“Whatever happened to truth?” Look at him there, standing in front of Pilate, bearing witness to the truth, calmly stating that his kingdom is not of this world. “Behold, the man!” Here is the Truth, beaten and bruised for our sins, hung on a tree-look at him now, crucified.
Who would have thought? Truth is a person. What is more, truth is a crucified person, Jesus the Messiah, the one-of-a-kind, sent Son from the Father. Three days later, that Truth rose from the grave. Death could not keep him. He showed himself to many and is now exalted with God.
“Whatever happened to truth?” In one sense, the answer is, “The truth is just fine, thank you.” Jesus, the Word, continues to speak to those with ears to hear in his word, the Scriptures. He has returned to his glory with the Father and awaits his return from there at the Father’s appointed time.
In another sense, however, truth is languishing in a state of crisis in our day. In much of contemporary culture, truth has been supplanted by a kind of paranoia that is so skeptical toward any finality of knowing that it is prone to believe conspiracy theories, no matter how far-fetched (witness the Da Vinci Code pehnomenon). All of this contributes to a sense of uncertainty that holds that all knowledge is provisional and subject to constant revision as new facts surface that need to be considered. In this context, can truth, “true truth,” to quote Francis Schaeffer once again, long survive? Or is it time to declare the death of truth just as some declared (prematurely, one might add) the death of God in a previous generation?
The preceding selection is excerpted from the epilogue of Whatever Happened to Truth? (Crossway, 2005). You are encouraged to read the excellent contributions by Albert Mohler, J. P. Moreland, and Kevin Vanhoozer in this volume.
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I like your comments here because I think it is time for Christians to start thinking more holistically about truth.
It seems like in today’s Christian discussion on truth there are one of two positions: The first is to take a hard line on propositional truth (Groothuis, Moreland) and the other side seems to be apathy toward the subject.
I understand the importance of propositional truth, but I think I understand the postmodern concern that “truth” can simply become an object we possess and not a truly dynamic and life changing part of our lives.
In the Gospel of John truth is propositional, but it is also ethical, and more than anything truth is the person of Christ. Those who are of Christ are “of the truth” and hence have experienced a dynamic change – a rebirth.
Perhaps if we can recapture this holistic view of truth we can present more than true propositions to the world – we can present our whole lives as demonstration of the ultimate truth, which is Christ himself.
Truth. Without it the world devolves into an amorphous chaos where everyone’s preferences describe a personal reality disconected from everyone elses. In that dark place no decision is good or bad, no action is right or wrong.
But in the presence of truth we are exposed for what we are.
Therefore we need truth as the divine measuring rod of our identities.
“I am the truth“ – Jesus The Christ.
I unapologetically believe that the Bible is truth.
Without a definite source of truth, we end up in a quagmire of irresponsible erudition leading to nowhere. Introduce a defined truth into a discussion however and everything relating to that revealed truth is either in line with it (true) or out of sync (false).
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NASB95)
Schaeffer may have been the greatest prophet in the last hundred years given his complete prediction of the death of truth in modern culture. Indeed, he spoke of postmodernity without speaking the term postmodern. Thank you for you post.
I am…
Peter