I have always been fascinated with P52. The most ancient
papyrus is about the size of your hand.
Among its fragmented writings it has one clear citation: “’What is truth?’ retorted Pilate”
from John 18:38.
How ironic that
the oldest portion of the New Testament is a question of truth.
What is truth?
I had a great
deal of time today to ponder this question.
What is truth?
Court officials
ask “Do you affirm to tell the whole truth?”
Can there be a partial truth?
Doesn’t, by its nature, truth require completeness? Isn’t a half-truth, a whole lie?
Not everyone defines truth in the same manner. Just ask Pilate, as he stares at Jesus of Nazareth.
My husband, the
biologist, would argue that truth is a statement supported by facts. If any of the facts can not be proven, then
the truth is not true.
A mathematician
would say that truth must be supported by a mathematical proof. If one portion of the equation can not be
fulfilled then the truth is not proven.
A lawyer might
argue that facts ARE the truth.
As a theologian,
I can acknowledge that facts are a part of truth. I also acknowledge that truth is greater than
the facts. Truth is more than a set of
rules. It is not doctrine and it exceeds
the bounds of dogma. Sometimes church
judicatories forget this.
Somehow truth has
an over-arching, yet fundamental nature.
What is truth?
Truth is more
than opinions or feelings. Truth does
not change because you are angry or because you did not get your way. If truth is accurate then it does not care if
your ego takes a hit. It is not enough
to say, “Well, that’s my truth!” as if
truth is singular to each person. Truth
based on lies is not truth.
Truth is at the
core of our human experience.
It’s the melody
that provides the background music to our lives. It is the color that unifies the painting of
our existence.
Truth is where we
return, when the journey is over.
What is truth? –to
you
In my own spiritual journey, I have had a great resolution of my conflicting beliefs learning about the teachings of Joseph Campbell: "Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble."
ReplyDeleteI still can't say my faith is what most Christians would consider their own ideal, but I feel a much more personal drive to seek the universal truths in the bible and Methodist theology and really consider how it speaks to my life as opposed to being spoon-fed the text and either blindly accepting the common interpretation or rejecting it entirely because of cognitive dissonance of its factuality.
Jen: sounds to me like you are saying there is a heart of truth in all of creation?
DeletePersonally, I don't see "truth" in the objects, but in expressions of the human condition and in the mysteries of creation...whether that be art, literature, quest for (scientific) knowledge, religions (and their mythologies), human acts (both positive and negative), etc.
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