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Unpublished, October 2005
THE TROUBLE WITH THE TRUTH In the current theological debates within traditional Protestantism, many people are asking Pontius Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” (John 18:38, RSV) That is a good question, for it provides an excellent starting point for lively theological discussion. However, when moving from this question to the answers offered, we are immediately confronted with problems. The trouble is not with the question itself but with the attempts to answer it. In today’s theological debates, the question, What is truth?, creates two, opposing sides. In formulating its answer, one side begins with a humanistic perspective. The other side starts with a theological approach. The Church knows that theological truth does not come from an exclusively man-centered perspective, no matter how sophisticated it might be. Consider Ludwig Feuerbach’s comment -- “the personality of God is nothing else than the projected personality of human beings” (The Essence of Christianity) -- to see how the humanistic perspective is a stuffy little room with no doors or windows that open to “the splendor of truth.” (John Paul II) “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32, RSV) The word for truth here is aletheia, which is from the root word alethes, which means that which is true or that which is not concealed. That theological truth is revealed in Jesus Christ is aptly demonstrated in John 1:14. Moreover, in John 14:15-17, Jesus declares that the Holy Spirit is active when truth is revealed. So theological truth begins with God; and the advance of that truth, in the hearts and minds of people, requires God’s self-revelation. Karl Barth, the giant of Protestant theology in the twentieth century, maintained that all theological truth is revealed truth. (See his Epistle to the Romans.) Real truth -- truth that matters most, truth that makes the greatest difference, truth that changes lives -- is truth revealed by the Triune God. Ironically, even Friedrich Nietzsche argued that, when Christian claims lose their power over the lives of people, such people will have no truth to guide their lives. So Nietzsche resorted to human wisdom to make up new truths for people’s lives. When Jesus told the disciples that the truth would set them free, He was saying that it would set them free from the hindrance of human wisdom disguised in the garb of ultimate truth (such as Nietzschean wisdom). When Jesus ran into conflict with the Pharisees, it was because they took the truth (as they wanted it to be) and called it ultimate truth, instead of receiving the authentic truth in Jesus. When Jesus stood before Pilate, He proclaimed that He was born into this world to testify to the truth and that “all who are not deaf to truth listen to my voice.” (John 18:37, NEB) Professor Catherine Keller at Drew University has stated that the Hebrew word for truth (emeth) means faithfulness or commitment. Therein lies the trouble with the truth: the truth claims the lives of its believers. Dr. Keller also says that we do not own the truth, we belong to it, we are immersed in it. (Might that suggest a baptismal understanding?) Belonging to truth, being faithful to truth, by necessity declares that there is ultimate truth to which we are faithful. Ultimate truth does not depend on belief to be true. Ultimate truth is just there and cannot be denied. Even if there are other potential truth claims in play, that which is ultimately true remains the truth. By definition, humanistic truth declares itself to be ultimate truth. People who orient themselves according to a humanistic perspective cannot hear ultimate theological truth, despite their claims to the contrary, because down deep they know that they cannot hold two ultimate truths at the same time. People who orient themselves according to theological truth know it to be ultimate truth, above and beyond the claims of humanism, yet they are also able to see what is good within humanism. Jesus claims that truth leads to freedom. Truth from God indeed leads to the freedom of God’s love that forgives sin and transforms lives. So-called truth from man seeks a cultural approval that lasts for a while. Pilate may have asked the correct question, “What is truth?,” for his time. But the better question for our time might well be, “To which truth do we belong?” The truth to which we belong -- the truth that ultimately claims our lives, the truth in which we are immersed -- will be the truth that we will listen to. Jesus said that the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice. (John 10:4) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dr. Sheppard is the pastor of Hope Mills United Methodist Church in Hope Mills, NC. To respond to this article and continue the dialogue, please send your article to: St. Peter’s United Methodist Church/111 Hodges Street/Morehead City, NC 28557.
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