“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32. Philosophers of nearly every worldview and religion agree with Jesus’ declaration. The point of difference is and always will be, “What is truth?” If truth is fact, we should be the freest generation ever born. The fact machine we call “internet” is churning out more factoids than we can absorb, by the second. Some would argue the internet and the information age it has facilitated, has not freed but ensnared us all.
Let’s be honest, there is nothing significantly freeing about knowing that (1) Danica Patrick will make her stock-car racing debut this weekend, (2) Ashton Kutcher will do “anything” for his lovely wife, Demi, (3) Lindsay Lohan has hoarding issues. (All three of these “facts” are top 10 trending topics on internet search engines, today.) If you’re the type of truth seeker that digs deeper than celebrity fodder, you may have discovered today that (1) Sarah Palin relied heavily on her husband Todd’s advice as governor, (2) The government is now arbitrarily storing newborn babies’ DNA in a massive database, (3) A new study reveals gamblers who experience a near loss are inwardly encouraged to gamble more since they’re acquiring “skill” in their “craft”. For all our learning, do we feel any freer?
Do Facts = Truth?
True and truth are different. They are related, but not one in the same. Just like man and father are different, true and truth exist on two different planes. Let’s play this out for fun. A father must be a man. A man, however, doesn’t have to be a father to be a man. Other factors make a man a father. A father is a culmination of several realities that result in a new arena of existence.
Truth is higher than true.
True facts will not and cannot ever equal truth. They are merely an ingredient of the recipe for truth. Follow? Truth (perhaps oversimplified) is achieved through harmonizing facts. It is the result of moving in and out of concrete experiences and realities and finding consistency and unity in the facts. This is what we call the “higher meaning.” This higher meaning gives significance to life that cannot be discovered through simply knowing facts.
The Significance of Truth
Secularism insists that there is no higher meaning, only facts that are true. The result is deification of fact. Their rule book tells them that all fact is random and thereby has no further significance, no reason or rhyme. Just as in their version of the genesis of the world, all that is, exists by chance and not design. But isn’t the organization of this worldview, proof of an attempt to arrive at a higher meaning? The truth of their view could not be ascertained, because they ruled out the One who sits in that higher plane possessing the meaning they seek. They are, then, condemned to comb the earth for more and more facts devoid of the power to fulfill any meaningful purpose.
Missing the Truth
We, as believers, are quick to chastise the secularist who fails to discover higher meaning. The true irony lies in the fact that a large number of “Christians” will also fail to grasp the truth in their day on earth. There is a danger in thinking that knowing the “word” of God is knowing truth. The discipline of reading the “word” is indispensable, but not the sole ingredient of knowing truth.
The holy canon of scriptures can also become a mindless collection of random facts and experiences, without the ability to the find harmony, reason and meaning they lead to. Could this be what Jesus meant when he scolded the Pharisees in John 5:39? “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” Christ is the higher meaning, the Truth. Everything that is, exists by and for Him. (By Him, I mean His purpose, His redemptive plan and its fulfillment in all creation.)
Free Your Mind
We were created to look for this higher meaning. Truth is ascertainable, because God made you to ascertain Him. To quote Josef Pieper, “Man’s existence becomes more fulfilled the more he can explore and understand reality.” This is our freedom.
Photo: from Signs, one of my favorite movies of all time. Just thought it was cute 
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