Truth - Intro Message

THE TRUTH ABOUT

"The most valuable commodity in the 21st century will be truth". - Pastor Del

There is One TRUTH

Pontius Pilate asked the man in his custody because of his claim to be the Messiah, “What is Truth”?  (John 18:38)

The curiosity of the Roman governor of Judea sparked a profound question that still eludes a definitive answer today.  The question suggests an empirical truth exists, yet as societies and cultures become more elite and educated, they tend to avoid assigning an absolute value to that truth.

Absolute truth requires self-examination, asking and answering the hard questions about moral behavior.  If a fixed, absolute response or mannerism is considered right, all remaining options and reactions must be deemed wrong.

Applying absolute truth to contemporary culture is challenging because, by default, current culture view right and wrong as circumstantial options.  This is the way of man, allowing a built-in alternative to abandon a fixed course.  

Human nature is embedded with a hunger to plot a course of its own and control turn-by-turn decisions.  Just before the Greek Golden Age, there was a shift from the study of the world and environment created by an unseen force for humans and understanding their place in creation to Sophists turning their attention instead to studying the human, to focus on man and his attributes, consciousness, and emotions. 

From the Sophist's perspective, man was more important than his environment; his existence superseded the world created by an unseen force.  The world around man would be defined and aligned with man as the center of attention, all things evolving around him. 

In this way, the Greeks abandoned the path initiated by older and more knowledgeable African and Asian cultures. These earlier cultures recognized humanity's place as dependent on a higher life-giver that is responsible for the world in which people live.

The pre-Socratic thinkers in the 600 BCE timeline introduced the concept of rhetoric, intending to replace the necessity to arrive at a conclusion of truth with an artistic method to win arguments and debate discussions.  Rhetoric speakers were celebrated and became sought-after itinerant teachers in Greek society.   

Protagoras, a descendant of the pre-Socratic thinkers, was known for parenting the idea that “man is the measure of all things.”   His rhetoric, as referenced by the Greek philosopher Plato, suggests that there is no objective truth.   The takeaway from his teaching implies individually, every person creates their personal history, experiences, and expectations that, over time, will determine their judgments, opinions, and beliefs regarding "truth." 

The Protagorean mindset impacted the Roman governor, born nearly 500 years later and responsible for passing judgment on the man claiming to be the Messiah.   The question, “What is truth?” was legitimate based on the culture that groomed him.  For Pontius Pilate truth was provisional and not absolute. 

The history of the Greek and Roman mindset stands behind the current-day model that advocates for truth to be self-determined and self-governed.   This mindset is the great threat and enemy to absolute truth.  If a specific truth is absolute, this means that the moment it becomes true, it will remain true for all times.

The Bible sustains absolute truth.  In the gospel of John, the Messiah declares Himself as absolute truth.  In His final year of ministry on earth, His disciples learn that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  (John 14:3-6)

The Messiah's statement is semantically definitive, using “the” to amplify each declaration as a definitive article.  The declaration states that He is “the” way not one of many.   An absolute truth will impact the immediate next steps in a person’s journey.  When a person reads or hears a caution that states, “Danger Do Not Enter,” the next step they take is cautionary. 

The course change is directly related to the impact statement of absolute truth.  If reasonable doubt exists, it indicates that the information provided is not absolute.  Absolute truth will impact course direction.  When the Messiah says: “I am the way”, all responders are required to adjust their life course.

However, even the disciples the Messiah selected to follow Him, questioned His declaration, asking How can we know the way”?  Like the Roman governor, they were also impacted by the cultural mindset that suggested truth was relative to lived experience and personal adaptation.

The disciples were men of flesh, and for them, it was impossible for a man with flaws and prone to missteps to know the way.   This argument is used to justify rejecting the pursuit of “absolute truth”.

To know the way requires disciples and followers to know and have a relationship with the Messiah because He is the way. Nothing will change until a person changes direction. Following God’s way (path) leads to God’s Truth, the absolute truth.  Absolute truth leads to life. 

The Messiah did not come to give us a new set of rules and regulations. He came to give humanity access to life.  (John 10:10)   Having a relationship with He who is the Way leads to Truth that provides access to eternal Life.  (John 14:6)