What is truth? Part 1

I'm really enjoying the 10-week RCIA series this fall. There are nine people in the group which includes eight Catholics who want to learn more about their faith. That's really impressive and inspiring. Our first discussion was about Truth. I began by reading the passage (John 18:28-38) where Jesus speaks with Pontius Pilate. The Lord said that he came into the world to testify to the truth. Pilate responded by asking, "what is truth?"

So I asked the group, what is truth? How would you define it? The best working definition is that truth is what exists, it's what is real. It's really an exercise in philosophy to talk about this stuff. But, it's very important in order to understand Church teaching. Plus, Jesus says that truth is His whole mission, so we should spend time thinking and talking about truth. And, in this day and age, it's vital to be grounded in Truth because it is under such attack.

For example, I saw a bumper sticker recently that read, "2+2=5". That's a direct attack on the simple mathematical truth that 2+2=4. It might seem funny or innocuous, but it's actually quite serious and points to a major problem in our society called moral relativism. This is the thinking that denies absolute truth (like 2+2=4) and says that everything is relative. If there's no objective right and wrong, then it's just whatever each person decides is right or wrong. Imagine watching a football game where there are no rules, no officials, and the players decide what's a good play or not. Can you imagine that chaos? That's where relativism would lead us morally as a society, and some would say we're already there.

So, let's get some order in our world and our lives. In the next post, I will present some real life examples of objective truth related to our faith. They will help us to believe that truth exists and to be able to defend it. And thus, we'll be able to believe and defend Christ...