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Truth & Error
Gospel Truth - The preacher, one Sunday, asked the congregation to read the Gospel of Mark, chapter 17, for the following Sunday. On the appointed day, the minister asked, from the pulpit, how many had read it. A large number of the worshippers put up their hands. "There are only sixteen chapters in Mark," said the minister. "This morning I am speaking on honesty."
Pepe Rodriguez was one of the most notorious bank robbers in the wild, wild west . He would creep over the border into Texas, rob a bank and then flee back to Mexico. The Texas Rangers got so frustrated they decided to illegally cross the border and track him down. After a long search, they finally cornered him in a Mexican bar. All the lawmen had their guns drawn. Pepe could speak no English and the Rangers couldn't speak any Spanish. So they asked Pepe's friend, the bartender, to translate. He explained to Pepe who they were. The Rangers asked the barman to explain to Pepe that they wanted to know where he had hidden all the money. If he didn't tell them, they would shoot him down like a dog. The bartender translated, and Pepe began to shake with fear. "Tell them the money is hidden in the well. Count down 17 stones from the handle, and that's where all the loot is." The bartender turned to the Rangers and said in English, "Pepe is a very brave man. He says that you are a bunch of stinking pigs, and he is not afraid to die."
Hard to know truth in a photoshopped world.
In the postmodern world, Truth is like a smorgasboard. Take what you want, leave what you don't.
"As long as I'm sincere, it doesn't matter what I believe."
Religions are things of truth claims. So when we are evaluating religions, we have to deal with truth.
Over and Over, those who speak in the Scripture assert that what they are saying is "true" or "the truth."
Romans 9:1 I speak the truth in Christ-- I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--
74 times in the Gospels, Jesus says "I tell you the truth..."
Christianity rises or falls on what is TRUE. This morning, as I was listening to the Bible as I got dressed, I was going through 1 Corinthians where Paul insists that the TRUTH the REALITY of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the crucial hinge point of our faith... it matters if it's TRUE!
What is TRUTH?
Truth is primarily a quality of propositions.
Is that picture true? Is not a valid statement. But if we ask "Did this person really commit this crime?" or "Were you present when the crime was committed?" or "Did Jesus really rise from the dead?"
Three tests of truth:
1. Logical consistency
Does this follow the laws of logic? It is consistent with itself?
David Hume, a famous atheistic philosopher, once said, “If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.”
Really? Because I would ask you to take that statement and apply it's own test to itself. Is it a scientific statement? No. Is it a mathematical statement? No. Then, according to its own standard, you must reject it... it is not logically consistent.
It is a philosophical statement. Maybe you've met someone who said something like this:
"The only true knowledge is scientific knowledge." Really? Because that's not a scientifically provable statement... it just called itself false.
Undeniability - something that in the process of denying, you actually affirm.
Young man who asked Ravi Zacharias: How do I know that I exist? "And whom shall I say is asking?"
"There is no such thing as absolute truth." "Are you absolutely sure about that?"
2. Empirical adequacy
Can it be verified in any way? Does it fit the facts of reality? Does it explain adequately the world around us?
Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" sold 40 million copies and asserted that as a matter of history, there has been a vast conspiracy to cover up the fact that Jesus was actually not crucified. The Quran claims the same. This is convenient for both of them, because if they deny the Crucifixion, they don't have to deal with the Resurrection.
How do we verify claims from history? We examine the historical sources...
In this case, the Roman historians, the Jewish historians, the Greek historians, ALL agree that Jesus was crucified.
Self-referencing truth claims -- How do we know that the Quran is the Word of God? Mohammed says so. How do we know Mohammed is right? The Quran says so.
The Bible is not self-referencing in that way.
The Bible is not just a book of theology that claims truth only in that arena. It's also a book of geography, history & other points that can be verified in normal ways as we would verify other things. It doesn't just assert that the dead will be raised, it says a PERSON, JESUS was raised. It doesn't just say God loves, it says he loved us so much that HE CAME as a MAN in history.
The existence and claims of that man, can be examined and verified.
Can you prove everything scientifically beyond a shadow of a doubt? No. But can you prove it adequately? Yes.
3. Experiential relevance
Does it mean anything to my life and experience? Can you live it out in the real world? Does it meet the deep human needs?
Consider the Eastern guru who claims the world is an illusion, but still looks both ways when he crosses the street.
Woman who asked Ravi Zacharias: Where did you get this idea that life and experience had to be coherent? "Do you want my answer to be coherent or incoherent?"
You know you want life to make sense. Everyone does.
In the postmodern world, Truth is like a smorgasboard. Take what you want, leave what you don't.
"As long as I'm sincere, it doesn't matter what I believe."
Beliefs have consequence.
ILLUS> Most historians now agree that the doctors probably killed George Washington. Bleeding... common practice, sincerely believed. But wrong.
Postmodern architecture
"It must be very difficult for them to get the foundation to look that way." The man replied, "Oh the foundation can't be that way!"
how true. The foundation of your life has to be something more solid than the changing, shifting, sandy ground of a postmodern, truth-denying world.
Inherently true.
There are some things you know in the deepest parts of your soul to be true, and I want to appeal to them:
There is Justice. There are some things you know aren't right, even if they were only ways that you were treated. C.S. Lewis calls this "oughtness." We might not all have exactly the same "ought" but we all agree there is an OUGHT, and that ought is justice.
There is Evil. There is in the world a real evil. You might disagree on what it is, but most people agree inherently that it exists.
There is Love.
There is Forgiveness. At some point, you are going to fail, and you will have to go back to the person you wronged, that you failed, and say, "I'm sorry." And you hope they will do the same for you...
Those four meet in one place: at the Cross of Jesus.
_______________
HANDOUT
_______________
What Is Truth?
True[ish] #2
Religions are things of truth claims. So when we are evaluating religions, we have to deal with truth.
Romans 9:1 I speak the truth in Christ-- I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit...
74 times in the Gospels, Jesus says "I tell you the __________________..."
Christianity rises or falls on what is ____________________.
What is TRUTH? How do we know if something is true?
Three tests of truth:
1. ____________________ consistency
Does this follow the laws of logic? It is consistent with itself?
“If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.”
- David Hume, famous atheistic philosopher
Undeniability - something that in the process of denying, you actually _____________________________.
"There is no such thing as absolute truth."
2. Empirical _______________________
Can it be verified in any way? Does it fit the facts of reality? Does it explain adequately the world around us?
The Bible is not just self-referencing. The Bible is not just a book of theology that claims truth only in that arena. It's also a book of geography, history & other points that can be verified in normal ways as we would verify other things.
3. Experiential _________________________
Does it mean anything to my life and experience? Can you live it out in the real world? Does it meet the deep human needs?
The foundation of your life has to be something more solid than the changing, shifting, sandy ground of a postmodern, truth-denying world.
Instinctive Truths:
Four Things that we instinctively know to be true:
There is _______________________.
There is ____________________.
There is ___________________.
There is __________________________________.
Those four meet in one place: at the _____________________ of Jesus.
