What is Truth?

One of the most commonly misquoted snippets of text from the Bible is this question, posed to Jesus, by Pilate, in St. John 18:38. The common  error is that of inserting the simple little word "the" so as to change this question  to "What is the truth?"

When we speak of "the truth of" some matter, or "a truth", we asign a multiplicity of meanings to this simple word, truth. Jesus's silence in response to Pilate's question attests to His having understood correctly what Pilate had asked, and Pilate's response to that silence, to turn away and announce,  "I find in Him no fault at all," attests to Pilates recognition of the significance of that response of silence.

Any less wise would have responded as most people today would, when posed that question, by going off into whatever their accepted beliefs are pertaining to "the truth", whether is be about the nature of reality or of God. For there is no adequate definition or explanation of "truth" itself.

One might attempt by saying that truth is what is, what is real, or actual. Even so, we are not defining, but demonstrating possible applications of truth. Truth is one of those ephemeral concepts that cannot be adequately defined or described, but only demonstrated by example. As such, truth takes its place alongside such concepts as love or honesty, that can only be exampled, never defined or described of themselves.

Neither can the definition and meaning of truth be reduced to that of simple fact, though that is a common confusion. The relationship of facts to truth might best be demonstrated by thinking of facts as evidence of something that may be true. Jurors in a court trial may consider various bits of factual evidence in determining whether they believe an accused committed the crime that has been charged. Yet even in this example, keep in mind truth is being exampled, not defined or described. The jurors' conclusions are what they believe to be true, not the truth itself.

Recognizing a translational inaccuracy in the text immediately preceeding that famed question posed by Pilate, helps clear up both why the question itself is so often misquoted, and meaning missed.

"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto truth. Everyone that is of truth heareth my voice." St. John 18:37. When that word "the" is removed from the common  translation of this text, the concept of truth in and of itself is more clearly presented.

Truth is one of the qualities of God's very being. These qualities of God do not exist independently from God, they are in essence existential in/with/of God. God is truth, truth is God. In the same sense is it that God is love, and love is God. Where truth is, where love is, God is, and where God is, there also is truth and love.

Comprehending truth in this sense echoes God's revelation of Himself and His nature to Moses, in a Hebrew word for which the closest translation, though that still inadequate, as "I am that I am", the great, the entirity, of an eternal and infinite and complete "am-ness."

In comprehending this concept of truth, the signficance of Jesus' words, "everyone that is of truth (God) heareth my voice,"  takes on a deeper meaning for people of faith. To be of truth, of God, is to hear truth, hear God.
Jesus reiterated this truth in His words to the Jews, that had no understanding of the Spiritual things of which He spoke, "He that is of God heareth God's Words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." St. John 8:47

But the finite can never fully comprehend, or embrace, the infinite, so no human mind can ever fully comprehend truth, or God. As finite beings, living in a finite material existance, the most any of us can do is seek to see, to hear, to think, as open to truth as each is able. Our connections to our material reality means God, or truth, or love, can never be comphrended directly, in a pure state, but only as we might interpret them filtered through our human senses and minds.

It is to this direction I seek in these blog entries.