What is Truth?

Announcements

Intro/Background

Last week, we started a new series on apologetics

Apologetics = answer - its what gives us answers to the question of why do I believe the things I believe

I told you guys this last week, but I am a firm believer, I 100% believe that Christianity is true, the Bible is true, and that you can prove it is true and relevant for today’s culture

But for any of that proof to matter, we have to start out with a huge, essential question - what is truth?

You could even look at it this way, is there an absolute truth, and if so, is that truth even knowable?

I looked up the word truth on Google, just to see what the all-knowing internet says on this topic

“Truth is the state of being in accordance with facts or reality.”

Pretty good definition actually

The topic of truth is something that philosophers have been debating for centuries

Have any of you guys taken a philosophy class before?

You guys ever heard of Stanford University? It’s one of the smartest schools in the nation

They have an encyclopedia of philosophy that says, “Most human activities depend upon the concept [truth], where its nature as a concept is assumed rather than being a subject of discussion ... Some philosophers view the concept of truth as basic, and unable to be explained in any terms that are more easily understood than the concept of truth itself.”

Truth has been debated by those like Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle in ancient Greece.

More recently, philosophers like Kierkegaard & Nietzsche have debated it

We’re going to read of an instance in the Bible where someone contemplates truth as well

Lesson

In chapter 18 of the book of John, Jesus was arrested by the Jewish religious leaders b/c they hated Him so much

They were jealous of His popularity and angry that He attacked their hypocrisy in front of the people

They wanted Him dead, but there was 1 little problem, they weren’t a sovereign nation - meaning they couldn’t make their own decisions. Rome was in charge and Rome made all the rules

Even to have a prisoner executed, they had to take that prisoner to the Roman government and put them through a Roman trial

The Romans didn’t just do whatever the Jews told them though, so their trials were independent

The religious leaders took Jesus to the local Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate, so that he would hopefully have Jesus executed

But what they were mad at Him for (He says He’s God and He’s more popular than we are) were not charges that Rome said were deserving of capital punishment

So they lie. They say that He’s declaring Himself to be the King and is ready to lead a rebellion against Rome

Verses 28-38a

Do you guys know what jury duty is?

Once you’re 18, you may randomly get a letter in the mail saying you have to report for jury duty

You’ll go to the courthouse, and the judge and lawyers will sort through a big group of people to pick 12 jurors for the trial.

What is the job of a juror?

To determine the truth based on the evidence that was given

There were no jurors in Jesus’ time, it was the local governor who was judge & juror

Pilate is listening to the facts about Jesus, and he asks this monumental question, one of the basic questions of human existence - “What is truth?”

Let’s take a step back even further from that with another question - “Is there truth? Why is the truth important?”

Do you want the true answer to that question, or the false answer?

Get the point?!

Truth is important to us. That’s why things like “fake news” are so big, I think as humans, all of us, we want to know what’s true and what’s not

Before we keep going, we’re going to play a quick game of true or false

Ask everyone to stand up. If students think answer is true, they’ll go to the right side of the room. If false, go to the left. Once they’re wrong, they sit down until 1 person left

The moon orbits around the earth (true)

The largest country in the world by area is Canada (false - Russia)

A slug has 4 noses (true)

Bananas grow upside down (true)

Cinderella was the first Disney princess (false - Snow White)

The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland (true)

Sydney is the capital of Australia (false - Canberra)

The first speeding ticket ever issued in 1896 was for driving 25 mph (false - 8 mph)

The Pacific Ocean is bigger than the moon (true)

The USA’s southernmost state is Texas (false - Hawaii)

Alright, we’re going to play that game 1 more time with a new set of questions

Blue is the best color

Today was a good day at school

Music is better than movies

Costco serves the best pizza in the valley

What was the difference between the 2 sets of questions?

Difference between subjective truth and objective truth

In philosophy class or with your friends, I think we can get those 2 types of truth mixed up sometimes.

You may hear someone say, “There is no absolute truth” as they think truth is just subjective, its up to each one of us to decide

Even that statement is made with the underlying assumption that there is truth! That there is a reality that can be known

So if we’re asking, “Is there truth?” the answer is absolutely yes!

Here’s a good summary of it all from Sean McDowell, a professor at Biola University

Sean McDowell video clip - https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/player/video/297352?session=298607

[0:40 to 2:21]

So the question that comes up then is this - is religion something that falls under the subjective truth category, or the objective truth category?

To answer that, you’d first have to determine whether religion is subjective or objective (reality)

If religion was all about preferences - worshipping is better when you sing vs when you chant. Churches should be painted blue and not red, etc, then there is no truth

BUT, if there is any shred of reality, then there has to be truth, and then religions could be classified as either true or false

For instance, do religions talk about history?

The Bible, book of Mormon, Koran, Buddhism’s Tripitaka, Judaism’s Torah, all have past events that are mentioned - events that can be proven as reality, or shown to be false

Do religions talk about morality?

Morality is subjective!

Is murder wrong? Yes! Our core of morality is the same - every single society has the same rule

You can line up the morality of these different religions with reality

Have religions and religious texts changed?

You can go back and look at ancient manuscripts vs. what we have currently to see if people are changing texts to fit their needs vs. having a sacred text that is true and unchanging

We can determine if a religion is true based on these things, and if we find it to be true, then it gives us confidence in the other claims of it (how to go to heaven, the ethics or right/wrong that it teaches us, etc)

We’re going to spend this semester looking at just that

Small Groups

Small Group Questions

What do other students your age think about truth? Do they think there is truth or that truth is relative?

In your own words, define truth.

Truth can be defined one of three ways philosophically:

Truth is that which corresponds to reality

Truth is that which matches its object

Truth is simply telling it like it is

How do truth and belief relate to each other?

Does truth depend on what the majority of people believe? For example, if 70% of our country believes something to be true, does that automatically make it truth?

Why would people willingly reject truth?

Some people believe that there can be no truth (that viewpoint is called postmodernism). How would you answer someone that said there is no truth?

Leader suggestion: a person who says there is no truth is still proclaiming at least one truth - that there is no truth, so they would invalidate their whole argument

Some people believe there are multiple truths (that viewpoint is pluralism - the belief that all truth claims are equally valid). How would you respond to someone who says there are multiple truths?

Leader suggestion: Many truths contradict each other, showing you can’t have multiple truths. This is the law of non-contradiction. If a person won a game, the claim that they also lost the game would not be true as it contradicts the claim to win. Pluralism ignores the difference between subjective and objective truth.

Read John 14:6. What claim about truth is Jesus making in that verse?

John 14:6 NIV

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Why is truth important?

Prayer Requests and Group Prayer