Truth is for living

"In respect of things eternal life is vayn and mortal" -
inscription on Lamport Hall, Northamptonshire.
A reminder that truth is bigger than we think. 

“What is truth?” Pontius Pilate’s cynical, rhetorical question was flung at Jesus shortly before the Roman Governor of Judea condemned the Jewish preacher to death, at the behest of a noisy demonstration, despite ruling that he was innocent. It has recently taken on a fresh significance.

Oxford Dictionaries have named “post-truth” as their word of the year for 2016. The term means that objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than emotional appeals. It suggests that “the public” is interested more in their view of what reality should be than in what it actually is.

It is a development of the word popularised by US comedian, talk show host and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2012, Stephen Colbert. For him, “truthiness” is preferring one’s wishes to be true rather than those that are factually true.

It has long been the case that many newspapers, magazines and some broadcast channels gear their coverage to the assumed interests – and prejudices – of their audiences. It is also the case that we buy, or tune in to, the media which conform to our established opinions. Apparently, we are less interested than ever in being willing to have our opinions modified or even changed. What I believe is true, is true.

We should be concerned. Public debate on complex issues is degenerating into blinkered and emotive slogans, exaggerated or imagined threats, sweeping generalisations, counter-assertions rather than careful answers, and personal attacks on the integrity and motives of both protagonists and opponents. Fake news spread on social media becomes imprinted on minds and is difficult to delete from memories. When objectivity declines, anarchy or extremism rises. The mob rules. And civilisations crumble.

In Barack Obama’s words, “It’s easy to make a vote on a complicated piece of legislation look evil and depraved in a thirty-second commercial, it’s very hard to explain the wisdom of that same vote in less than twenty minutes.”¹  And who has 20 minutes to consider anything these days?

Not a new problem

Cultural changes do not happen overnight and the seeds of “truthiness” and “post-truth” thinking (if it can be called thinking) were sown long ago. In the 1960s Aldous Huxley had already noted that the political spin machine was speeding up: “The methods now being used to merchandise the political candidate as though he was a deodorant, positively guarantee the electorate against ever hearing the truth about anything.”²

            That was the era when traditional constraints and beliefs were being questioned widely, and increasingly overthrown. It was a time when the ability of science to solve human problems was being questioned. And above all the idea that “truth” is relative – what’s true for you may not be true for me – was gaining popularity, especially with regard to human conduct and morality. It’s hardly surprising; it’s more comfortable to do one’s own thing than to toe party lines and do what other people expect of us.

            Christian thinker Harry Blamires summarised it thus: “Where intellect and feeling were in conflict, where wisdom and whim collided, it became the smart thing to reject the intellect and wisdom because they belonged to the sphere of rule and regulation, of fixities and demarcations, while feeling and whim inhabited the ever-changing environment of the fluid, the environment of the Age of Aquarius.”³

(The “Age of Aquarius”, thought of as the age of freedom, is an astrological assumption made popular by the 1960s hippy movement and the song from the musical Hair “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius”; in fact many astrologers don’t think it begins properly until at least the 22nd century. Ironically, the current period has also been dubbed “the Information Age” in which more people have access to more facts than ever before.)

An exponential rise in medical and scientific discoveries – think about the boundary-pushing Large Hadron Collider – has created an assumption that “truth” is a temporary thing, a summary of what we know now which may be disproved later.

The ancient Athenian mentality has grown in academic circles: “All the Athenians…spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21). That has its plus side, of course: it’s good to explore and learn new things, to develop our understanding about the world, and even to challenge some traditions. But truth also has its boundaries; it is not eternally elastic. Some things are not true, and no volume of conspiracy theories or Facebook “likes” can make them true.

When a crowd becomes infected by a false “meme”, a rumour or belief that causes a group to act as one (usually violently in vocal terms, if not in riotous terms), the foundations of civilisation and human decency can be shaken. Not long after Paul’s discovery of the Athenian love of novelty he was hauled into the huge amphitheatre in Ephesus by a howling mob stirred up by influential business owners who saw Paul’s preaching as a threat to their profits. Luke, the narrator, notes that “the assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there” (Acts 19:32).

Or, as the 19^th century nihilist Friedrich Nietzsche put it, “Nothing is true, all is permitted.”⁴ 

Pursue truth in love

There are two remedies for the potential evils emanating from a post-truth world. One is for individuals to seek political, social and even scientific truth even if it threatens to overturn our previously-held opinions. Cautious consideration rather than hasty acceptance or rejection should be the hallmark of rational humanity. Or, don’t believe that everything you read in your newspaper is unbiased and objective.

            In practice, that means taking such steps as:

·         Learn to distinguish between proven fact and disputable allegation
·         Check the facts on both sides of an argument
·         Be measured in voicing opinions
·         Don’t jump on bandwagons and repeat allegations without checking them carefully first.

            The second is to learn to live truthfully, which is easier if we also recover the mindset that recognises that some truths are eternally valid and non-negotiable. They provide a basis for living in the world. These include the existence of a just and loving God and the teachings and redemptive actions of Jesus Christ who is God’s truth embodied in human form. And they form the basis for truth-full living.

            Of course, there is the risk of elevating some Christian traditions and biblical beliefs to the level of indisputable truths or required behaviours when there may be scope for discussion. Our finite minds cannot fully comprehend the works and wisdom of an infinite God. So even with the scriptures in our hands, we are required to listen carefully to others.

Bishop Lesslie Newbigin once wrote, “We are missionaries, but we are also learners, only beginners. We do not have all the truth, but we know the way along which truth is to be sought and found. We have to call all people to come this way with us…”⁵

So take some time to look at the biblical references to truth below, and resolve to walk the way they point to.

Think and talk

1.  Look at these warnings or examples of unfounded rumours and their consequences in the Bible. 2 Kings 7:5-7; Jeremiah 51:46; Matthew 24:4-8,11,23-28; John 21:22-24. What can we learn from them and what similar examples of false rumours, allegations or beliefs that have caused problems in your country or local community?

2.  What is the source of truth? Isaiah 45:19; John 14:6,17; 15:26; 16:13. (Note Jesus’ frequent use of the claim “I tell you the truth” before his pronouncements; in some Bible versions this is “verily, verily” or “truly, truly”.)

3.  What is the effect of truth? Psalm 15:1-3; Proverbs 16:13; John 8:32.

4.  How is truth to direct our lives? Psalm 51:6; John 4:23-24; Ephesians 4:15; 6:14; 1 John 1:6-8.

5.  How has truth been distorted or discarded down the ages and with what effects? Jeremiah 7: 27-29; Romans 1:18-23; 2:6-8; 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

References

1.  Barack Obama, The audacity of hope, Canongate Books 2008, p. 132.

2.  Aldous Huxley, Brave new world revisited, Chatto & Windus 1966, p.84.
3.  Harry Blamires, The Post-Christian mind, SPCK 2001, p.8.
4.  Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus spake Zarusthustra, George Allen & Unwin 1932, p.313.
5.  Lesslie Newbigin, Truth to tell, Eerdmans 1991, p.34 quoted by Henry Knight, A future for truth, Abingdon Press 1997, p.137.

© Derek Williams 2016. Material may be reproduced for personal or small group study with full acknowledgement of the source.