What Is the Truth? And How Do We Live in It?
What Is the Truth? And How Do We Live in It?
What is the truth?
A question that Pilate said to the Lord Christ during His trial: “What is truth?” (John 18:38). And he went out and did not hear its answer. And this question still remains in the minds of many until now…!
Every person claims that he knows the truth, and that the truth is on his side!!
And he may be mistaken. And how true is the saying of Scripture: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12) (Prov. 16:25).
Two people quarrel within the family or outside it. And each of them—the husband and the wife, or the wife and her mother-in-law, or the brothers together—each party says that he is right!
And in court: the prosecution and the defense, each on opposite sides. And each thinks that he is telling the truth!! But what is the truth?
And denominations clash. And every denomination says that it represents the truth!
So what is the truth? The word is broad and has many meanings.
The truth is God
The truth is a name among the names of God.
Is He not the One who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And He also said about Himself, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
So whoever departs from the truth departs from God.
And whoever resists the truth resists God. And whoever rejects the truth rejects God.
And because the truth is God, therefore the Spirit of God the Holy is called “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17). And it was said, “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father” (John 15:26). And the Lord also said about Him, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
The truth is honesty
Therefore the court asks the witness to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth… because the false witness, who does not tell the truth completely, misleads the court.
And from here the truth is against falsehood.
And the one who does not tell the truth falls into many sins:
Lying is against the truth. Exaggeration is against the truth.
Among the examples of exaggeration is that someone sends us a telegram saying, “The people of such-and-such city want…” while this is merely his personal opinion or the opinion of a small group.
And sometimes exaggeration is in the use of the word “all,” positively or negatively… such as saying all the Fathers said such-and-such… or it never happened that anyone among all the Fathers said such-and-such… while the holder of this opinion has not read the writings of (all) the Fathers…!! These are exaggerations far from the truth without doubt.
And many depart from the truth by one of two policies: either understatement or overstatement.
Understatement is simplifying dangers in a way that takes them out of their reality.
Overstatement is magnifying matters in another way that also takes them out of their truth.
But the truthful person is the one who is completely precise in everything he says, so that he does not deviate from the truth to the right or to the left.
Half-truths
And against the truth also is the one who mentions half-truths.
And half-truths do not give a sound picture of the truth.
For he may mention a certain behavior of a specific person by which he condemns him, while this behavior is merely a reaction to a very wrong behavior from another side. But by the method of half-truths he mentions the reaction as if it were the action alone.
For example, one may mention a punishment issued against a person as if it were cruelty or mistreatment, without mentioning the reason that led to this punishment. And one may also mention a person’s avoidance of meeting another person, while the reason is the severe harm that befalls him from meeting that person, without mentioning it by the one who narrates the news.
How many are those who put results before them, without also putting the causes.
And ignoring the causes, intentionally or unintentionally, does not give a clear picture of the result. But if the matter is intentional, another sin is added to contradicting the truth.
And even in matters of doctrine and theology, we find another principle against the truth, which is:
The danger of using a single verse from Scripture.
If we want to know the divine truth, or the scriptural truth, it is never sufficient to use only one verse that may have been mentioned on a certain occasion; rather, the verses pertaining to the subject that clarify it completely from every side must be gathered. Each one completes the other. An example of this is that Satan said to the Lord Christ in the temptation on the mountain, “For it is written…” and the Lord answered him, “It is written again…” (Matt. 4:6–7).
So the one who seeks the truth should seek the whole truth,
so that the truth may become clear. For example, Scripture says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Eph. 6:1). And it also says afterward, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children…” (Eph. 6:4). And it also says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (Col. 3:21).
Half the truth says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). And the other half says after it, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph. 5:25).
And thus we find half the truth that in the world we have tribulation. And the other half is that God is with us in the tribulation and gives us His blessings.
Among half-truths is that we sometimes speak about a right without mentioning what corresponds to it of duty or duties.
You may say: It is my right to receive in my work a bonus or a promotion.
And it is also your duty to conduct yourself in your work with all honesty and sincerity.
Or a person may say: How does the father not forgive?! It is the son’s right that his father forgive him! We say this is true. But it is the son’s duty to repent in order to deserve this forgiveness.
And how many speak about the Lord Christ having forgiven the sinful woman, without mentioning on the other side the repentance of that sinful woman and how she washed His feet with her tears (Luke 7).
If every sin were met with forgiveness without repentance, righteousness would be lost, and the truth also would be lost.
Defending the truth
How difficult it is to find a person who defends with all zeal and strength a matter that he thinks is the truth, while the truth is completely otherwise!!
