Oddly, although a definition of truth would seem something most would agree upon, many opinions arise from challenges to the nature of truth.  Society debates whether there is one truth for all or many truths.  Society debates whether truth changes or not.  Society debates over who determines truth.  Some even doubt whether truth exists or at least whether we can know truth though it exists.  With different opinions come significant downstream ramifications.  If there are more truths than one, how can we know which is true for us?  If truth changes, can we be certain of the future.  If someone does control truth, must we submit to them or create our own truth?  If there is no truth, what is the point of life?  A correct definition of truth requires one to answer these foundational questions.

Understanding truth is critically important for many reasons.  Living and acting in contradiction to truth will produce unexpected consequences.  Inaccurate views of gravity will lead to injury and death.  Inaccurate views of health can lead to illness and death. Inaccurate views of the nature of reality can lead to spiritual death.  In coming essays, we will touch on each of these.  Ultimately, the current point to remember is that believing something contrary to reality does not alter that reality. In contrast, knowing truth has the hope of making life more rewarding and less dangerous.

We may define truth as that knowledge which comports with or describes what is real, that which exists in reality.  Given our finite minds, this truth comes primary in parts and pieces rather than an understanding of the whole.  While such portions are not an exhaustive description of reality, they serve as an accurate depiction of the part being described.  Simultaneously it must be consistent with the whole without contradicting interconnected portions of reality.

Building upon this definition of truth, we must consider if we can know truth and how we acquire it, a process called epistemology.  We are dependent on our senses to provide correct input.  We are dependent on our minds to interpret that sensory input correctly.  To know beyond the physical world, into the spiritual, we are dependent on revelation.  Epistemology considers how our senses, our minds or reason, and revelation from God informs us and what these three methods of obtaining truth can tell us.

If the existence of truth or the ability to discover it is doubted, then little more can be gained from our senses or our reasoning.  In contrast, knowledge and wisdom begin with an acknowledgement that truth exists.  Biblically, it begins with a fear of God, or a recognition of His being as well as Jesus’ self-affirmation that He is the truth.  Fighting against acceptance of reality’s existence and against truth leads to irrational beliefs if not a denial of one’s own existence.  But if both truth and the ability to know truth are accepted, truth’s details can be worked out over time.  We will approach truth and the whole of this series assuming that truth exists, and we can know it at least in part as doing otherwise leads to irrationality.

We continue with an understanding that truth is accurate knowledge about reality gained through our senses, through our minds or reason, and through revelation to cover physical and spiritual reality.  Truth exists, is knowable to some extent, and does not change in its fundamental nature.  Without going into a major proof at these assertions, we will assume them to be true for the time being until it becomes necessary to dive deeper into proving them.

Next in the series…. The Source of Truth.