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Re: What is truth?
by jimwalton » Sat Nov 19, 2022 9:17 am
At core, Christians believe that the truth is a person. It's more than a proposition or a definition. It's not just a truth defined, but one expressed. Truth, according to Christians, is Jesus: an intellectual definition, a philosophical proposition, a life lived in harmony with the basic principles of the universe, and is Himself the basic defining principle of the universe.
When I say that "the truth is a person," let me dig that one a little deeper for you. The foundational characteristic of the universe is “fact” (reality). The things that exist truly exist. There is an actuality to matter, energy, physical laws, coexistent relationships, forces, etc. Our whole notion of science is that things are true, that they can be found out, and we can count on them being true. We can observe them, and test them, and repeat the tests, because underlying all of it is something true. Now, the Bible says that the universe was created by Jesus, is a reflection of his nature, and that he sustains it all by his nature. That would mean that Jesus is the truth on which the universe is based, as far as Christians believe.
When I said "an intellectual definition," I meant this: dictionary.com defines truth as (1) the actual state of matter, (2) conformity with fact or reality, (3) a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, or principle, (4) a state or character of being true. A Christian believes that the Bible teaches that Jesus IS all these things—that Jesus is the basic principle of reality upon which all reality is based.
When I said he's "a philosophical proposition," I meant this: Truth is one of the central subjects of philosophy. Philosophically explaining the nature of truth involves making distinct metaphysical presuppositions: again, something is true if it corresponds to "the way things actually are," which necessitates some sort of idealism or "gold standard" of the basic principle of all things. According to Bertrand Russell, propositions are the primary bearers of truth. This goes on and on.
Now, my point was that Jesus ideally did what we "all" try to do in part, as best we can: to live our lives and think our thoughts consistent with what is true. Since the Bible teaches that Jesus is the defining principle of the universe, and all truths finds their source and continuance in Him, then when He lived his life in flawless consistency with His nature, He was in total congruity with all things that are true, he himself BEING truth, and his life became the expression of ultimate truth.
I hope I’m making sense. Truth, then, is not only a perception of actuality and reality, it is the basis on which all things exist (ultimate, ideal reality), but also conforming to that reality (nature cannot exist outside of reality, and humans live truth when our thoughts and lives conform to reality). Jesus as a Person is the focal point of ALL of this: He was the agent of creation; in Him all things exist and have their being; He is the one who gives reality any definition; He is the one who sustains the universe; He is the one who lives in perfect harmony with reality, never diverging from it. Therefore truth is a conforming to reality, it’s a definition, it’s a philosophical proposition, but it is also a Person.
When I say that "the truth is a person," let me dig that one a little deeper for you. The foundational characteristic of the universe is “fact” (reality). The things that exist truly exist. There is an actuality to matter, energy, physical laws, coexistent relationships, forces, etc. Our whole notion of science is that things are true, that they can be found out, and we can count on them being true. We can observe them, and test them, and repeat the tests, because underlying all of it is something true. Now, the Bible says that the universe was created by Jesus, is a reflection of his nature, and that he sustains it all by his nature. That would mean that Jesus is the truth on which the universe is based, as far as Christians believe.
When I said "an intellectual definition," I meant this: dictionary.com defines truth as (1) the actual state of matter, (2) conformity with fact or reality, (3) a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, or principle, (4) a state or character of being true. A Christian believes that the Bible teaches that Jesus IS all these things—that Jesus is the basic principle of reality upon which all reality is based.
When I said he's "a philosophical proposition," I meant this: Truth is one of the central subjects of philosophy. Philosophically explaining the nature of truth involves making distinct metaphysical presuppositions: again, something is true if it corresponds to "the way things actually are," which necessitates some sort of idealism or "gold standard" of the basic principle of all things. According to Bertrand Russell, propositions are the primary bearers of truth. This goes on and on.
Now, my point was that Jesus ideally did what we "all" try to do in part, as best we can: to live our lives and think our thoughts consistent with what is true. Since the Bible teaches that Jesus is the defining principle of the universe, and all truths finds their source and continuance in Him, then when He lived his life in flawless consistency with His nature, He was in total congruity with all things that are true, he himself BEING truth, and his life became the expression of ultimate truth.
I hope I’m making sense. Truth, then, is not only a perception of actuality and reality, it is the basis on which all things exist (ultimate, ideal reality), but also conforming to that reality (nature cannot exist outside of reality, and humans live truth when our thoughts and lives conform to reality). Jesus as a Person is the focal point of ALL of this: He was the agent of creation; in Him all things exist and have their being; He is the one who gives reality any definition; He is the one who sustains the universe; He is the one who lives in perfect harmony with reality, never diverging from it. Therefore truth is a conforming to reality, it’s a definition, it’s a philosophical proposition, but it is also a Person.
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