What Is Truth?

Welcome to episode number one of the Common Questions video series. My name is Jonathan Cheka, and today we're exploring the question, what is truth? What? What? What is the truth? Since this is the first episode in the series, I want to start off by clarifying what we are and aren't doing here. What we are doing is providing an overview of some of the topics involved in these questions, and specifically how the Christian worldview arrives at its answer. What we are not doing is exhaustively explaining every issue. We've also released a limited series podcast to accompany these videos that go a little bit more in-depth. More info about those later, though. Hopefully these videos give you some things to think about and research more on your own, either to find an answer for yourself or to help other people find answers. All that being said, let's ask, what is truth? We'll start with a quick survey of different views on truth. The predominant view of truth today is the postmodern view. Due to the nature of postmodernism, it's hard to pin down an exact definition, but Francis Leotard, an early postmodern thinker, defined it as incredulity towards metanarratives. Why don't you explain this to me like I am an eight-year-old? In other words, postmodernism is skeptical of universal explanations. So instead of looking to objective truth for answers, it looks to personal and cultural experiences for answers. That's why some people will say, live your truth, or it's true for you, but not for me. It's because postmodernism views truth as a personal and experiential matter, not as something that can be objectively right or wrong. Now, let's take a step back and look at modernism, the philosophy that postmodernism grew out of. The modern view of truth is the one you're probably the most familiar with. Modernism accepts the idea of a singular universal truth and attempts to deduce what that truth is from observation. Essentially, we're talking about the scientific method of hypothesizing, experimenting, analyzing data, rinse and repeat. It's science! This method of testing ideas against what actually happens has led to a lot of breakthroughs in medicine, engineering, and other areas, but it struggles in areas where observations aren't easy to quantify, like history and theology. But how did people view truth before the scientific revolution? Well, until recently, most people agreed that the ultimate source of truth is God, and that if we are to know anything true, then it has to come from God, either as natural revelation, observing nature, or as special revelation, receiving a message from God. We'll explore how the Bible talks about this in a second, but let's look at some historical examples between the time the Bible was written and the scientific revolution to see that this was a view commonly held for a very long time. So, first up is Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Augustine asked himself in soliloquies, What is it that I want to know? His answer? God and the soul. Nothing else. Because God is the source of all knowledge. Thomas Aquinas, who lived in the 13th century, asked in his Summa Theologica whether we needed any knowledge besides what we can reason out for ourselves, and Aquinas said yes, because our reasoning is imperfect and God's is perfect. Finally, John Calvin in the 16th century said something very similar to Augustine, that to know anything, we must know God and ourselves, and we can't fully know ourselves until we know who God is. So, with all that in mind, let's look at how the Bible talks about truth. One of the most striking ways is how John the Apostle talks about it. Now, John wrote five books of the New Testament, the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Revelation. In his Gospel, John records Jesus saying that he, Jesus, is truth. Later, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. Now, we don't have time to talk about all the examples, but John is obsessed with truth, and says that Jesus is the embodiment of truth. Then, in one of the most ironic twists in the Bible, when Pilate is trying to find out who Jesus really is, Jesus tells him, I was born for this, and I've come into the world for this, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. And here comes the twist. Pilate's dismissive response is, what is truth? The embodiment of truth is right in front of him, and yet, because he doesn't want to know the truth, he can't see the truth. I can't see it! Another way that John describes Jesus is the Word of God. So, just as Jesus is the embodied Word of God, let's look at how the Bible, as the written Word of God, relates to truth. As Christians, we believe that because the Bible is God's Word, it is fully true in everything that it teaches. Now, that requires some interpretation of the text, because the different authors of the Bible write differently. For example, ancient Hebrew poetry is meant to be read differently than a personal letter. But the plain meaning of the text, in its context, is always true. And it isn't just mostly true, as if certain things are maybe imprecise or not quite historical. For example, when Jesus is arguing with some religious leaders in John chapter 10, he quotes the Old Testament at them, and his argument rests on a single word being plural rather than singular. Jesus was so convinced of the precision of God's written Word that he can base an entire argument on one word being plural rather than singular. Now, that's how true God's Word is. Now, that's all for episode one. I hope this has helped you explore the question, what is truth? If you'd like to let us know what questions you think we should explore in the future, drop a comment below and then like and subscribe while you're at it. We also have another podcast episode to accompany this video, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. We'll put a link in the description below. If you want to reach out or find more about our church, visit experiencecc.com or download the Experience Community app. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.