¿What is the truth?

¿Is it the absolute truth or does it vary according to circumstances and opinions? ¿Is it just a philosophical question? What is truth according to the Bible? 

Wiston Churchill once said, "Sometimes men stumble upon the truth, but most get up and continue on their way quickly, as if nothing had happened."

Is it possible to know "the truth"? Or is the truth subject to human interpretations?

Many today think that truth is relative under the circumstances - that something true in one situation is not necessarily true in another. This would imply that the truth for one person is not necessarily the truth for all. If this is true, how can we be sure of what we should believe and how we should live?

About 2,000 years ago, a Roman governor asked an unjustly accused prisoner, "What is the truth?" The governor's name was Pontius Pilate, and the prisoner was Jesus of Nazareth (John 18: 37-38).

Christ did not answer Pilate's question on that occasion, or at least we have no record that he did. So Pilate apparently gave up on his question and simply washed his hands of the problem, or thought he had. However, Christ did answer this question elsewhere, and the same writer (John) records it in a prayer from Jesus to his Father.

What is truth ?: the definition of Christ

On the night before his crucifixion, Christ offered a heartfelt prayer to his Father to ask for his disciples - and not only those of that time, but also those who would follow him in the future. In the context of that prayer, Jesus said: “Sanctify them [set them apart] in your truth; Your word is true ”(John 17:17, emphasis added).

Here, Christ is saying that we should examine the pages of God's Word - the Holy Bible - to learn the truth of all the important subjects of life. The Bible has the answers to why we were born, what is our purpose in life, whether God exists, and what is the potential of humanity, to name just a few of the topics covered in this book.

The psalmist also wrote, "The sum of your word is truth" (Psalm 119: 160), and it is interesting that the word "truth" is mentioned more than 200 times in the Scriptures.

The truth according to President Ronald Reagan

Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, said: “Americans long to explore the deeper truths of life. Inside that one book [the Bible], "he continued," we would find the answers to all the problems we face today, if only we read and believed it. "

Reagan is hailed as one of the greatest leaders in the United States and, like other leaders around the world, he believed in the existence of a divine plan for humanity.

Jesus said that He was the truth

In an interesting twist to his earlier statement, Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14: 6, emphasis added).

Paul further said to the Ephesians, "If indeed you have heard him, and have been taught by him, according to the truth which is in Jesus" (Ephesians 4:21, emphasis added). So Christ, being God, is the embodiment of truth - the incarnate truth.

In the introductory commentary on his epistle to Titus, Paul also wrote: “Paul, servant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised from before the beginning of the ages ”(Titus 1: 1-2).

And Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free ”(John 8: 31-32). Knowing the truth delivered the disciples from delusions, errors, and heresies.

Christ also revealed that Satan, when he was Lucifer, had known the truth but did not abide in it; And rebuking the Pharisees who did not believe in him, he told them that they were from his father the devil. "He [the devil] has been a murderer from the beginning, and has not remained in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks lies, he speaks of himself; for he is a liar, and the father of lies ”(John 8:44, emphasis added).

Reflecting the confusion that Satan has created, Otto von Bismarcken jokingly said once: "When you want to tease the world, tell the truth."

In short, the Bible describes truth as the character, teachings, and promises of Christ; and everything that does not agree with the Bible is false, wrong, misleading and heretical.

Spiritual forces against the truth!

Can we see what all this implies? God is the source of truth through His Word. Jesus Christ personified the truth; And an evil being dedicated to falsifying the truth is doing his thing in our world! People should be more cautious before believing that "the truth is not absolute." Where did this idea originate in the first place? For it came from Satan, "the father of lies."

Satan lies now and has always done so throughout history, literally deceiving the entire human race (Revelation 12: 9). Countless people have believed that they "discovered" a new idea, when in fact it was Satan who put it into their minds.

Note the warning that Paul makes to Timothy at the end of the letter that he wrote him: “O Timothy, keep what has been entrusted to you, avoiding the profane talks about vain things, and the arguments of the falsely called science, which professing some have turned away from the faith ”(1 Timothy 6: 20-21).

