The+truth+about+Truth!

=What is Truth? =

This is a profound question that we need to give much thought to. Some people will declare that we can not know truth, that in actuality this entire world is an illusion, or rather everything that we think is true is just an illusion. The simple fact is, truth is a foundational concept that we must understand before we can ever begin to dive into issues concerning God’s existence, Jesus’ divinity, the nature of reality and so forth. If we do not believe that we can know truth at all, then all of those other issues are meaningless. Therefore, it is imperative that we first begin any apologetic study with the foundational question of “What is Truth?” and then build from there. Thus, in this section we will examine what truth is and is not, how we can know it, and why it is important to know. With that, let us begin!

What Truth Is Not
To begin, we need to look at some key points pertaining to what truth is not. In today’s pluralistic, relativistic, multi-cultural world there are all these ideas about what truth is. It is important that we analyze them to see if they measure up as viable points of what truth is. Now let us look first at what truth is not:
 * //Truth is not “whatever works for me.”// This idea of truth being “what works for me” is called the //pragmatic theory of truth//. In this view, a statement is known to be true if it brings the right results. However this view is flawed for several reasons. First, supporters of this theory believe their view is true not because it works but because it corresponds to reality! Therefore their belief is self-refuting, they are supporting a correspondence theory of truth, not a pragmatic one. Secondly, the pragmatic view is flawed because simply because something works does not make it true. For example, I can lie to get out of trouble, and that lie works really well, however, just because the lie works doesn’t make the lie true![1]


 * //Truth is not “whatever feels good, right or correct.”// This idea of truth being “whatever feels good, right or correct” is called the //subjective theory of truth//. If something is subjective it is personal, internal, within you the individual. In short, this view of truth is asserting relativism, the belief that “whatever feels good to you is right” or “something may be true for you but not true for me.” The fact is however that just because something feels right does not make it right or true! A can say that “All dogs are white,” all day long (I can even feel good about this statement), however, the FACT (the real truth) is that not all dogs are white – thus my statement is false! Understand that “the nature of truth does not depend on the result of truth”[2] – in short, the resulting feelings or emotions I have about a claim have nothing to do with the actual truth of the claim! How I feel about something has nothing to do with the actual truth of that something.


 * //Truth is not “unknowable.”// There are those that assert that “truth is not knowable.” The fact is however that very phrase is self-refuting (that means it contradicts itself and thus self-destructs as being true itself).[3] The whole belief that “truth is unknowable” IS A TRUTH CLAIM! The person saying it is saying, “It is objectively true that no truth exists.” In short, they are saying they know that truth is unknowable. The question you should ask is, “How do you know truth is not knowable?” There will be more on the know-ability of truth later.



=What Truth Is = = = 

So, we have looked at what truth is not. Now we need to ask, “What is truth?” In a definition form truth is “that which corresponds or relates to reality (the real world) as it actually is…[therefore] if something is true, it is true for //all people//, at //all times//, and in //all places// regardless of a person’s awareness or believes.”[4] In short, truth is “telling it like it is.” For example, if I look and see that there is a blue ball setting on a table before me and I make the statement, “There is a blue ball setting on the table in front of me,” that statement is true. My statement corresponds (matches) the reality (the facts and evidence) that a //blue ball IS// setting in front of me! This idea, that truth is that which corresponds to reality, is known as the correspondence theory of truth.

Such an idea of truth was affirmed by Jesus when He said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 18:37-38). In this saying, Jesus is affirming that “which corresponds to reality” – that He is the exclusive pathway to God, the only way of salvation. “[He] is the ultimate spiritual reality. His birth, life, death, resurrection, and glorification are all real. All of reality is founded on his blueprint, his creation, his plan, and his sustaining power. The totality of reality and all truth reduce to God. In this sense, Jesus is truth.”[5] Now, before I get off into theology, which is not the goal of this section on Truth, let us turn to several further important points of what truth is (as it corresponds to reality). In short, here are some truths about Truth:
 * //Truth is discovered, not invented. Truth is not something that we can make up//. We can not make up that the sky is blue or the grass is green – these are truths that exist outside of us, they are real existing truths! Here is a more specific example: Gravity – gravity existed as a truth (it was real) before Sir Isaac Newton came up with the Theory of Gravity.[6]
 * //Truth is unchanging and wholly binding//. By this I mean //objective truth// (that is truths that exist outside of your mind) are not contained to a specific group of people, a specific location or a specific time but are unchanging for all and binding on all. [7] Put another way, if something is going to be true then it is true for all people, in all places, at all times. For example: 5+5=10 is a truth that applies to everyone, in every place, at every time!
 * <span style="color: #424e80; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">//Truth is exclusive of its opposites//. In short, all truth claims exclude their opposite (false) claims.[8] For example, I can not say that, “There is a blue ball setting on the table in front of me,” while at the same time saying, “There is no ball setting on the table in front of me.” Either the first statement is true and the second false or the second statement is true and the first false – but they can not both be true! There will be more on this when we talk about the Law of Non-Contradiction and the Law of Excluded Middle.

<span style="color: #424e80; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">None of the things mentioned under What Truth is Not, stand up to investigation. Those things are not accurate definitions of what Truth is! We know this based upon our own experiences and situations! So, again, in closing, truth is simply that which corresponds to reality! It is telling it like it is! WHAT IS COMING UP? In the near future we will be looking at not what truth is but rather, "How Is Truth Known?" Stay tuned!

[1] Information in this paragraph comes from: Geisler, Norman. //“Why I Believe Truth Is Real and Knowable.”// Geisler, Norman and Paul Hoffman. ed. __Why I am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe__. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006) pg 34 [2] Geisler, Norman. //__Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics__//. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999) pg 742 [3] Geisler. //__I Don’t Have Enough Faith__//. pg 62 [4] Geisler, Norman and Joseph Holden. //__Living Loud: Defending Your Faith__//. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002) pg 31 [5] Hardy, Dean. //__Stand Your Ground: And Introductory Text for Apologetics Students__//. (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2007) pg 32 [6] Geisler, Norman and Frank Turek. //__I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist__//. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004) pg 37 [7] Ibid pg 38 [8] Ibid pg 37