What is TRUTH? Reality? Validity? Honesty? Loyalty? You can find those, and numerous other definitions in the dictionary. But I’ll be honest with you; I’ve always hated the word, if only because of the ways I’ve been beaten over the head with the concept by the religious establishment.
The only definition of “truth” many Christians hold to…
Strong’s Greek 225: “Objectively…the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians.”
…while completely missing the other:
Strong’s Greek 225: “Subjectively…truth as a personal excellence; that candor of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit.”
In short, even according to the bible, truth can be defined as both objective and subjective, or as accuracy and authenticity. However, we run into problems when our authentic experience of God, the place where we are met with the reality of God’s spirit inside ourselves, seems to conflict with what we have been taught is an accurate portrait of God. For many of us, for many years, we were told that it is imperative to trust the external accuracy rather than the internal authenticity. I tend to believe this is a cause and effect from the modern mindset; the idea that everything must first and foremost be understood intellectually before inviting such subjective things as feelings and personal experiences into the mix.
The tendency to accept truth as told to us by experts, professionals, and clergy, over what we know in our hearts and souls to be truth has swung the pendulum too far to the right, in my opinion. For then we are left with the version of ‘truth’ as interpreted for all by a few individuals, disregarding personal truth as having any value at all.
I seem to remember a time when there was held a monopoly on truth. It was suggested that common people were unable to comprehend God for themselves simply because they could not read Latin. I also recall a man who said that no one religious entity could interpret truth for the masses, instead working to enable the common people to possess a translation they could understand, so that they could determine truth for themselves, and have the ability to challenge any “truth” the religious establishment claimed.
There is always the idea that there is some problem within Christianity, for the obvious inability of its various factions to agree on doctrinal issues, even though we hold the same document as foundational. Why is this? Could it be that every denomination has, as much as they claim otherwise, subjectified truth to their own purposes? For, if any one faction of Christianity was wholly accurate in their understanding of ‘truth’ to the point we would all agree, wouldn’t we all jump to join them?
So now I wonder if this is a somewhat hypocritical issue, for the fact that religious denominations allow themselves to subjective, but corporate, interpretations of the bible’s truth, but disallow individuals to the same, albeit personal, subjectivity?
To make my point, I’ll say this. I have always, and expect I will always continue to, find God more readily in nature than in a building or a text. I make no apologies for this; it is who I am. However, for most of my life, Christianity in general has caused me to feel fear for this personal truth of mine. I have been told that it is inherently evil to seek God’s truth in nature, for it contradicts the accuracy of the belief that Jesus is the only Truth we are to seek. I have heard that subjective beliefs will usually lead down the slippery slope of heresy. Yet, if nature is the most authentic way I know Jesus, isn’t that a means to an end? Do accuracy and authenticity have to be in opposition to one another? And if subjectivity hasn’t yet caused me to forsake my True Love, might it be given a little more credit?
My faith, subjective as it may be, is stronger and more vibrant than ever before, even than the days when I let the ‘truth’ police tell me I was wrong. For that, I will leave you with this, the chapter whose reference is, ironically, tattooed on my arm.
Psalm 104, The Message:
“Dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent. You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings. You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever. You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters; Then you roared and the water ran away— your thunder crash put it to flight. Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them. You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded. You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills. All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst. Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard. You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns; earth is supplied with plenty of water. You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground. Oh yes, God brings grain from the land, wine to make people happy, their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty. God’s trees are well-watered—the Lebanon cedars he planted. Birds build their nests in those trees; look—the stork at home in the treetop. Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks. The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day. When it’s dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out. The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper. When the sun comes up, they vanish, lazily stretched out in their dens. Meanwhile, men and women go out to work, busy at their jobs until evening. What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look—the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they’d die in a minute—Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life— whole countryside in bloom and blossom. The glory of God—let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation! He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake, points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt."
