What is truth?
In John 18:38, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” This was in response to his frustration over who was saying what about the truth concerning who Jesus really was, the conflicting stories he was hearing and the reality of what he knew was going on.
Miriam Webster Dictionary defines Truth as “the body of real things, events and facts.”
The Simple English Wiktionary has a definition for truth. “Truth is what is real. A thing is true if it is a fact.” Aristotle said: “To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true.” (That’s too heady for me)
Jesus said in John 14:6A, “I am the way and the truth and the life” and to complement that he said in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Going hand in hand, this is God’s fact that Christ is who he and scripture says he is.
Look at the difference in telling, or not telling the truth. In Genesis 3 is the story that the serpent deceived or lied to Eve about eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had warned them about the truth of the situation, while the serpent lied to them. The consequences for following the lie were devastating, not just for Adam and Eve, but for the rest of humanity. That is why the Devil is called, “The father of lies” (John 8:44) and by definition, those who lie are related to him.
Actuality and facts are not subjective. Reality is not what you want it to be, but what it is. When you deny reality, or the truth, you enter a state of denialism. Truth is absolute. It is fixed and unchanging.
Why is truthfulness so important? When you appear in court to give testimony, you must swear to tell the truth or face a penalty because of perjury. It is paramount that the truth is communicated so that justice can be served. And order can be kept in a civil society.
Truth in advertising is the law in many places because of unscrupulous actors in the economy. Too many historical claims of snake salesman promising cures for all that ails you led to protective rules in society. As the advent of instantaneous social media took over communication and information, the releases of not just questionable but outright dubious reports besieges and victimizes a gullible populace.
There’s a story of the boy who cried wolf when there wasn’t any wolf. After so many times of shouting wolf when there wasn’t any, people quit believing him and falling for his lies. Finally, an actual wolf came and when he cried wolf, no one believed him, and he was eaten. This shows consequences of a lack of trust and credibility. How many lose themselves to themselves?
Someone who has a reputation of lying or deceitfulness can become an object of derision. At what point can they be trusted? Children can be counted on to invent tall tales and knowingly confuse the truth, usually to stay out of trouble, and corrective adulting appropriately disciplines that behavior. In Exodus 20:16, one of the 10 commandments says not to bear false witness or give false testimony.
In today’s world, one can hear much clamor about “fake news.” The typical claim is that the news reporting is biased, has a hidden agenda or leaves out pertinent information. So, the truth of whatever the matter is suffers injury because of purposeful neglect or persuasive wordsmithing to steer the listener to a predetermined outcome. The complaint is that there is no objective fact-based news.
This is diametrically opposed to what is referred to as the Gospel, which means “Good news.” I have considered fake news and the Gospel, or good news. My conclusion is that it wouldn’t be good news if it wasn’t the truth. Blessings.