The Ring of Truth: Can we really know anything?
What is truth? Pontius Pilate
I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand.
Anselm of Canterburyin your light do we see light. Psalm 36:9 (ESV)
There was a time when I didn’t believe that anything was definitely true, and no, I didn’t even have much confidence in that belief either. I was an ultra-sceptic, so in terms of knowledge the lights were down pretty dim, if not out altogether. Of course, I didn’t live that out in any consistent way but rather continued to walk in the illumination of a light I denied.
The belief that there is no truth, or that it is unknowable, is utterly unliveable and completely self-contradictory. It’s one of those things that is denied by its affirmation. It’s a dead end, so I turned back. I have since come to have, as one of my most fundamental beliefs, the conviction that there is such a thing as truth, and that this truth is knowable.
My questions, therefore, are what is the basis of this truth, and how is it that I can know the truth? It’s a really important piece of the God puzzle, and I’m not alone in noticing it. Einstein remarked that ‘the only incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.’ Eugene Wigner pointed out ‘the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics’ in describing the universe around us, and Darwin confided:
With me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey’s mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?
While I can see some survival advantage in a brain whose neural firings are tuned to the rational fabric of the universe, my questions run deeper. Not only do I wonder about the foundation of reality, I question why seeing should be believing.
Jesus said that truth was grounded in a person, and it was him. He was the light, revealing who God was and illuminating everything else. For me, therefore, Jesus answers my questions: God is both the truth, and the revealer of truth.
- Have you ever thought about what truth is and how we can know it with any certainty?
- Do you think it’s odd that mathematics is so successful at describing the world?
- What do you think Jesus could have meant when he said he was ‘the truth’ and ‘the light of the world’?
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Counter Arguments
- You have to start somewhere. The existence of the material world and our valid apprehension of it is the best set of working presuppositions.
Picture Credit: La Sagrada Familia – door La Sagrada Familia – door , Licence: Creative Commons, Source: Flickr. Author:meganrosendahl. Modifications: Cropped.
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