Science is not the source of truth

Many also think that science can reveal the truth. But, Kathy Sykes , an English physicist and professor at the University of Bristol, explains that “science is not about the truth, but about getting closer to the truth. This is important because very often people think that scientists have 'the truth'. What we have is shrouded in uncertainties, warnings, and simplifications. "

Wiston Churchill once said: “The truth is indisputable. Malevolence can attack it, ignorance ridicule it, but ultimately, there it is. "

Is there absolute truth?

On the other hand, there are those who do not believe in the existence of an absolute truth. The Royal Spanish Academy defines "absolute" as "whole, total, complete"; and "truth" is defined as "the reality or real existence of a thing; conformity of things with reality ...; verified or indisputable fact ”.

Philosophers and scientists have debated the existence of absolute truth for centuries. But many have chosen to accept another philosophy, known as "situational ethics." Situational ethics is defined as "a theory of ethics according to which moral rules are not absolutely mandatory, but modifiable according to specific situations ( Webster's New World College Dictionary [Collegiate Dictionary of the New World of Webster ]).

Ironically, when someone says "There is no such thing as absolute truth," we might ask, "Are you absolutely sure that's the case?" Affirming that absolute truth does not exist is itself an attempt to establish absolute truth and is therefore a statement that contradicts itself!

For example, just because someone decides not to believe in the law of gravity, this does not mean that the law of gravity does not exist. The same is true of the existence of God: what a person believes about his existence has nothing to do with the fact that God does indeed exist.

To be honest, people should admit that they don't know if there is an absolute truth about a specific topic. However, through the Bible God reveals that absolute truth does exist.

It is necessary to worship in truth

As Christ told a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, knowing the "truth" is essential to worship God: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; because the Father also such worshipers seeks to be worshiped. God is Spirit; and those who worship him, in spirit and in truth, must worship "(John 4: 23-24, emphasis added).

Even the enemies of Christ (the Pharisees) admitted: "Teacher, we know that you are a lover of truth, and that you truly teach the way of God" (Matthew 22:16). This statement probably had an ironic tone, as the Pharisees were trying to deceive Christ, but their description of Him was correct.

Furthermore, God describes His Holy Spirit as a Spirit of truth who would eventually guide those who believed in Him into all truth (John 16:13).

The example of David and Paul

Let's look at the examples of some faithful who understood that God has the absolute truth. In Psalms 25: 5, David prayed saying, "Lead me in your truth, and teach me, because you are the God of my salvation"; Speaking to the Ephesians, Paul recalled that "in him [God] also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and having believed in it, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1 : 13).

To the members of the Church in Colossae , Paul said: “… because of the hope that is kept for you in heaven, of which you have already heard by the true word of the gospel” (Colossians 1: 5). The gospel that Christ and the apostles preached is the truth of the future Kingdom of God.

Later, Paul reminded Timothy that he should be diligent and rigorous in explaining and teaching the Word of God, saying: "Try diligently to present yourself approved to God, as a worker who does not have to be ashamed, who uses well [presents correctly] the word of truth ”(2 Timothy 2:15). This "word of truth" is the Bible.

The apostle also told Timothy: "... so that if I delay, you will know how you must conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, column and bulwark of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Here Paul is saying that there is also a "true Church" where we can find the truth.

Guided by the truth

This is a summary of the biblical answers to the question "what is truth?":

Jesus said that the Word of God, the Bible, is true (John 17:17).

Christ, being God, is the personification of truth (John 14: 6; Ephesians 4:21).

God cannot lie (Titus 1: 1-2).

Satan lies blatantly! We must be vigilant in their attacks on the truth (Revelation 12: 9).

Christ promised his disciples that they would know the truth (John 8: 31-32).

Truth is revealed in the Word of God, not through science.

God only accepts that we worship him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

Knowing the truth is wonderful, but it is not enough! God expects us to act according to the truth as He teaches it to us. Living the truth - walking in the truth - is more important than knowing it. Both wisdom and knowledge, understanding and truth are attributes of God, and He can show us the truth if we seek it diligently and prayerfully.

“If you cry out for intelligence, and for prudence you will give your voice; If you search for it like silver, and search for it like treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Eternal, and you will find the knowledge [the truth] of God. For the Eternal gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and intelligence ”(Proverbs 2: 3-6). This is the absolute truth!