"What Is Truth?"

by Stephen Bastin

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Scientists are in a constant search for the truth about our world.  How did it begin?  How do the parts relate to one another?  What are the properties of those elements that make up our world?

Many of these questions have been properly answered and applied to the machines that make life easier for all of us.  Others remain to be investigated.

There are other questions that are outside the realm of science.  They are questions that relate to spiritual matters, to matters of morals and life after death.  Science has no tools for investigating these questions.

At the trial of Jesus, Pilate asked Jesus the fateful question, “What is truth?” and walked away without waiting for an answer.  Little did he realize that before him stood the only one capable of giving a correct answer to that question.

Every religion attempts to answer the questions about how we should live in this world and what awaits us at death.  Only the Christian religion has an answer from one who came from beyond our world and returned there in glory.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except by me.”  He also said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”  John wrote about Jesus, “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

There are other religious leaders who claim to speak the “truth.”  They make claims about the source of their teaching and they make claims about their authority from God.

It is a matter of truth to investigate those claims and determine what is truth and what is error.  The truth has nothing to fear from investigation.  That which is false cannot stand up to the light of investigation.

Beware of those who feel it is necessary to persecute others whose viewpoints do not agree with their own.  Beware of those who will not allow questions.  Beware of those who hide behind bluster and intimidation.  The truth when investigated will only be enhanced by the investigation.

Truth, whether it be in the realm of science, or in the realm of religion is a matter of evidence.  If the evidence supports the claims, then the claims are judged true.  If the evidence (or if there is no evidence) does not support the claims then the claims cannot be said to be truth.

When John wrote his account of the gospel of Jesus, he concluded with these words, “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”  John considered the claims of Jesus to be subject to an examination of the evidence.  For this reason, he gave the evidence which supported those claims.

Claims that do not have evidence to support them are essentially fiction.  The claims that the Bible are the word of God are supported by archaeological evidence, by the fulfillment of prophecies and by the miracles which God did in establishing the Jewish nation and the Christian church.

The truth of the claims are made more clear when the Bible is compared with the Book of Mormon, the Qu'ran-an, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Divine Principle of Mr. Moon.  Some of these claim to be historical documents while others simply represent the philosophy of their authors.  The problem in accepting the philosophy is that it has no higher origin than the thinking of a man.  It has no credible claim to divine authorship.

Much of the Book of Mormon, for example, is readily labeled as fiction because the historical account of life in the Americas cannot be supported by any archaeological evidence.  Fiction requires no evidence; history does.

The Qu'ran-an cannot be true if the Bible is true, or conversely the Bible cannot be true if the Qu'ran-an is true.  The Qu'ran-an states in S. IV, 157 (concerning Jesus) “But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them.”  According to the Bible Jesus was crucified under the governorship of Pilate.  What is the truth?  Let the reader judge based on the evidence.  The Qu'ran-an offers no evidence for its statement.  The Bible gives the evidence for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Mr. Moon claims to be the second coming of Jesus.  When pressed for evidence of his claim, there is none forthcoming except his word on the matter.  Concerning Jesus, Peter stated, “Men of Israel, listen to these words:  Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know – .”

Clearly there is a difference.  The difference between the Bible and other religious books is only made clear by examining the documents.  The difference between Jesus and every other religious leader is equally made clear by examining the evidence.

What is the truth?  Examination of the evidence makes clear what is true and what is false in science.  It makes equally clear what is true and what is false in religion.

“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”