Pilate was a prophet, but he didn’t know it. He asked one of the most important questions humans can ask (and one of the most controversial ones in our time): What is truth?
I am referring to Pontius Pilate, who was the proconsul of the Roman province of Judea around 33 AD. His question, “What is truth?” was a hot topic for Roman and Greek philosophers of his time, just like it is today. Pilate asked this question in response to a statement made by a prisoner he was interrogating, one whose fate was in Pilate’s hands. The man was a Jewish peasant from a no-name village in northern Judea who was causing quite a stir throughout Judea because of his radical claims about himself and his radical teaching. Pilate had the authority to put an end to it all by giving the death sentence of crucifixion (which he does). The prisoner in front of him, Jesus of Nazareth, had just made the most outrageous claim: “You are right in saying I am a king, because I am a king. The reason I was born and came into this world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth will listen to me.” To which Pilate asks the question, “What is truth?”
Pilate’s question was an important one, but he framed it wrong. To understand the truth, you have to ask a slightly different question, the True Question of Truth. But Pilate was a prophet because a few minutes later, Pilate actually answers his own question, what is truth?
But before we get to the True Question of Truth and discover some answers to the question “what is truth,” let’s make a few observations about “Truth” in our world today.
YOUR TRUTH IS YOUR TRUTH AND MY TRUTH IS MY TRUTH
Is there such a thing as “truth” that applies to all human conduct? Not in the world we live in today. Here are some observations about our current cultural climate:
- No Absolutes. Our postmodern world is deeply suspicious of absolutes. Sometimes this suspicion is justified—for example, history usually is written by the victors and our past (and traditions we inherit) should be carefully (and rationally) reflected upon. But usually there is little rational discussion when it comes to the question of truth. What is true for you might not be “true” for me.
- Truth is What We Feel. This current attitude about truth is what philosopher Alisdair MacIntyre called “emotivism,” that is, moral judgments are nothing more than emotional expressions of preference. Value judgments are more “feelings” than rationally considered.
- The Abyss of Uncertainty. This attitude that “truth is a preference” has led to a feeling of instability–there is nothing “solid” about reality. Sociologist have noted this about our postmodern world and have called it by various names, such as “the vertigo of reality,” the “abyss of uncertainty,” and “liquid modernity.” Life and values are like a shopping mall with too many and too uncertain choices. As Alan Noble puts it, “Rather than a solid sense of what the good life looks like, we are left with ever-shifting values as our choices multiply.”[i] Some sociologists believe this has led to the pervading sense of meaninglessness that is plaguing our Western culture and is contributing to higher suicide rates. Emile Durkheim, in his book Suicide, concluded that the primary cause of suicide is not suffering but disequilibrium: “When societal values rapidly change…people lose the ability to clearly evaluate their lives.”[ii]
- Power Becomes All-Important. Another result of “truth is preference” is the current angry divisiveness in society and politics. If truth is just a preference, then power becomes all important. I not only want you to accept and affirm my preferences, but my preferences about truth should be given precedence. “‘Morality turns out to be the assertion of someone’s will upon someone else—an exercise of power, not truth.”[iii]
SOME TRUTHS ABOUT “MY TRUTH”
Although “truth” (when referring to morality and values) is uncertain in our current culture, there still is such a thing as what is “true” and what is a “lie.” We don’t like to be lied to, and if people don’t tell the truth, then we can’t trust them. The lack of truth brings fearfulness and divisiveness. A huge problem in our society today is that people don’t tell the truth. When you listen to Fox News or CNN, you don’t get the whole truth, you get a slanted version of the truth. Why? Power and money. And although we love the movies Hollywood makes, we don’t like the hypocrisy that we often see in the lives of celebrities. Our world is much like the world of the ancient prophets: “Truth has fallen in the streets.”
Truth (as opposed to falsehood) is critical in every discipline (whether math, science, history, business). In every area of our lives, rational, logical inquiry is important. The same should also apply to our search for “truth” when it comes to morality and values. And so, using our logical reasoning ability, let me mention some “truths” about the prevailing cultural attitudes about morality and values, i.e., “truth is my truth.”
- Whether people realize it or not, when they say, “there are no absolutes,” they are actually making an “absolute” claim. Saying “what is true for you is not true for other people” is a logical absurdity because by saying that, you are making a truth claim. How do you know if there is no “objective truth”?
- None of us realize how much our thinking about everything has been influenced by outside influences, including those who say they are “free thinkers.” All of us are conditioned by history, our particular communities, our ethnic backgrounds, our cultural heritage, and other factors that all of us should carefully consider.
- This is especially so when those who reject Judeo-Christian values fail to realize where many of their “values” came from. As Rebecca McLauglin writes, “To our 21st century, Western ears, love across racial and cultural difference, the equality of men and women, and the idea that the poor, oppressed, and marginalized can make moral claims on the strong, rich, and powerful sound like basic moral common sense. But they are not. These truths have come from Christianity. Rip that foundation out, and you won’t uncover a better basis for human equality and rights. You’ll uncover an abyss that cannot tell you what a human being is.”[iv]
THE TRUE TEST OF TRUTH
In all this uncertainty, is there any place we can begin to think about “truth?” Yes!
We postmoderns are not the first to have considered the question of “What is truth?” Greek and Roman philosophers spent centuries considering the question and they used a good starting point when considering this question. As philosopher Alistair MacIntyre points out, these ancients began with the most important question that us postmoderns have thrown out the window: What is the “telos” (Greek for “goal”) or “best ends” for us as humans?
When it comes to morality and values, the question of “truth” is a “human” question. And so we need to ask these questions:
- What are humans, and how do our minds, bodies, and emotions make up our “humanity”? Are there morals and values that best fit us as humans?
- What brings about the flourishing of humans, both individually and for society, both now and for future generations? Are there morals and values that best make for the flourishing of humans?
- Where is this story of humanity going? Are there morals and values that help us as humans attain the highest goals of what we as humans aspire to?
“WHAT IS TRUTH?” IS NOT THE RIGHT QUESTION
Which brings me back to Pilate’s question, “What is Truth?” When we think about it, “what” is truth is not really the true question that is nagging at our hearts. The true question our hearts ache to have answered is actually found in Pilate’s answer to his own question. In that answer, we find the answer to the questions of: What are humans? What brings about the flourishing of humans? What is the telos of humanity?
Stay tuned to the next blog, where we will ask the True Question about Truth.
[i] Alan Noble, You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World (Downers Grove, Il: IVP Press, 2021), 90.
[ii] Id, 91.
[iii] Id, 29.
[iv] Rebecca McLaughlin, The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims (Austin: The Gospel Coalition, 2021), 2.