Truth

I have been thinking a lot about truth lately. Can truth be known? Is truth exclusive? Does truth depend upon ones point of view?
The first step is to define truth. Truth is what corresponds to its referent. Truth about reality is what corresponds to the way things really are. Truth is “telling it like it is.” This correspondence applies to abstract realities as well as actual ones. There are mathematical truths. There are also truths about ideas. In each case there is a reality, and truth accurately expresses it.[1]
The next step is to define non-truth. Falsehood, then, is what does not correspond. It tells it like it is not, misrepresenting the way things are. The intent behind the statement is irrelevant. If it lacks proper correspondence, it is false.[2]
Allow me to illustrate. 1+1=2. The statement “1+1” corresponds to the statement “2” that makes this a true statement. If we change the statement to 1+1=4 then we end up with a “false” or “untrue” statement. This is because the statement “1+1” does not correspond to “4”. This concept also holds true for non math applications it is just simpler to illustrate using math.
Another way to illustrate this is:
Suppose that I bought a six pack of beer took it home, set down on my couch and proceeded to drink five of them. At some point after this my wife comes home and smells the beer on my breath and asked me “How many beers have you drunk?” At this point I decide that “truth” is defined as “what works for me” not as “that which corresponds to its referent”. And I reply “two”. Now this “truth” works for me because she will not be mad at me for drinking too much, but this “truth” has a drawback. Let us suppose at this point my wife looks in the fridge and sees a six pack container that contains one, not three, beers. This is what I call the point where that which works for me meets that which corresponds to its referent and since two does not correspond to five empty slots in the six pack container the truth that worked for me did not work for her and now I am sleeping on the couch.
In the illustration above the truth that worked for me was not just “non-truth” but was in fact a lie. What made it a lie was intent, not merely the statement being factually inaccurate but the deception behind the inaccurate statement. For example 2000 years ago the people who taught that the earth was flat were not telling a lie, they were making a truth claim based upon inaccurate data. The statement was still false but not necessarily a lie. By the way believing that the earth was flat did not make it so. The earth was just as round then as it is now. The point being that sincere belief in a non truth does not impact reality only the way in which one interacts with reality. This leads us to some interesting conclusions. The sincere belief that the world is flat will not adversely impact your ability to live on the earth. The sincere belief that the container of sulfuric acid is water will. The point being that holding a “sincere belief” has no merit.
Truth claims are the basis for belief. Belief is how we function in life. Everything that we do or do not do is based on what we believe. Permit me illustrate. This morning I took a shower. Before I turned on the water I held the belief that turning the knob would cause water to flow. I held this belief because I have prior experience with doing this; I also have a vague understanding of how water gets to my shower from the water facility in our town. If I did not believe that water would come out when I turned on the fixture then I would not have turned the knob. My belief that water would come out when I turned on the knob was based upon the truth claim that if I pay my water bill then the city will not turn off my water. This truth claim is valid because paying ones water bill corresponds to receiving water. In this case a valid truth claim plus belief equals action resulting in a non-smelly me. The knowledge that I held in this matter, namely prior experience and a vague understanding of my towns water delivery system had no impact upon the fact that when I turned the knob water came out. In other words my belief had no merit. The merit was in the object of my belief. My knowledge had no impact upon the ability of the object of my belief to perform its function; conversely if I had a lack of belief that also would not have impacted the ability of the object of my lack of belief to perform its function.
Let me illustrate. A soldier is driving on a road in Iraq. The soldier has been told that there are no IEDs on the rout that he is traveling. The soldier believes the report. An IED explodes as he passes it on the road. All of the facts that led to the report that there were not any IEDs did not impact the truth that there was one. The belief in the report did not impact the truth that there was one. If truth were subjective in any way then the report would have negated the IED from existence.
Truth is exclusive. Non- truth is inclusive to the point that it only excludes that which corresponds to the referent. Permit me to illustrate. 1+1=2 is true because it corresponds to its referent. If =2 is that to which the statement refers any statement that does not correspond to =2 is not true.
That is all well and good but what does any of this have to do with Christ?
Jesus made the claim that He is the way, the truth and the life… (John 14:6). This is a truth claim and a claim of exclusivity. This statement can only be valid if truth is knowable and exclusive. Truth can only be knowable if it corresponds to its referent. If truth corresponds to its referent then truth is exclusive. If truth is exclusive then Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
[1]Geisler, N. L. (1999). Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Baker reference library (742). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
[2]Geisler, N. L. (1999). Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Baker reference library (742). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.