What is Truth?

What is Truth?

            What is truth?  This was the question Pontius Pilate asked of Jesus before his crucifixion.  One thing that the scriptures don’t tell us is the way a question is asked.  Was Pilate being sincere?  Was he sarcastic?  Was this a rhetorical question?  It didn’t matter that the truth was standing before him.  The special interest groups of the day prevailed and fulfilled the verse in Isaiah 59:14 “…and justice stands afar off; for the truth is slain in the street, and right cannot enter.”

It seems people are not interested in the truth.  The media, Hollywood, our political parties, even the church are more interested in their agendas, and they promote those ideas above all else.  Partisan politics have invaded the church, the schools, the workforce, and nearly every aspect of our lives.  Increasingly we have to identify ourselves with one faction or the other and are labeled with all the negative aspects of those mindsets.  The problem with that is that neither is interested in the truth. 

This blog is non-partisan.  It is not liberal or conservative.  Political views have no place here.  Seeking the truth, for good or ill, is my only concern. Christ said that He is the truth, and that those who belong to Him hear his voice.  That is the primary objective in this blog, to hear His voice.

Years ago I led a youth group and was bombarded with thousands of questions over the years.  I tried to answer them as honestly as I could.  I hope that I answered those questions truthfully more than I did ignorantly.  I tried to tell those young minds in my charge what I believed and what I guessed at.  I took a verse in the Gospels as a serious warning:  “But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believes in Me, it would be better for him that an ass’s millstone were hung around his neck, and he be sunk in the depth of the sea.” Matt. 18:6.

I took this seriously then as I do today.  I do not pretend to know everything.  I freely admit that I fall short intellectually.  And the more I study the Word of God, the more I realize how much I don’t know.  I do not place my writings alongside that of Holy Scripture or my thoughts above or beside those men of renown, the Church Fathers and theologians who have shaped this world.

I am inquisitive.  I seek the truth wherever it may lead.  Because I believe that where I find the truth I will hear His voice. 

While I am open to many thoughts, I do have a set of beliefs that I use as a starting point.  I am a Christian, a Protestant Christian.  Although I was raised in the Baptist church, I taught and served in the United Methodist Church.  I consider myself  more a Calvinist at this point in my life.  I ascribe to the tenants of the Methodist Church insomuch as I profess the Apostles Creed and agree with the Westminster’s Confession of Faith (at least all that I have read and understood of it).  These are my basic beliefs.  These are the doctrines that I will lay my life on the line to defend.  After all, that is what doctrine is, life and death.  We all believe that our doctrine is the correct one and are willing to gamble our eternal souls on those beliefs.  What I find offensive are those who defend a belief that they are wholly ignorant on.  Many defend doctrines because someone told them what to believe and risk heaven or hell to espouse. 

I welcome alternate beliefs and ideas to my suppositions.  That is what I created this blog for, to explore the true nature of heaven.  I do not welcome those who spout out ignorance, platitudes, and nonsense to prop up a political belief or denigrate a religious belief.  I am not politically correct, because I am not political.  I am not culturally sensitive, because I do not identify with one specific culture.  I am not religious, because religion is often dogmatic.  I am not scientifically accurate, because I am not a scientist.  I am not historically perfect; because I am not a historian nor have I live through all of history.  I am a fan of history, science, religion, cultures, and politics. I do not profess to any expertise or higher learning.  I am just a guy with questions.