"What is truth?"...Pontius Pilate

It's been a long cold winter. You can tell by looking at me that I have been pretty much hugging the fire all winter. Bet I've gained ten pounds and it's all right here! *patting belly* I guess I'll have to go back on the dog food diet again...lost nearly 40 pounds the last time...just load up your pockets with purina and eat a couple pieces every time you feel hungry. It contains sufficient nutrition to maintain the body without any fat or other additives that might cause harm, it'll make your hair slick and shiny, and you get used to the taste. Be careful though, I heard of a man that was on it who walked out of a store, saw a cat, chased it out into the street and got hit by a car!

As I told this yarn, before the cat statement, were you thinking that it was believeable and therefore truth? Why?...because there were some facts in it that you knew were true?...because it was me telling it in a “matter of fact” way? 

John 18:37-38

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.

There are two prevalent views as to the question “What is truth?”.... the correspondence view and the relativistic view. The correspondence view is based on a statement being true if and only if it corresponds to or agrees with known facts, or objective reality. In other words it is a belief in absolute truth. What is absolute truth?...a truth based on fact or agrees with some known occurrence. Example: The human body will die without oxygen. This is an absolute truth which can be backed up by scientific fact and by occurences as well. Any clear declarative statement must be either true or false. It cannot be neither, nor can it be both true and false. This view promotes the testing of a statement to determine whether or not it can be backed up by fact. A statement can be proven false if it can be shown to disagree with objective reality. At one time in history, most of the educated world thought that the world was flat! They believed and accepted this as truth for years and years. They must have been very dissapointed when the theory that the earth was round began to take hold and the ships began to prove it. So it will be for those who refuse to accept that truth is absolute.

The relativistic view is that truth depends on views or cultures, not on objective reality. Truth for one may be totally different than truth for another. It allows each person or society to live by whatever they decide is true. You'll here a relativist say things like:

“Well, if that's true for you I guess it's ok.” or, “ we can't judge other cultures.”

People of this mind set do not believe in absolute truth, yet the statement that there is no absolute truth is in essence an absolute truth, at least for them! When truth is dependent upon the individual, one person might say Jesus is Lord while another might say Allah is lord. Both statements will be true to the one who spoke them, but, the very definition of Lord requires the title to belong to only one. Those who say there is no absolute truth make decisions every day based on things they believe are true or false. They turn on a light believing in the reality of electricity. They drive a car believing in the dependability of it. Not one of them would want to be operated on by a brain surgeon who did not believe that some things about the brain are true and some are not true! If there were no absolutes, there would be no right or wrong. I could kill someone and because I believe I should do such things, it has become my personal truth and who are you to judge me?

In the absence of truth, power is the only game in town.

The true Christian view is the correspondence view. We believe in absolute truth, because truth is what is real. We believe the Bible is God's word written down by men inspired of Him. There are many passages that tell us that God is Truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me.” We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, He died on the cross, was buried and was ressurected on the third day and we take it to be an absolute truth. My Savior lives! He will return someday to take His followers home. 

Some may think” Well, how can you accept this as absolute truth?”...remember the definition..based on fact..what facts?..the factual evidence presented by the Gospel writers. How can you believe them? They were reputable men of their day, their stories matched closely even though they were in different parts of world when they wrote, and none of them ever wavered in their accounts! Think of a place you've never actually been...how do you know it's true that its there? You believe because of the testimony of reputable people who have been there. Several years ago, my Dad told me he saw a bear, my neighbor Charles said he saw it, the Motley boys said they saw it....I never saw it, but, I believe it was there because of the testimony of these reputable men. If I can believe in the truth of a place I've never been, or, the existence of a bear I didn't see, then surely I can believe in the truth of the testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. My Savior lives! You say, “but, what if they're wrong just as the earth being flat was wrong?”. I say that the word of man is often wrong, but the word of God is absolutely true and has stood for all the ages.

You can't argue a person into heaven. In order to make an argument, one must accept the fact that some absolute truth exists. They can't see how illogical their side of the argument is, nor can they see how logical your side is. If a person says there is no God, the statement itself must be an absolute for him, else he has no basis for argument. His statement then by definition must be based on fact..no way..because all the historical facts that we have back up the existence of God.

So, to answer Pilate's question “what is truth?”, God is truth. Go back now to verse 37 above and substitute "God" for each phrase "the truth". Can you see why Jesus came? Pilate had no clue. A person can call himself whatever he likes, but, he can't call himself a Christian unless he holds the correspondence view of truth. Christians believe in the moral absolutes of right and wrong. Christians accept Jesus and His Word as the ultimate source of truth regarding morality and salvation. Because we know and speak the truth, the world hates us. We are often called bigots, hippocrites, and judgemental. Even so, we must continue to speak and demand the truth. Hold fast to the truth of God's word as we defend the faith. Speak it  when given the opportunity with tactfullness, compassion, and love for our fellow man.