God, the Ultimate Source of Truth!

A Kuwaiti royal prince has become a believer in Jesus Christ and says that if he is killed because of an audio recording he made about his decision, he believes he will meet Christ face-to-face.

According to www.Mohabatnews.com , the Iranian Christian News Agency, Al-haqiqa, a Christian Arabic satellite T.V. station, which broadcasts Christian programs, played an audio file which it attributed to a Kuwaiti prince called "Abdollah Al-sabah."

This Kuwaiti prince announced, "First of all, I totally agree with the distribution of this audio file and I now declare that if they kill me because of this audio file, then I'll go into the presence of Jesus Christ and be with him for all eternity."

The T.V. channel claimed that Prince Abdollah Al-sabah comes from a Kuwaiti royal family which currently governs the country. The channel also said that the prince recently denounced his Islamic faith and became a Christian.

The voice in the audio file introduced himself as Abdollah Al-sabah and stated, "First of all, I totally agree with the distribution of this audio file and I now declare that if they kill me because of this audio file, then I'll go into the presence of Jesus Christ and be with him for all eternity."

The prince added: "I'm satisfied with whatever they do to me, because the truth in the Bible has guided me to the right way." -Christian News Today, January 23, 2012

When Jesus appeared before Pilate, the subject of truth was discussed. Jesus claimed to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). Pilate raised the perennial question: "What is truth?" (John 18:38).

Today, many people sound a lot like Pilate. For example, a Barna Research Group survey on what Americans believe asked the question, "Is there absolute Truth?"...

Sixty-six percent of adults responded that they believe that "there is no such thing as absolute truth; different people can define truth in conflicting ways and still be correct." Seventy-two percent of those aged 18 to 25 expressed this belief...

In a series of more than twenty interviews conducted at random at a large university, people were asked if there was such a thing as absolute truth. That is: truth that is true across all times and cultures for all people. All but one respondent answered along these lines:

1) "Truth is whatever you believe"
2) "There is no absolute truth"
3) "If there were such a thing as absolute truth, how could we know what it is?"
4) "People who believe in absolute truth are dangerous"
-Info from http://www.christianity.co.nz/truth1.htm

What is the Christian perspective regarding truth? Is truth whatever you believe? Can we know what is absolute truth? Let's first summarize two basic views regarding truth..

One view says that TRUTH CORRESPONDS TO REALITY! This is commonly called the "correspondence view" of truth. In this view, a statement is true if and only if it corresponds to or agrees with factual reality. This view also presupposes a law of logic called the law of bivalence.

According to this law, any unambiguous, declarative statement must be either true or false. It cannot be neither true nor false; nor can it be both true and false. Here's an example of this law in action...the statement "I am standing in front of you" is true only if, in fact, I am standing here in front of you. It must be EITHER true OR false, but it cannot be BOTH true AND false.

The "correspondence view" of truth holds that propositional or declarative statements are subject to verification and falsification. Simply stated, a statement can be proven false if it can be shown to disagree with objective reality.

An example of this is the statement "The world is flat". It is EITHER true OR false, it CANNOT be BOTH! Photographs from space have falsified flat-earth claims. This view of truth was held by the vast majority of philosophers and theologians throughout history until recently.

The other view says that TRUTH IS RELATIVE, NOT ABSOLUTE! This is commonly called the "relativistic view" of truth. What is true depends on the views of persons or cultures, not on whether statements correspond to objective reality. For a statement to be true simply means that a person or culture to believes it to be true. People with this view of truth say things like, "Well, if that's true for you..." or "We can't judge other cultures."

When truth is deemed dependent upon the person or culture holding the belief, anything can become "true"); for example, one person can say "Jesus is Lord" and another can say "Allah is Lord." Both statements will be true, if they accurately express the sentiments of the speakers. This view seems to advance tolerance and civility, but it does so at the expense of logic. The very definition of "Lord" precludes the possibility they are both "Lord."

Those who say there is no absolute truth make decisions every day based on things they believe are true or false; for example, they turn on a light believing in the reality of electricity; or they drive a car believing in the effectiveness of the engine.

If there are no absolutes, there is no right and wrong. In other words, I can kill you, steal from you, lie to you, and you can't say it is wrong. Because if I believe I should do such things, and succeed, then it works for me and it has become my personal truth(and who are you to judge me?)

Despite its absurdity, this view of truth has become the darling of all who want to be free to "do their own thing." Christians have historically affirmed the "correspondence view" of truth, for good reasons, because it is consistent with the BIBLICAL VIEW OF TRUTH.

This view contains BIBLICAL WORDS FOR TRUTH, such as:

1. True (alethes) - "unconcealed, manifest...actual, true to fact" -Vine
2. True (alethinos) - "denotes 'true' in the sense of 'real, ideal, genuine;'" -ibid.
3. Truth (aletheia):
a) "objectively, signifying 'the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter' (Cremer)" -ibid. b) "subjectively, 'truthfulness,' 'truth,' not merely verbal, but sincerity and integrity of character" -ibid.

When the Bible speaks of truth, it describes that which corresponds to reality, what is factual and absolute, not relative.

This view also contains BIBLICAL STATEMENTS REGARDING TRUTH, such as:

1. God is a God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4).
2. Jesus is the truth, and full of truth, and spoke the truth (John 14:6; 1:14; 8:45).
3. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, and guided the apostles into all the truth (John 14:17; 16:13).
4. The Word of God is truth (John 17:17).
5. The judgments of God are according to truth (Psalm 96:13; Romans 2:2).
6. Christians should walk in the truth as revealed by Jesus, including the standard of morality He taught (cf. Ephesians 4:17-32; 5:1-17).
7. Christians should patiently teach others the truth (cf. 2 Timothy 2:23-26)
8. Many will turn their ears away from the truth (cf. 2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Obviously, much more could be said, as the Bible reveals so much about what is truth!

In conclusion, what is truth? Truth is what is real. God is real, and reveals what is real. God is truth, and what He says is the truth!

Call yourself what you may, but you cannot be a Christian unless you: hold the "correspondence view" of truth, believe in moral absolutes of right and wrong, and accept Jesus and His Word as the ultimate source of truth, especially in regards to morality and salvation. For those willing to accept Jesus as the ultimate source of truth, they will be greatly blessed (cf. John 8:31-36).

Prayer:

Father, I pray for all those in need, for all of my friends and my family. I pray for your strength to see us all through, when life is the hardest and when times are good. Amen

God bless you,

Darlene