation of truth, information about God is incomprehensible. In order for us to gain a proper understanding of his love and justice and wrath, we must grasp and trust the basic building block truths.

1. God has spoken to man, and the Bible is his Word, given to us to make us wise to salvation.[1]
2. God is Lord and King over his world; he rules all things for his own glory, displaying his perfections is all that he does, in order that men and angels may worship and adore him.
3. God is Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue believers from the guilt and power of sin, to adopt them as his children and to bless them accordingly.
4. God is triune; there are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it.
5. Godliness means responding to God’s revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service. Life must be seen and lived in light of God’s Word. This, and nothing else, is true religion.

Again, more than the alphabet for reading, these truths are essential for any pursuit of knowledge about God. Lay these truths aside and you cannot know Him. Manipulate or ignore any part of this foundation and you will find yourself seeking someone or something other than God. Because only on this foundation will the details of God’s nature and character become coherent.

Examine these statements. They are highly controversial in our culture. And know that if your view of God veers from these truths at any point, you do not know him accurately and you cannot know him well.

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[1] J.I. Packer, Knowing God, (Intervarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL, 1993), 20.