The Concept of Truth
The Concept of Truth
The first meaning of truth is honesty (Truth):
The Lord Jesus Christ often began His words by saying, “Truly, I say to you” (Matt. 5:18) (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16) (Matt. 8:10). Sometimes He repeated the word “truly,” saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you” (John 5:19, 24, 25) (John 8:34, 51, 58).
In courts, a witness swears, saying, “I say the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” because there is an important principle:
“Half-truths are not the whole truth,”
or as it is said, “Half-truths are not fairness to the truth.”
A woman may come complaining about her husband and explain how he struck or insulted her, while leaving out the other half of the truth—that she provoked him in a way that aroused him, causing him to lose control or his temper, and so he struck her. Thus, she mentions what happened to her as if it were a unilateral action by the husband, not merely a reaction to her own behavior. Or a person may say that the Church disciplined him, or that his workplace dismissed him, without mentioning the reason for which he was disciplined or dismissed.
The important point is that his words do not give a true picture of what happened.
Therefore, in cases, an investigation takes place, the purpose of which is to reach the truth. The truth becomes complete when the matter is examined from all its angles, when one opinion and the opposing opinion are heard, when the cause and the result are examined, and which is the action and which is the reaction. As for the one who listens from one side only, the true picture does not become clear to him. That is why the investigator resorts to confrontation, meaning that each side stands facing the other.
In every case presented to you, you can ask: Why?
As the proverb says, “If the cause is known, wonder ceases.” If someone tells you, for example, “My confession father forbade me to speak with so-and-so,” do not say to yourself, “How strange! Does the confession father call for quarrels?!” Perhaps if you understood the reason, you would know, for example, that this person is a stumbling block to him and a cause of sin, or that every time he meets him he speaks to him about matters that burden his conscience and cause troubling thoughts, or that he provokes and angers him. In summary, the saying applies: “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33), or the phrase, “Put away the evil person from among yourselves” (1 Cor. 5:13), or “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful” (Ps. 1).
Half-truths that are not truths also apply in theology.
An example of this is someone who uses one verse and leaves the rest of the verses related to the subject, by which the understanding of doctrine is completed. For instance, someone may speak about faith alone and say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). To such a person we say: place alongside it the Lord’s saying, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16), and also the saying of Saint Peter the Apostle to the Jews who believed on the day of Pentecost: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Yes, if someone says to you, “It is written,” say to him, “It is also written.”
Thus did the Lord Himself in the temptation on the mountain, presenting the ideal method for dialogue and for responding to ideas. Thus, truth means the complete reality; for concealing part of it may give a wrong understanding.
Another meaning of truth is human rights (his rights):
From this came the proverb, “Give everyone his due.” From here also came the expression “Human Rights.” Thus, the Ministry of Justice was formerly called “the Ministry of Truth,” and the Faculty of Law is called “the Faculty of Rights,” meaning that in it the laws concerning people’s rights and duties are studied.
Here, the word “right” does not mean honesty, nor is its opposite lying or false testimony; rather, its opposite here is injustice, in which rights are lost. From this derivation comes the expression “deserves” or “does not deserve,” meaning it is his right or not his right. In the same sense, the thief on the right rebuked his fellow thief on the cross, saying, “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds” (Luke 23:41).
From here also comes the expression “partakes worthily of the holy mysteries” or partakes unworthily (1 Cor. 11:27), meaning that he has no right to partake. Partaking of the mysteries takes its right from repentance and purity of heart.
Perhaps in the same sense the prodigal son said to his father, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). It was also said, “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (Matt. 10:10) (Luke 10:7).
Another meaning of truth is that it is against falsehood or vanity:
True gold is different from counterfeit gold, and true (lawful) marriage is the opposite of false (unlawful) marriage. Thus it is said of the Lord Christ that He is “the true Light” (John 1:9). It was said of John the Baptist, “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:8).
The Lord Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12). He said to us, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). But He is the true Light, because He is light in Himself. As for us, we are not so; rather, by His light we see light.
The light of the sun is true light, but the light of the moon is not so; it is merely a reflection of the sun’s light upon it, and without its light it becomes dark.
So it is with God: He alone is the true God (John 17:3). Many were called gods as a mere title, but they were not gods in truth, as mentioned in the Psalm: “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods” (Ps. 82:1), and also, “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes’” (Ps. 82:6–7).
The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you as God to Pharaoh” (Exod. 7:1), but in the sense of “master,” not in the sense of Creator, omnipotent, or omnipresent. It was also said that the gods of the nations are demons [or idols] (Ps. 96:5).
Here is the difference between truth and falsehood.
In the same way, Saint Paul the Apostle spoke about widows, saying, “Let not the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows” (1 Tim. 5:16).
Likewise, one may speak about the true believer and the children of God in truth. Many have the name of children of God and pray saying, “Our Father who art in heaven,” but they are not children in truth. The saying of Saint John the Apostle does not apply to them: “Whoever is born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9) (1 John 5:18). Nor does the saying of the Apostle apply: “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29).
