Skip to main content

Truth...

             “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. (John 18:38)

          I’ve been discussing the problem of evil with someone online, and today’s verse came to mind. So, I apologize to those who aren’t in the mood for a philosophical rant because that’s where things are going this morning. Let’s start with the definition of truth without the circular reasoning involved in using the word “true.” Truth is “that which is in accordance with fact or reality.” One comment made was that religion is a myth or fairytale for adults. I suspect there are cases where that is true, but it is a hasty generalization that “all religions are the same.” The first problem is that there is the modern and temporally snobbish view of fairytales: they’re just stupid little stories meant to entertain kids. But C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joseph Campbell, and other scholars who study them disagree. Bruno Bettelheim describes fairy tales as   “confronting the child squarely with the basic human predicaments. They state an existential dilemma briefly and to the point. It is simplified to let the child come to grips with the problem in its most essential form.[1]

          The second problem is tied to Pilate’s question.  What is truth? If the events in the story never happened, but it describes existential dilemmas, does it not at least contain truth? If the events happened and are presented to us in a way that describes basic human dilemma and not the full account in its myriad details, does it not contain a fairy tale? The evidence at least suggests (strongly) that what is recorded in the Bible is historical truth that presents truth. That makes it the best kind of “fairytale” and the best kind of “history.”


[1] Bettelheim, Bruno, The Uses of Enchantment, (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1989) p. 8.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more