There is an
obvious answer to this question, and the
only reason to ask this question in the
first place is to attempt to deny that
obvious answer. But attempts to deny the
obvious are self-contradictory. So the
humanists and atheists and other "ists" who
believe they are the masters of logic and
reason show their foolishness when they
attempt to deny the obvious answer to this
question. They are the perfect example of
the foolish idolaters identified in Romans
chapter 1:
"Although they claimed to be wise, they
became fools and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images made to look
like mortal man and birds and animals
and reptiles."
(Rom 1:22-23 )
Those who
fall into the trap of repeating this foolish
question from supposed wise philosophers
and thinkers do not realize that they have
fallen into a form of idolatry. That is
because the idol is hidden from their view.
It is made possible by their own ability to think, reason and
question. Such thoughts become idolatry when the
thinkers
place their conclusions from their thoughts
above the clear declarations and revelations
of God and God's word. Anything that
displaces God from his rightful place is an
idol, so those questioning "is there any
such thing as truth?" are really expressing a
form of idolatry akin to saying "is there
any better god than this calf idol?".
Jesus
stated he is truth incarnate ("I am the Way
the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the
Father except through me." John 14.6), so to
deny there is such a thing as "truth" is to
deny the clear declarations and revelations
of God, that:
1. Truth exists, and
2. Jesus - The Word of God (John 1.1) is the
expression of that truth
But enough
on why such a position is the foolishness of
idolaters, let's get to the demonstration of
the answer that everyone knows is true -
There is such a thing as "truth"
Prerequisites for Identifying Truth
Before demonstrating that there is such a
thing as truth one must define what is
understood by the concept of "truth." Many
apologists who address this question skip
this step, choosing to speak instead of
"absolute truth" or "objective truth", but
that is because they did not take the time
to define the main concept of "truth"
itself. So we'll take a moment to do that,
then we will not need adjectives like
"absolute" or "objective.
First, an
observation. This entire concept of "truth"
is a non-material concept. Inanimate,
non-conscious objects such as rocks are not
concerned with immaterial, rational
concepts such as truth. Which means this is yet
another item that evolution cannot explain.
Actually two items: where did the
consciousness that allows us to consider
concepts such as "truth" come from; and
where did the concept of "truth" itself come
from?
I bring up
the topic of immaterial objects because we
need a number of immaterial constructs to
define "truth." The first being the laws of
logic. The origin of the laws of logic is
another problem for evolutionists, but we
will not dive down that rabbit hole here.
Instead, we'll accept the laws of logic as
valid, and as a first, a-priori principle. Here
are the first two laws of logic[1]
1. The Law of Identity
A thing is what it is.
2. The Law of Non-Contradiction
It is impossible for something to both be
and not be at the same time and in the same
respect.
This will
provide boundaries to exclude foolish
errors.
Now as to
the definition of "truth" itself. I
support the "Correspondence Theory" of
truth as correct. As stated by the Standford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy:[2]
"The
basic idea of the correspondence theory
is that what we believe or say is true
if it corresponds to the way things
actually are – to the facts."
With these
as the framework, we are now prepared
to answer the question, "is there such a
thing as truth." In order to do so, we must
turn it into a declarative statement that
can be tested. The question implies the
negative, so we will examine the negative
declarative statement:
Assertion for examination:
There is no such thing as truth.
This is a
self-contradictory statement which is made
clear by merely asking the question, is that
a true statement?
Options:
a) If it is a true statement, then it is true that there is no such thing
as truth. That is obviously contradictory and so
violates the law of non-contradiction . So
clearly the assertion is a false statement.
b) If it is a
false statement, then it is false that there
is no such thing as truth; or removing the
double negatives, it is true that there is
such a thing a truth. This is in accordance
with the Law of Identity, and does not
violate any laws of logic, so clearly
denying the assertion produces a true
statement.
So once
again we see those trying to be
sophisticated and philosophical by trying to
imply, or outright claim "there is no
such thing as truth" are merely showing
themselves to be willing to deceive
themselves regarding an obvious truth to avoid that
same very obvious truth: Truth exists. Truth
has always existed, just as God, who is
truth, has always existed.
From my
perspective, the only reason to deny there
is such a thing as "truth", and
that it is knowable just as there is a God
who truth and knowable because you
want to deny that "God."
