Truth and The Christian: Why Worldview Matters (part 3)
“What is truth?”
(John 18:38 (ESV); see 18:28-40 for context)
Jesus’ disciples had abandoned him. His closest friend had betrayed him. The religious leaders had cornered him. The question came in a conversation between Jesus and Pilate: “What is truth?” The question is often understood as a rhetorical one in the context of this passage. Pilate was not seeking an answer; he was making a statement. It was a statement that perfectly captured the secular worldview of knowledge. Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that this verse was “the only saying that has any value” and Pilate was the “solitary figure worthy of honor” in the entire New Testament.[i] If you are not familiar with that name, you might be familiar with Nietzsche’s most infamous quote: “God is dead.”[ii]
Nietzsche’s thoughts may or may not represent the majority of the secular world, but there can be no doubt that he personifies the spirit of the age. His life’s work and its tragic ending is but a sad testimony to what happens when you reject the truth of the God of the Bible, in order to pursue meaning in a fallen world. It’s sort of like Ecclesiastes divorced from the rest of Scripture and devoid of a Sovereign Creator… Actually, no. It’s much worse than that even.
What’s in a Worldview?
If you’ve not read the first two articles in this series, you can find them here and here. We began by briefly examining the importance of worldviews in general and some of the basic questions that make up the lenses with which we view the world. We then considered the first question “Who am I?” as a matter of ontology, or the nature of being and existence. The question now before us is a matter of epistemology, or the nature and source of knowing: “How do I know?”
How do I know?
Once again, we can go to Genesis to consider the question. Before we do, I should let you know that there are basic assumptions being made about how we know when we start with the Scriptures and I will just state mine plainly on the front end:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7
Again, let’s start with the most basic answer to this basic question:
“How do I know? God has revealed it.”
This is the most basic biblical response to the worldview question of the nature of truth. Everything we claim to know is a result of the revelation of God. He has revealed himself to us in His Word and in the world. These two forms of revelation are usually discussed as divine and general. Divine revelation is the revealed Word and general revelation being the ways in which God has revealed truth in creation.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20
The problem we face today with the denial of these very things is a direct result of the fall. The epistemological problem we face—the truth problem—is itself the result of a lie. In Genesis 3:5 we read that Satan tempted Eve by twisting the truth. He tempted her with knowledge.
“God knows that when you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Is it any wonder that we are where we are today? You know how this story turned out for Eve and Adam. Not only do some reject God’s Word, we also see the rejection of truth as a whole in the world today. The very thought of having “your truth” and “my truth” goes against any possibility of any thing being truth. There are those who disagree; however, the question has to come: “How do you know?” Or as others have put it: “By what standard?”
Why Worldview Matters
“Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” Psalm 86:11
Anselm famously said, “I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand.”[iii] That is an epistemological statement. It is a statement of how we know and posits a standard of truth.
Nietzsche believed that “convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”[iv] This was his firm conviction. He created the idiom “there are no facts, only interpretations.”[v] This was a factual claim based on his own interpretation. The great irony of Nietzsche is his own epistemology that questioned all pursuits of knowing truth and asking why “truth” would be any better than “untruth.” In his pursuit to deny truth, he relied upon its assumption.
How will you respond if pressed with the question: “What is truth?” Without an answer, you cannot move to the next question. Whether you realize it or not, all of the answers you have already formed on the next question, “What do I do?”, are based upon the answers you have already given to the question: “How do I know?”
“Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23
[i] Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist (United States: A. A. Knopf, 1920), p.134.
[ii] Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882, 1887) para. 125; Walter Kaufmann ed. (New York: Vintage, 1974), pp.181-82.
[iii] Frederick Copleston, History of Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy: Volume 2 (London, UK: A&C Black, 2003), p.156.
[iv] Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human, I. (United States: Stanford University Press, 2000), p.483.
[v] Babette E. Babich, Nietzsche's Philosophy of Science: Reflecting Science on the Ground of Art and Life (United States: State University of New York Press, 1994), p.37.
