What Is Truth?



1st Timothy 3:15 says “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

It ends with “the pillar and ground of the truth." But, what is Truth?

Let’s look at John 18:35. Here Pilate is questioning Jesus as the people want him put to death.
“Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”

Even Pilate knows enough to question, what even is truth?

Specifically, he finds no fault in Jesus at all. Yet hundreds of people are saying he is at fault and that he is worthy of death. Does Pilate not see the truth? Are those hundreds of people wrong or is he wrong? What is the truth? Not only in this instance, but in all instances.

Truth is the relationship between a proposition and the facts of reality. Essentially, it is the recognition of reality. Truth is independent of mankind and when one of our conscious formulations corresponds to reality, we have found truth.
This podium is a podium, whether you agree or not. It’s a podium whether you are present to say it is or not. It’s a podium whether you exist to even be able to observe it or not.
Jesus is Lord, whether you believe it or not. He is my savior whether you worship him or not. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life whether you exist or not.

There are 3 ways to find truth: Observation (science), Deduction/Induction (philosophy), Revelation (God’s Word). You can simply see the truth, you can reason with logic and find truth, or you can simply be told truth.

OBSERVATION (SCIENCE)


What is in front of me? A podium. I can see this. Therefore, I know this truth by observation. Is it heavy? Using reason to combine the facts that the podium is tall and made out of wood, it is going to be heavy. Therefore, I deduced the truth that the podium is heavy. What is in front of the podium? Someone tell me. Now I know truth by Revelation. I can’t deduce nor observe the what is on the other side. So the only way I can know this truth is by you Revealing it to me.

So, what can we say about truth relating to science and observation? Only that the truth is usually not what it appears to be. Scientists will never know all the answers and will continually be digging to find even more.

Let’s look at some examples ourselves. What is the truth about sight and colors? We take for granted every day that most of us can see the beautiful colors this world has. But what is the truth behind color? What is color? Can you show me “green” independent of anything else? Just green? No. You can only show me a green leaf or a green pen. Never just green. So what is green, truthfully? Well in a science class you might have learned that green is just a certain wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. Light, especially white light, is just the range of electromagnetic radiation that we can see with our eyes. When light, or photons, hit an object they bounce off and some of the waves land in our eye. That is how we see things. To see color, we have small cells called Cones in our eyes which can perceive color (the different wavelengths of EM). If I'm seeing a green leaf, that is because the EM radiation is part bouncing off and part being absorbed by the leaf. All wavelengths of that radiation are being absorbed by the leaf except those with wavelengths of 500nm. That radiation is bouncing off and our eyes and cones pick it up. Our brain then interprets the impulse given by those cones as green.

Knowing this, we still don't know the truth about color. If the green wavelength is bouncing off the leaf, but every other wavelength/color is absorbed, what color is the leaf? Is it green? Or is it every color but green since those were the colors the leaf absorbed and green is simply what it kicked out? What is the true answer?

Also, given that Green is not a thing, it’s simply how our eyes perceive EM radiation with a 500nm wavelength. Or to put it simply, it’s how our brain conceptualizes energy. Does that mean green even exists? If our brains were not there to pick it up, would a leaf even have color? Can it be said there is no such thing as green, since that is simply how a human brain perceives this energy, not what the energy actually is. What is the truth? The more you learn the less you understand the truth.

We can even switch to another of our 5 senses: hearing. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Sound, yes; Noise, no. When a tree falls it smacks the ground which causes particles to collide, creating areas of high pressure and low pressure and this spreads through the air like a ripple. The alternating between compression and rarefaction, or the area of high and low pressure spreads out at a certain frequency and wavelength. This wave eventually enters the ear canal and shakes the eardrum respective to its frequency and wavelength. Your brain then interprets this as sound.

The sound we hear does not truly exist apart from humans. It’s just air moving back and forth like a wave in the ocean until a human ear and brain interpret it and create a noise that is not shareable with anyone else. You can’t be sure that the same noise I hear (volume, pitch, note) is the same sound you hear because it cannot be shared. It only exists within our mind. I can’t give you a sound since I can’t hold it. I can create a sound using something else, but what might sound high pitched to me may sound low pitched to you.

What is truth?

REASONING (PHILOSOPHY)


Let’s move on to Philosophy and its search for truth. Contemplating what truth is and how to find it has been done since the beginning of man. We will look at 2 of the earliest philosophers and how the conclusions they came to about truth.

