What is Truth? 

A short article on Christian truth, the Word of God as the Source of Truth, and a challenge to be true to our confessed faith in the Word of God, rather than to our own prejudices and beliefs.

What is Truth, and Why?  

According to many great men of science, religious people are notorious for following fables and believing things which they cannot prove and have not witnessed. Science, they say, should be allowed to provide the answers to all questions.

And what is science? In answer, let me quote from C. H. Spurgeon; “What is Science? The method by which man tries to conceal his ignorance. It should not be so, but so it is. You are never to assert anything very strongly; but scientists may boldly assert what they cannot prove, and demand a faith far more credulous than any we possess… You can tell where learned have encamped by the debris left behind of suppositions and theories as plentiful as broken bottles.  

Evolution is a classical example of the weakness of the scientific community to promote their beliefs in the absence of evidence. As of yet, no evidence has been found, and yet, sometimes it seems that with every set of bones dug up they would like to see the missing link they were looking for.

This brings us to the basic problem in both the religious and scientific world: Instead of staying with what the evidence itself provides, a lot of speculation is needed to fit it into the chain of evolution. In science, as well as in Christian faith, if we only want to convince others of our beliefs, speculation is fine, but if we really want to know the truth, we are going to have to get back to the facts: what the Bible actually says - not what we think it means.

Determining a Source and its Role

The Roman Catholic church holds for its source of truth: the Bible, the Pope, and the traditions of the church. A few other denominations confess to hold the Bible and their particular prophet or prophetess on equal footing as a source of truth. Most evangelical Christian denominations (at least in theory,) hold the Bible as the source of all revealed religious truth.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, used the Bible as the ultimate authority and source of truth. With each temptation of Satan, Jesus, even though He was the Son of God, answered, “It is written…”

In the same passage, we find that Satan also recognized the authority of Scripture, and he became expert at twisting it (still one of his favorite methods) in an attempt to lead Jesus astray.

If we have determined, by Jesus’ example, to hold the Word of God as our only source of religious truth, we have yet to decide how we will determine its truths. 

We do not need to look around the Christian world long to find out that there is as much doctrinal variety in Christians claiming to believe “the Bible only” as there are flavors of ice cream! Yet each group, regardless how far from the truth, makes the claim, in all sincerity, “all of our doctrines are based directly on the Bible.” They are right! We can follow their doctrinal reasoning “directly” back to the Bible.

But the all-important point is that in many cases the Bible itself doesn’t necessarily teach all these doctrines! They are doctrines of men, regardless if they are “based directly on the Bible.” 

The only way a doctrine is a Bible doctrine is if the Bible actually teaches it. If the Bible does not actually teach it, it is not a Scriptural doctrine regardless what it is built upon!

The Role of Prejudice

Never underestimate the role of prejudice in keeping us from determining the truth. When we think of a scientist, we tend to think of person who is beyond prejudice—one who searches out evidence, performs experiments, and arrives at conclusions without any intervention from prejudice or bias.

Any Christian who has studied their writings on evolution or the beginnings of the universe, however, realizes that this is a gross misconception. To many scientists, every bit of information can only be woven into the tapestry of theory as evidence of some sort of godless evolution, because of the opinion that there can be no god - therefore no creation.

Likewise, if I as a Christian receive the same information, it becomes part of the warp and woof of my creation tapestry - because the Bible gives an account of creation.

It works the same way with Christian doctrine when we read the Bible. What we understand as we read the Bible is determined to a larger degree than we realize by whether we are Catholic, Baptist, Jehovah’s Witness, Mennonite, Adventist, or Lutheran.

One point we must immediately grasp is that the Bible contains no opposing doctrines, so, as in the difference between the Evolutionist and the Creationist, we need to realize that where these differences are doctrinal, someone is wrong.

Another point that we should accept is that God wrote the Bible to be understood by people of average intelligence. It does not need to be “interpreted” to say something else. All the doctrines God would have us accept are there in simple, direct language to be understood easily if we can only shed our prejudices.

The Challenge of Truth!

The things that we “know” beyond what the Bible says are often the cause of our blindness to the Holy Spirit’s leading through the Word of God.

The reason we do not all come to the same “knowledge of the truth”, is because our faith is not in the Word of God as the source of truth like we think it is. Rather, our faith is too often in our own beliefs, denominational beliefs, church leadership, etc. 

I find that many Christians who profess absolute faith in the Word of God are very unwilling to say they will believe all that it actually says - because they know that it says some things that they believe to be unsound. They don’t know why it says things that way, but they are confident that it doesn’t mean that. They think that to believe what it actually says would be contrary to some other Scriptural doctrine - which they can never actually find stated in the Bible. Many Scriptures can be found from which that doctrine can be built, but none that actually teach it.

Is the above an example of absolute faith in the Word of God? No! It is a typical example of absolute faith in some authority other than God. Did God write his Word to be obscure, with the meaning hidden from the average reader unless he had someone to tell him how to put things together to come up with the proper doctrines? Did He insert some doctrines that are unsound and need to be explained away, so that the readers do not believe what it says? Of course not!

Let me suggest another option. Give everything up to the Word of God. When the Bible conflicts with your beliefs - change your beliefs! Surrender your entire being to God. By doing so, the Spirit of God can lead you. God’s Spirit can live within your heart, changing it from the inside out to make you more like Him!

-Glenn M. Wenger

When we look at Christianity today we see a great diversity of doctrine. Each denomination, and sometimes an individual has his own set of beliefs that he is convinced is sound doctrine and the will of God.

This would not seem so strange if it were not for the fact that each one says his beliefs are all built directly on the same Word of God. If we check out their claims, we find that indeed, they are all built on the Word of God.

How can the same Word of God teach so many opposing doctrines? The answer is it can’t and it doesn’t.

These doctrines are built on the Word of God, they are not taught in the Word of God. There is a vast difference between the two. Nearly anything could be built on the word of God.

Christians of today do so much “interpreting” of the Bible. The Bible was not meant to be interpreted but believed. Too often interpreting the Bible is making it fit our beliefs. Believing the Bible is making our beliefs fit the Bible.

Weaverland Publications, 298 Wheat Ridge Drive, Ephrata, Pennsylvania 17522  Phone: (717) 351-0218

Language

English

Author

Glenn Wenger

Publisher

Weaverland Mennonite Publications

Topics

Faith

Truth