What Is Truth

I recently read this quote:

All truth passes through three stages.  First, it is ridiculed, second, it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident. 

(Arthur Schopenhauer)

Schopenhauer was an atheist, so I’m certain he and I do not view truth as the same. Because I am a Christian, I would add a fourth stage – after acceptance, truth is ignored.

OK, if not ignored, argued over again and again and, ad infinitum. Pilate is quoted as asking Jesus:

Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

Apparently his question was rhetorical, for instead of waiting to hear Jesus’ answer, Pilate made a public pronouncement:

And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. (John 18:38)

This is Jesus statement in which Pilot found no fault at all:

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John 18:37)

What is it that people find so difficult to accept in Christ?

Most who deny this as truth do not accept there is a God. They mock those who do. One of the most derisive makes a mockery of Christian beliefs and art, referring to their own mock deity as a ‘monster.’ The concept of a man giving his life for another is simply beyond their comprehension. The thought of God giving Himself as His own atonement is more than awkward because it requires consideration of existence beyond what we can see in the physical world.

Yet, the Bible describes this very early in God’s relationship with man:

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8)

Promised in the Old, recognized in the New:

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Why? I don’t know exactly, but it has something to do with love:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)

We have been told the truth, we have been shown the truth and many have accepted the truth. We are accused of hating those that do not – and that is NOT the truth.

Pity, sorrow, hope – all those feelings are ones I have for those who deny Jesus’ life, Christ’s resurrection, God’s existence. Mostly hope, for those who listen and every once in a while, ask a question.