Starting with Heraclitus, this man actually lived in Ephesus around 500 BC. In order to come to truth he looked around and thought to himself - what is there? What is existence? What is the fundamental truth? Over the course of his life he saw one constant - Change.

Here I have a match. A match is a match, right? Is this the same match I was holding 5 seconds ago? Maybe. But let me light it. Now, is this the same match? I didn’t replace it with another match,right? So yes, it is the same match. But the tip is no longer red. The match is no room temperature. It’s no longer able to light. So, it’s not the same match. It changed. So it’s both the same match and not the same match. It’s both A and Not A.

How about you? Are you the same? Are you the same you as 10 years ago? I was Brent 10 years ago and I’m still Brent now, right? But 10 years ago I had hair. 10 years ago I wasn’t as wise. Even science says all the cells within our body are replaced within a 7 year span. So not even the cells are the same as before. So, am I both Brent and not Brent. Are you the same person as 10 years ago but also not the same person? We see this contradiction holds and things are and are not at the same time. It seems clear that truth is change and truth is contradiction. There is no truth. Because what may be truth now, is not true 5 seconds from now. “Nothing is(exists), everything is Becoming”.

Heraclitus actually came up with the famous quote “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man”. So, change is the only thing there is and contradiction is truth.

Now, can you prove him wrong? Or is he correct?

Let’s look at the next guy: Parmenides. He came 39 years after Heraclitus.
He had the opposite idea. He said to himself what exists, exists. And what does not exist, does not and can not exist. What does not exist can not be spoken of nor thought of. For example: try to think about nothing. You can’t do it. Think about how the number nine smells. You can’t. As soon as you set your mind to think about nothing, something pops up and you think about some thing. What does not exist can not be thought about nor can it be spoken of. So you can’t have something change into nothing and you can’t have nothing change into something. You can’t have what exists change into what does no exist. You can’t have what does not exist change into something that exists. Which means there is no change. Because change requires the previous. Change requires what exists to become that which does not exist. And it requires that which does not exist, to now exist. Take for example, a seed. What exists? The seed. What does not exist? The flower. So how can the seed, which exists, change into something which does not exist, the flower? And how can the flower, which does not exist, suddenly have existence? How the seed, which exists then fall into non-existence?

Therefore, change does not exist in reality. We cannot trust our senses. Existence turns into non-existence? And non-existence suddenly exists? Nope, can’t be. That does make logical sense. Therefore All there is, is a non-moving existence. A single existence is all there is and will be, nothing can become anything else.

So there we have 2 of the earliest philosopher and they came to opposite views. Change and contradiction are the only truths or stationary existence is the only truth. So, how about you? What is the truth?

REVELATION


Revelation is when truth is revealed to you. Not indirectly through observation or reasoning. But direct through communication. When someone speaks the truth and you hear it or someone writes the truth and you read it. The easiest and simplest way of the 3. Some have been lucky enough for the truth to be spoken directly to them, Like Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Moses, Noah, etc. But most of us are still lucky in that we get to read the revelation. Which was penned by the Spirit of God. We don’t have to search for years, we don’t have to reason with intellectuals. We don't have to meditate and fast for weeks hoping to see a sign. We don’t have to follow an 8-fold path or achieve enough Karma. We don’t have to struggle for enlightenment. We have been given the work of truth directly. Right here in front of us. A lot of times we take for granted how spoiled we are. We don’t have to wonder, have to guess, and we don’t even have to be wrong about the truth. It’s all right here; even in english. 1 Cor 13:6 says “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth”

Because we have a God who cares enough to share the truth with us, in more ways than one.

John 14:6 says “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is the truth! No one can get to the father except through Jesus. And that works in 2 ways. No one can be saved and obtain eternal life except through the truth(Jesus). And no one can come to a knowledge of God (knowledge of him, not just existence), except through the truth, which he gave us.

We know God wants both of those for us. 1 Timothy 2:4 says “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Now, to prevent us from being in the category of 2 Tim 3:7 “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We need to do exactly what our bible says, which we all know in 2 Tim 2:15 says “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Therefore, let us understand the pillar and ground of truth. The truth that:

Eph 2:1-14 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”

In conclusion, understand how truth is found. And realize how easy and freely we have it. Study it. Know it. Because it IS truth. And while the rest of the world spends billions of dollars and trillions of hours reasoning the truth, you can sit back and know that you have the most important truth in your lap.