Examining Truth
The American Declaration of Independence that states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston drafted this text. Looking at the philosophical and religious convictions of these characters, you can understand immediately the foundations of the statement “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” What was “self-evident” and “sacred” or “truths,” for the majority of the population in the Europe and the Americas—and maybe for the whole world—is no longer “self-evident,” “undeniable,” or “truth.”
Speaking about truth or absolute moral values, in university campuses these days would get at least a snotty look or a negative comment, or the professor might find his car covered with eggs or toilet paper!
The men who wrote and signed the American Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were truly great men, and their ideas were noble and true, and based on Biblical faith. If they would live today they would be shocked to know the Ten Commandments were removed from US courthouses, and that reading the Bible in some public events is forbidden.
Modernity was not born in the Big Bang; it is a trend that started from the 17th century thinkers and philosophers like John Locke and others in Europe that wrote of “nothingness” and “meaninglessness” and doubted the historicity and the relevance of God’s Word. The philosophical undergirding of what is called “modernity” today started from the 17th century, with a number of philosophers that critiqued and were looking for the ideology of the modern that the Enlightenment movement initiated.
Among the leading philosophers that contributed to this ideology were John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Friedrich Nietzsche. In the 20th century, philosophers (like Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Cornelius Castoriadis, and others) built upon the earlier liberal philosophers to undermine the conservative ideas and Biblical principles and create the ideological bases for modernity.
One of the strongest forces that carry us toward modernity is the need to be a part of a globalized culture and to fit into the cookie-cutter culture of Paul Sartre’s Beginning of Nothingness—as if there is nothingness in us as humans. If we are but animals with a higher intelligence than monkeys in the jungle, then there really is nothing for us—other than to strive toward the unclear nuclear horizon of cloudy future in the march toward the self-extinction of humanity.
But truth is not part of the agenda of the average western (Christian) community today. The agenda of most Christians and churches in the USA is church growth, the good life, social justice and the comforts of the flesh.
The foundation of Bible-based faith and lifestyle has to be truth because without truth, our faith in Christ, our trust in God’s Word, and the very foundations are as shaky as a fiddler on the roof! So what is truth? And is there a different definition of religious truth and scientific truth?
Here are some of the foundational principles that define truth:
1. Truth has to be available for objective and unbiased examination on the basis of evidence, facts, and logic. In other words, truth ought to be put in the test-tube and examined with every scientific tool available to man!
2. What is untruth? Any idea, doctrine, teaching, concept, document, report, teaching, that can’t be examined or we are forbidden to examine cannot be called truth.
Here are some Biblical statements related to examination of Biblical and faith related ideas, principles and behaviors. After testing the number of examples and commands to examine and to test, I had to just choose a few in order to shorten this article.
Truth must be examined to become the foundation of our life and faith. If what we believe is not based on truth, faith becomes meaningless.
The modernity of yesterday stands now far beyond and is called post-modern. Post-modern is a condition where the written word has lost much of its relevance, and the little icons and emoji and pictures have taken the place of the written word. Where truth—as examinable, confirmed, trustworthy, and based on evidence—has lost relevance for many of the post-modern generation. Impressions and feelings have replaced the disciplined search for proof, fact, and truth.
What really matters in the post-modern world is the impression or effect that is transmitted, not the facts that establish something as being true and provable. The feeling is more important than the word and the impression is more relevant than the facts.
As disciples of Jesus and as people who believe the Bible to be the divine revelation of the Creator for all humans to receive as guidance and path for living, modernism is a trend or philosophy that stands at odds with the basic belief that the Creator has given humanity a revelation of Himself—the rules of how to live and how to relate to our fellow human beings of all races and colors.
The creator has defined what is “a family.” He has given us humans the concept of just and unjust, right and wrong, good and evil, friend and foe, war and peace, crime and punishment, and every other aspect of our human existence in this life, so that we can inherit everlasting life.
We want to be modern and up to date in our lifestyle and faithfulness to the Lord. But we must not forget that what the New Testament calls the world is still here, and it is still at enmity with God’s Kingdom and the community of the saints worldwide.
The statements of the Bible, beginning with Genesis 1:1, are provable by logic and reasoning beyond a reasonable doubt. The day is coming where every soul that ever lived and breathed the air of this planet will know beyond a doubt that these words of Jesus are true!
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” –John 8:32
Joseph Shulam is our partner in Israel. In 1981, he helped found the Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry in Jerusalem. You can learn more about Joseph and his work at netivyah.org.