In some respects it's really a variation of
the serpent's lie in the garden, "Did God
really say...?" (Gen 3.1). Satan, the
deceiver in the
form of a serpent, is
essentially implying that God has told Adam
and Eve a lie. Satan says this about God who
he knows always speaks truth and never lies
(Is 45.19). That lie is one step before the
false claim that not only did God not speak
the truth, there is no truth.
Corollary
Question: What is Truth?
This
related question, "What is truth?" (John
18.38) is the question Pilate asked Jesus
when he was trying to ascertain whether
Jesus was worthy of death or not as the
Jewish leaders claimed. (John 18.28-37) The
late Charles Colson makes an important
distinction in how to understand the
question. Pilate is not being philosophical
here. He's being dismissive. He's
essentially asking, "what does truth
matter?" Colson points out that Pilate's
depiction in Mel Gibson's "Passion of the
Christ" correctly captures that dismissive
attitude. I agree that's what depicted. (In passing, the movie is
unfortunately done in Latin (unfortunate
since Jesus spoke Aramaic so Latin does not
help the film), but that forces Gibson to
place subtitles throughout the movie.)
Colson said Gibson shows the dismissive
nature by placing an exclamation point after
the question, what is truth? To be precise,
in the movie Pilate repeats "truth"
after Jesus states, "I came into the world,
to testify to the truth. Everyone on the
side of truth listens to me." (John 18.37)
It's after Pilate repeats "truth" that the
exclamation point is placed. "What is
truth?" is left as a question, but the actor
clearly portrays his dismissive attitude
toward the importance of "truth."
View the
Colson's comment (2006) here.
View the scene from the
The Passion of the Christ (2004) here.
Final
Thoughts
Whichever
way you take it - whether philosophically
(Is there such a thing as truth?) or
dismissively ("What's truth?" as Pilate did)
clearly the
whole concept is Satanic, with the goal
being to separate you from God by getting
you to deny the basic thing you need for a
relationship with him: a recognition that
there is truth, God always speaks truth,
Jesus is truth incarnate, and God wants to
have a relationship with you through Jesus
based on truth - not lies and falsehood.
Because God will not allow lies or falsehood
in his kingdom in heaven. As he says about
his kingdom, "Nothing impure will ever enter
it, nor will anyone who does what is
shameful or deceitful, but only those
whose names are written in the Lamb's book
of life." (Rev 21.27) Liars and deceivers
(and the deceived who reject Jesus) do not
go to heaven. They go to hell. In fact I
wrote an entire article on it:
Hell is for liars
So
here's my plea: Don't be among those who fall
into Satan's trap - questioning if there's
truth, or whether it's knowable or
important. Clearly there is truth, and God
speaks truth and has revealed truth -
in scripture as well as in nature. On the
other hand
Satan lies.
Satan lies on his way to murder so he can
murder you without you noticing it. This is
what Jesus said about Satan's lies and
murder:
You
belong to your father, the devil, and
you want to carry out your father's
desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for
there is no truth in him. When he lies,
he speaks his native language, for he is
a liar and the father of lies.
(John 8:44)
Satan lies
so you can spend
eternity in hell with him. Don't allow
yourself to be a victim of his lies. Instead
recognize the enemy and be alert:
Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy
the devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.
(1 Pet 5:8 )
I will
leave you with a question that Jesus asked
those who didn't believe him who thought
their being an heir of Abraham would be
sufficient to get them into heaven. Jesus
asked them:
Yet
because I tell the truth, you do not
believe me! Can any of you prove me
guilty of sin? If I am telling the
truth, why don't you believe me?
He who belongs to God hears what God
says. The reason you do not hear is that
you do not belong to God."
John 8.45-47
No one
could prove Jesus guilty of any sin. Which
means Jesus never lied, because to lie is to
sin. He never sinned, so he never lied. If
Jesus never lies and only speaks truth, why
don't you believe him? He answers the
question above for you - because you do not
belong to God. (You belong to the liar,
Satan, so you don't accept truth.) Would you
like to belong to God and avoid an eternity
with Satan? Here's how:
"I tell
you the truth, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned; he has
crossed over from death to life.
John 5.24
Jesus also
says, "Trust in God. Trust also in me."
(John 14.1)
Once you believe, you have eternal life -
now. That's how you open yourself to belong
to God.
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