What is Truth?

By Dr Christopher Peppler

“What is truth?” Pilot asked Jesus (John 18:38). Ask a typical evangelical Christian this
question and the likely answer will be “The Bible is truth”. What we generally mean when we
say this is that we believe that the Bible is the source of truth. Consider for a moment, though,
how Peter, Paul, or John would have answered that question. In terms of scriptures, all they
had was what we call the Old Testament. We know how the apostle John would respond to
such a question because he wrote ‘For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.’ (John 1:17-18)

Church leaders only finally recognised the collection of writings of the New Testament as
‘truth’ in the fourth century. In 367 AD bishop Athanasius listed the current twenty-seven
books of the New Testament in his Easter letter. Later, the councils of Hippo in 393 and
Carthage in 397 fixed the Canon of scripture, for the Western church. So then, what would the
early Christians have regarded as their source of truth?

The Lord Jesus was quite clear in His idea of truth. He said "I am the way and the truth and
the life”. (John 14:6) It is ironical that when Pilate asked his question, the truth was actually
staring him in the face!? Jesus often said “I tell you the truth” and His disciples recorded what
He uttered. Yet, truth is more than what Jesus taught. You see, Jesus himself is the source of
truth.

This is a critical understanding. If we regard the Bible as the source of truth then we will
expect to find truth only in the form of propositional statements. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day
believed that the Old Testament scriptures were the source of truth yet Jesus said this to
them; “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal
life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
(John 5:39-40) We tend to regard the Pharisees with patronising condescension yet we often
make the same fundamental mistake they did.

I believe in the inspiration of the Bible. I am convinced that it is the God-given documentary
record of the truth. I am equally convinced that Jesus, himself is The Truth. Therefore, I come
to the Bible not just to interpret its truth but also to find, in and through it, the one who is the
truth, Jesus Christ the Lord. There are big differences in these two approaches to the Bible.
On the one hand, we view the Bible through Christocentric spectacles. On the other hand, we
view Jesus through biblical spectacles. Of course, the two concepts are intertwined. It is hard
to ‘see’ Jesus without the aid of biblical spectacles. Equally, it is hard to know how to use
biblical spectacles unless we focus on Jesus. The Bible is the God-given forum for
encountering and learning about and from Jesus, and the Lord Jesus is the interpretive key to
understanding the Bible.

The great Protestant reformers did the church a great service by rescuing it from corruption,
ignorance, and religiosity. In their zeal for truth, they brought the scriptures to the fore and
made them accessible to all. However, they shifted the focus from personal truth to
propositional truth and from experiential encounter to doctrinal understanding. I am not saying
that this was their intention but it certainly seems to be the effect that they produced.
We need to recover the early church’s focus on encountering Jesus whilst holding fast to
sound doctrine and practice. Most of us have been trained to think in ‘and/or’ terms. Either
‘this’ is right or ‘that’ is right. What is more, if ‘this’ is right then ‘that’ must be wrong. However,
the Bible contains many conceptual contradictions and constantly challenges our commitment
to and/or thinking. We need to learn to hold two concepts in dynamic tension. Jesus is truth.
The Bible is truth. For me, the challenge is to comprehend the source of truth. Jesus is the
source and all other forms of truth are therefore derived.

So, Pilot’s question should have been, “who is truth?” The answer is, “Jesus is the truth”. The
Bible is the record of the truth, the documentary repository of truth, and the inscripturated
Word of God. Jesus, in Himself, is the source of truth, the Word made flesh, the eternal Word
of God. If we hold fast to this understanding then we will have little difficulty in interpreting the
scriptures. What is more, Bible-study will be more than an academic exercise; it will be an
encounter with the living Lord of the scriptures.