Truly,
You KNOW you’re speaking my language!! It seems that every year I spend more time outside pondering things like roots, leaves, blooms, soil and sun, and less about things like “right”, “truth”, and “authority.” Yet, I think I’m moving closer to “truth” all the while.
I read that psalm only a few days ago. It is right next door to my favourite psalm (103). Whenever I am feeling depressed, weighed down by this frustrating culture I find myself living in, what almost ALWAYS brings me back is nature or, if I’m stuck inside, watching National Geographic or something like that and the wonder of it all just fills my soul. It is amazing what he has made and his personality shines through. Good post. I very muchly like that second Strongs definition
Cindy – you know it’s not just about nature, either. It’s about any truth that one of us feels in our spirit, but that religion tries to tell us is wrong. It’s that cramming into a too-small box thing. And religion *does* hold subjective truth, or we wouldn’t have denominations which allow women to Pastor and those which adamantly don’t. I think that contradiction (as an example) clearly allows us permission to hold “truth” as each of our consciences, hearts, souls, feels it.
I love National Geographic, Sue. I love the tv channel, and I love the magazine. Can you believe I used to hide my NatGeo mags from my Christian friends? Because they write about “pagan” and “atheist” and “evolutionist” bunk, you know? Seriously, that’s what some people said. But I happen to find God in that stuff more readily than anywhere…learning more about the process by which He put this universe together, what is in it that we can’t see, and what makes it tick. Love that. God is a pretty smart Guy.
Erin Thanks for the def. for truth. Had to go check it out for myself. And I thought i knew everything.
) Are you using the computer program “Online Bible.” It has the same def. “both objective and subjective.” Excuse me while I look up those def. never could explain the difference. Objective – not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. Subjective – based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. Hey, that’s good stuff. There is more to truth than “Just the facts mam.” That will take a while to digest. Now for – “accuracy and authenticity.” Be right back. Wish I had an old, old Websters. The dictionary on my computer is the “New Oxford American Dictionary” a little to high faluten for me. Accuracy – The quality or state of being correct or precise. Authenticity – of undisputed origin; genuine, done in a way that faithfully resembles an original. Thanks abunch, now I Have to go change my “Strange B.S.” again. Thats – “Strange Belief System.” { 
) In His Service. By His Grace.
Hi, my name is Joe. I am new to the site and this is the first article I have read. May I ask a few questions? First, what is the source for your definitions? Second, you gave the Strong’s definitions and then said, “In short, even according to the bible, truth can be defined as both objective and subjective, or as accuracy and authenticity” You do realize of course that Strongs is not actually a part of the Bible, so I don’t quite get your point. Are you suggesting that a definition found in a dictionary is the same as it being Scripture? I appreciate your help in making this first part clear to me.
Oh, one other quick question. You wrote, “I seem to remember a time when there was held a monopoly on truth. It was suggested that common people were unable to comprehend God for themselves simply because they could not read Latin.” How old are you that you remember a time when people spoke Latin and used the Latin Vulgate? Where are you from?
Thanks for your comments, A. Amos Love. I was using Blue Letter Bible as my source for this. I hope my research was helpful to you.
Hi Joe. Welcome, and it’s good to see you here. I’ll try to answer your questions as best I understand them. The source I was using was Blue Letter Bible’s Strong’s references. Of course I know Strong’s is not part of the bible, however, as far as I know, it is the authoritative source for accurately defining and referencing original biblical language. Maybe I’m wrong? I tried to do thorough research, according to Strong’s there are (at least these) two ways the word “truth” is defined. Of course, Strong’s does not hold the same authority as scripture, but how are we ever to understand scripture if we do not reference the original language and context in areas where we have questions? I suppose that would be assuming we don’t hold that any modern English translation is completely perfect, which I don’t, because otherwise we wouldn’t have so many translations. As far as the “time” I was referring to, it was a reference to Martin Luther. However, I expect you know that. I did not mean I literally “remember” it. What are your thoughts on the whole of my topic? Is it biblical that “truth” be both objective and subjective, or do you think ‘subjective truth is an oxymoron’?