“True Unequivocal Truth”

“TRUE UNEQUIVOCAL TRUTH” by Dr. D. W. Ekstrand TRUTH DEFINED So what is this thing called “Truth”? Well, according to the dictionary, truth is the true or actual state of a matter… conformity with fact or reality… and a verified, indisputable fact, proposition, or principle. Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact, reality or the authenticity of a standard… thus truth is seen as the opposite of false- hood. Incidentally, most human activities depend upon the concept of truth; be it the sciences, law, journalism, and everyday life. By the way, it should come as no surprise to any of you that various theories and views of truth continue to be debated among scholars, philosophers, and theologians… and therein is the rub. The argument that prevails is this: truth can be either subjective or objective, relative or absolute. Before launching into this subject, let me list a number of quotes on this subject that may help give definition to this thing called “Truth;” for your own benefit, take the time to reflect upon what each of them say: • Where I found truth, there found I my God, who is the truth itself – Augustine • Rather than love or money or fame, give me truth – Henry David Thoreau • Be truthful, nature only sides with truth – Anonymous • Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it – Confucius • They deem him their worst enemy who tells them the truth – Plato • It is the truth that irritates a person – Anonymous • Truth and virtue conquer – Plato • Truth is always the strongest argument – Sophocles • Truth never lost ground by enquiry – William Penn • You never find yourself until you face the truth – Pearl Bailey • For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honor the truth first – Aristotle • If you ever inject truth into politics you would have no politics – Will Rogers 1 • The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is – Winston Churchill • Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light – George Washington • Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either – Albert Einstein • There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true – Soren Kierkegaard Again, as we launch into this subject let me provide a “Table of Contents” regarding the various issues that this study covers. *Truth Defined - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - p. 1 *Worldly Thinking- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - p. 4 *Truth is Not Relativistic - - - - - - - - - - - p. 19 *The Early Years of Man’s Existence - - - p. 26 *This Thing Called the Ice Age - - - - - - - p. 31 *Abraham and His Descendents - - - - - - - p. 34 *The World of Science - - - - - - - - - - - - - p. 38 *The Issue of Global Warming- - - - - - - - p. 42 *The Dynamic Nature of Truth- - - - - - - - p. 45 *The Essential Truths of Christianity- - - - p. 58 *The Church and Worship - - - - - - - - - - - p. 62 *The Truth is, We Reap What We Sow - - - p. 82 *The Five Steps of Man’s Existence - - - - p. 87 *Addendum - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - p. 88 By the way, of all the issues I address in this study, the issue of the Church & Worship is by far the most significant one for me personally, because it is a subject I have been wrestling with and giving serious consideration to for the past ten years. Though many of you may give greater emphasis to some of the other issues, in years past many of those issues were very significant to me as well. With all of the foregoing in mind, let’s begin by first defining this things called “truth” — well, truth is neither a Maybe, an Opinion, or mere Speculation; in short, truth is an unchanging Absolute Reality. Pontius Pilate concluded his examination of Jesus with this brief question: “What is truth?” Jesus had just told him, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice” (cf. Jn 18:37). Though 2 Jesus did not go on to explain the essence of truth to Pilate, Pilate did not rebuke Jesus or demand an audible answer from Him… instead of commanding Him to be punished, Pilate went out to the accusing Jews who had brought Jesus to him, and said to them: “I find no guilt or fault in Him” (cf. Jn 18:38); by the way, the words “no guilt / fault” are emphatic in Greek. Obviously Pilate had gotten the message; Jesus stood before him as “Truth personified” (one can only imagine how the God of heaven had moved in Pilate’s heart and mind); the reality was Pilate knew that, and fear gripped his heart… he wanted absolutely nothing to do with this situation. Though he feared the prospect of a riot by the accusing Jews, he also feared harming Jesus (i.e., the Truth); even though He did not know who Jesus really was, he was obviously troubled in his inner core. Thus he hoped to pacify the accusing Jews by scourging Jesus, and placing a crown of thorns on His head, and having His face struck several times before He was released. It was at this time that Pilate once again reiterated to the congregation of Jews who were present, “You need to know, I find no guilt in this Man” (cf. Jn 19:1-4). Stop and think for a moment, why would Pilate emphatically declare that he found “absolutely no guilt” in Jesus? Obviously his being confronted with absolute holiness and truth personified had overwhelmed him… though he didn’t fully know who Jesus was, he knew full-well Jesus was something that he was not. Now when Jesus came out into the presence of the chief priests & scribes & rulers, they cried out with a loud voice, “Crucify! Crucify Him!” (Lk 23:21); to which Pilate again said, “You yourselves take Him and crucify Him, for I find no guilt or fault in Him” (Jn 19:6) — three times Pilate had emphatically declared that “he found no guilt or fault in Jesus!” The truth is, such a redundancy is literally incredible! Yet due to the fact that the Jewish people insisted that Jesus be crucified, ultimately their voices began to prevail and Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand should be granted (Lk 23:23-24). Though Pilate repeatedly gave powerful testimony to the innocence of Christ, nevertheless, he eventually capitulated for political reasons; and as was Roman custom, Jesus’ execution was carried out without delay. Before I continue on, you’ll notice I italicize, underline, and embolden numerous words and phrases; I do this to not only give emphasis to those words and thoughts, but to help give contextual understanding as to what I have written; so accentuate them when reading about the various topics that I cover in this study. Obviously, with the foregoing in mind, truth possess no guilt, no fault, no lying, no con- niving, and no deception — all truth has absolute integrity. The Greek word for truth is “aletheia,” and it signifies “the reality that lies at the basis or essence of a matter” (cf. Mk 12:14; Rom 9:1; 2 Cor 11:10); incidentally, the word “truth” is emphatic in all three of the verses just listed. As Vines Complete Expository Dictionary states, the Greek word that is translated truth actually possesses an absolute force (page 645; cf. Jn 14:6; 17:17; 18:37; Eph 4:21; 1 Tim 2:7); so truth is not merely ethical, but an absolute that is embodied in Christ (cf. Jn 1:14, 17; 8:42-47; Eph 1:13; 4:21); thus when one rejects the truth, he rejects Christ, because Christ is the truth (cf. Jn 14:6); God by nature is the embodiment of all truth (cf. Jn 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13-15), not just some truth. Old Testament writers used the Hebrew word “emet” (translated “truth” in English) to describe God’s Word and His deeds — His word can be trusted because He is faithful (emet) and because it is true (emet). The genius of biblical 3 teaching is that all truth is unified and grounded in God who is faithful and true. The most common usage of these terms in Scripture is that of statements reflecting facts that are accurate and trustworthy. The wisest man whoever lived or whoever will live, King Solomon (cf. 1 Kg 3:12), said “He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit” (cf. Prov 12:17). The beloved of Christ, John the apostle said, “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth” (cf. 1 Jn 2:21); lying is the opposite of truth (cf. Jer 9:3; Gen 42:16). Jesus stressed the authority and certainty of His message when He said, “I tell you the truth” (cf. Lk 9:27; also 4:24; Jn 16:7). Numerous times Jesus began His teachings with the words “Truly, Truly I say to you” — the redundancy actually makes it a very emphatic statement (cf. John 1:51; 3:3; 3:5; 3:11; 5:19; 5:24; 5:25; 6:26; 6:32; 6:47; 6:53; 8:34; 8:51; 10:1; etc.). Conversely, John stressed that he was telling the truth about Jesus (cf. Jn 19:35). The apostle Paul also emphatically declared that he was not lying (cf.

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