Likewise, one who says he is a believer but does not prove his faith by his works—Saint James says about him, “Do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20).
Saint Paul the Apostle even says the challenging phrase: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). How difficult is that phrase which the Lord said to the angel of the church of Sardis: “You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1).
The word “alive” here is not a true name that this shepherd deserves, because he is not alive in truth, but rather spiritually dead.
Here the word “truth” or “true” in the sense of true or genuine enters into many matters.
A person may say that he is a spiritual son in confession to a certain priest, yet he is not a son in truth because he neither obeys him nor consults him. A person may say that he has repented, yet he is not repentant in truth, because every time he leaves the sin he returns to it again. A person may say that he prays, yet he is not a prayerful person in truth, because he speaks to the Lord with his lips while his heart is far from Him.
A person may say that he fasts, yet he is not fasting in truth, but is merely a vegetarian who eats plant-based foods and ensures they are appetizing, without self-control during the fast, and the spiritual rules of fasting do not apply to him.
Truth begins with the values that a person observes in his life. Everything that aligns with lofty spiritual values is truth, and everything that agrees with sound theological doctrines is truth; otherwise it is false and transient.
Truth is also against hypocrisy:
Because hypocrisy is against truth, for it contains falsehood, since the inner reality is contrary to the outward appearance. For this reason, the Lord Jesus rebuked the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, because they were like whitewashed tombs, outwardly beautiful, but inwardly full of dead men’s bones (Matt. 23:27).
The hypocrite pretends to be what he is not, giving a beautiful image of himself while his reality is completely different.
Duplicity is also against truth, because it is false praise of others or false defense of them, while the reality is otherwise, and what is in the heart is contrary to what is said with the tongue.
Truth is also lost under the cover of courtesy or “love,” or under the cover of false love. A person may claim to be a friend to another while dragging him toward destruction or encouraging him to commit error. This encouragement is against truth, causing him to persist in his error. He may claim that he loves him, while by this false “love” he destroys him completely.
Like a mother who thinks she loves her son, but spoils him in a way that corrupts him—her love is not a true love with true values.
A young man may claim that he loves a girl, while his relationship with her is lust, not love. Under the cover of what he calls “love,” he ruins their morals, reputation, and future. What is between them cannot be love in the true sense, as long as it is devoid of values.
In this context, we also mention those who falsely defend wrongdoers and forget the saying of Scripture: “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 17:15).
Why? Because both are against truth. Some may recoil from the phrase “condemns the just,” seeing in it injustice, but how often do we find those who justify the wicked, thinking this is a form of compassion and mercy. Yet this compassion is against truth on one hand, and on the other hand it is not true compassion. True compassion leads the wrongdoer to repentance, and among the conditions of repentance are confession of sin and cessation from it. As for justifying the wrongdoer, it makes him feel that he has done nothing wrong, so he continues in what he is doing, loses remorse and contrition of heart, and the one who justified him has harmed him.
A person may justify a wrongdoer out of ignorance, and he too is an abomination to the Lord, because he did not search for the truth, or at least did what is against the truth, even if out of ignorance. Perhaps while he is justifying a guilty person, he is condemning another innocent person, having wronged and offended him. In all cases, he is far from the truth, or he is unjust in truth. My advice to such people is:
Defend the truth, instead of defending a person.
Your defense of him may be against the truth.
In order to defend the truth, you must know the truth, and many do not have this knowledge. They may move in an atmosphere of rumors and receive information from people who themselves do not have true knowledge. How often we find people saying, “I am defending the truth,” while what they defend is far from the truth altogether.
Or a person may defend the truth, or what he thinks is the truth, in a manner that is completely far from the truth. He may exceed his right to speak, say what he has no right to say, or resort to defamation, condemnation, harming others, wounding their feelings, or spreading false information. Thus he greatly wrongs others and falls into many sins for which God condemns him.
It appears that he is defending “the truth” in an unrighteous way.
Some may ask, “Do you have the right to do this?”
The truth may be lost in his defense of “the truth,” or of what he thinks is the truth. If you want to hold fast to the truth, stay away from rumors and do not believe every report that reaches you. Remember that whoever is against the truth is against God Himself.
Why? Because God is the truth; He is the absolute truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Whoever departs from the truth departs from God, and herein lies the danger.
The truthful person is a just person, a person who has values in life by which he lives. The truthful person has the Spirit of God, because He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17) (John 15:26). Therefore, the one who is far from the truth is far from the Spirit of God, and the one who separates from the truth separates from God.
Likewise, the truthful person does not use two measures—one for his loved ones and another for others—for in that he also departs from the truth.
When Satan separated from communion with God, the Lord said of him that he is a liar and the father of all liars (John 8:44), and said of him, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44).
See what punishment Ananias and Sapphira received because they did not speak the truth. Saint Peter said to Ananias, “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4).
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