Scripture: John 18: 35-38a; Nigel Bunce
Pilate asked “Whhat is truth?” when he examined Jesus. The question is very relevant today, when ‘my truth’ and ‘your truth’ can diverge entirely in situations as different as Russian and Western perspectives on the war in Ukraine and “he said-she said” instances of alleged sexual assault.
‘Truth’ is a slippery concept.
This evening’s Scripture should, it seems, be kept till Good Friday. However, current world events suggest that the question, ‘What is truth?’ is definitely worth airing this evening.
Pilate said, ‘What is truth?’ It seems to be such a simple question. Surely, something is either true, or it isn’t true. Perhaps I ought to have said, ‘It used to be a simple question.’ Because, these days, ‘truth’ is a surprisingly slippery concept.
Because, ‘my truth’ is often different from ‘your truth’. For Pilate, if someone were the King of the Jews, it would represent a direct political threat. However, Jesus said that his kingdom was “not from here”. Thus, Jesus meant a heavenly, or spiritual, kingdom. Therefore, Pilate’s question, “What is truth’ was very reasonable in that context.
My truth versus your truth in the Russia — Ukraine conflict
In the Ukraine-Russia confrontation, Western truth is that Russia is the aggressor. Russian truth is that the West, and especially NATO, were so aggressive that Russia had to invade Ukraine. On each side, news media pump out their truths, so that most Russians and most Westerners now believe entirely different ‘truths’ about the conflict. In times of war, objective truth disappears in the fog of propaganda.
Nevertheless, it seems to be objectively true that the Russian attack of Ukraine is being carried out with the utmost ruthlessness. There’s a complete lack of care or concern for civilian safety and suffering. And it’s also objectively true that this is a Russian tactic. We have seen this cruelty before in Chechnya and Syria,
My truth versus your truth and ‘he said — she said’
However, ‘my’ and ‘your’ truths can disagree in other situations. Notable examples arise in cases of alleged sexual assault. Often called ‘he said-she said’. Did the one person (usually male) really believe that he had obtained consent? That’s his truth. The other person’s ‘truth’ is that she didn’t. These situations are grey areas. That’s why the courts often have to try to adjudicate where the ‘truth’ lies.
What is truth in Scripture?
In the area of religion, I have often quoted Black Elk, who said, “I don’t know whether it really happened that way, but the story is true.” In other words, parables and myths can hold underlying truths, even though the superficial stories may not be.
Thus, Christians like myself hold that the Transfiguration (to take an example) reveals the ‘truth’ that Jesus was the Messiah. Nevertheless, we doubt that the event took place exactly as the Gospels reported.
Truthiness
Also, there’s that strange term ‘truthiness’. That’s when something seems or feels true, even if it’s not necessarily true. Stephen Colbert invented the term truthiness in 2005. He said, “We’re not talking about truth, we’re talking about something that seems like truth”. That’s often the ‘truth’ we want to exist”.
Thus, truthiness can be an intuition. Or, a perception. It can range, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts, from ignorant assertions of falsehoods to deliberate duplicity or propaganda. “Fake news” often has this property. What the hearer would like to be true.
Therefore, truth is indeed a very slippery proposition. Pilate wasn’t wrong to raise the issue!! Amen.