Perhaps he defended out of ignorance of the truth, or he attacks also out of ignorance of the truth! And how profound is the proverb that says: people are enemies of what they are ignorant of.
And the matter may be revealed to this person, and he sees that he was in error. And he apologizes and says, “Sorry, I did not know”…! But after he has destroyed what he destroyed… and raged and wasted…
Perhaps he was a victim of rumors, or of intrigue, or of conspiracy, which portrayed matters to him in a false portrayal against the truth, and he believed what they said without examination or investigation, and he raged, thinking that he was defending the truth.
Therefore, every time you defend the truth, ask yourself first: What is the truth? And where is the truth?
Therefore, among the prominent virtues in Christianity is the knowledge of the truth. And thus it was said that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).
If a person boasts that he defends the truth, we ask him:
Do you defend God’s right from yourself as you defend God’s right from others?
For if you truly love the truth, take God’s right from yourself first. And this is what the Lord meant by His saying, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:3,5). And He applied this with the scribes and Pharisees who demanded the execution of the Law of Moses to stone the woman caught in the act. The Lord said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7).
The truth is justice
So the phrase “judge with truth” means judge with justice.
Therefore injustice is against the truth, because it wastes the right of others.
And the Ministry of Justice with us was formerly called the Ministry of Rightfulness. And the Faculty of Law is called the Faculty of Rights, because the law aims at giving everyone his due right.
Therefore we find a beautiful verse in Scripture that says:
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 17:15).
That is because both are against the truth, and the truth is God.
He who justifies the wicked is not truthful, and he who condemns the righteous is not truthful. And if the truth is also honesty, then both are against the truth, and thus they become an abomination to the Lord.
Some may think that condemning the righteous is clearly unjust, therefore he is an abomination to the Lord. But what about justifying the wicked?
The one who justifies the wicked may think that this is a kind of love, compassion, and tenderness. But tenderness must not be against the truth. And true love is not to justify the wicked, but to lead the wicked to repentance, so that his soul may be saved in the day of the Lord (1 Cor. 5:5).
You may say that he is mistaken, and try to lessen the depth of his guilt from the aspect of psychological motives and social factors. But all this does not prevent that he is guilty. How many have justified the guilty, and led them to remain in guilt, and lost their eternity…! And here we say:
False defense is against the truth, just as false accusation is against the truth.
Rather, false defense may sometimes provoke those who love the truth, or those who establish justice. And false defense of a guilty person may carry condemnation of other innocent people, or condemnation of those responsible who punished him.
Favoritism is also against the truth, just as injustice is against the truth.
So if there is a manager of a work, and he favors his relatives or friends, and gives them what they do not deserve, he is against the truth. And likewise, on the other hand, if he wrongs his relatives or friends and does not appoint them to jobs or does not give them what they deserve of rights, he is also against the truth.
An example of this is a Copt who is placed in a high position and does not appoint any Copts or does not promote anyone, so that it may not be said that he favors them. By this he wrongs them and is against the truth. And his own self and reputation dominate him, or the factor of fear dominates him, and not the truth…!!
But the just person is the one who gives everyone his due right, and it does not matter to him whether he is a relative or a stranger, a friend or an enemy—the important thing is the truth.
Other meanings
The word truth may sometimes mean righteousness that accords with God’s commandment and walking by the Spirit. Thus the Apostle John says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4). And the phrase “to give everyone his due right” means to give him his portion that he deserves.
The power of the truth
The word of truth has its power, even if it comes from a child!
Because the word of truth may be the word of God on his mouth. And the word of God is powerful and does not return void (Isa. 55:11).
Some may say that injustice prevails on earth, as the prophet Jeremiah complained of this and said, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those happy who deal so treacherously?” (Jer. 12:1). But it is a false success, and for a time, and the truth must succeed in the end.
And in this Saint Augustine said that those wicked are like smoke that rises upward, while the fire remains below. But as the smoke rises and spreads, it dissipates, while the fire remains in its power.
And the one who cares for the truth and its power must wait.
It seemed that falsehood prevailed over Joseph the righteous, and the truth was lost… but after a while Joseph prevailed. Falsehood threw Daniel into the den of lions, and it seemed that it prevailed, but only for a time, then the situation turned completely to the opposite (Dan. 6). And the same situation applies to Mordecai and Haman. It seemed that falsehood had prevailed, and Haman prepared a gallows to hang Mordecai on it. And the situation changed, and Haman was hanged on it (Esth. 7:1).
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