Modern atheistic philosophers such as Nietzsche and Sartre have trashed the idea of ‘truth’ existing. This has led to today’s society being flavoured by postmodern thinking that has debased the idea of truth with claims that all truth is relative, i.e. it is whatever you feel it to be at the moment.
As I reflected on the nature of truth, I came to understand that truth was actually a ‘sacred entrustment.’
We don’t manufacture truth (sorry, you modern philosophers). Neither do we invent it, only to change it in the next breath (sorry, you chaotic postmodernists). No, true truth is not an artefact of any human at all. Real truth is something that is beyond us. It is something we discover; something we are allowed to come across when we search for it diligently. In other words, it is out there, waiting for us to take hold of it.
Christians have always understood this to be so because they know that:
- truth has its genesis in God,
- derives its culture from God, and…
- comes with an invitation from God to discover it.
God is therefore the source and final definition of truth.
What on earth do I mean by ‘derives its culture from God’?
Simply this: Moral truth is ‘good’ in the most profound way it can be. Goodness is therefore its cultural stamp. And when it comes to scientific truth, ‘beauty’ is its cultural stamp. Scientific truths (e.g. the equations for the laws of physics) are beautiful rather than ugly. (The English quantum physicist, Paul Dirac, was one who popularised this understanding.)
Now, here’s a question: Are atheists correct in saying that humankind either invented truth in order to invent God; or invented God in order to promote the myth that truth exists?
I think both notions are wrong because there is evidence that truth not only exists, but it exists with defining characteristics. Truth can be found by looking for three things:
- Looking for what is good
- Looking for what is beautiful
- Looking at what is consistently so, i.e. not subject to chaotic change.
It could be argued that these parameters rather load the dice in favour of God’s existence, but I would disagree. The reason for this is that the real universe is not chaotic, it is highly ordered. It is therefore reasonable for truth to be grounded in this basic characteristic of the cosmos. Truth, I submit, is there for us to see and discover.
Therefore: respect it enough to chase it down. If you do, you’ll find God waiting at the end of your search.
