“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.
Who owns the truth? The question is as old as the human race, and as current as today's social media.
The Russian state, taking a page from the American tobacco industry, discovered they could control millions of people by simply denying truth. There is none, they say; there are only opinions. And one is as good as another, but you'd better pay attention to what Putin says. Any defense of the truth for truth's sake may cost your life.
I've seen more than a few discussions end abruptly when someone, realizing their beliefs were nonsense, left the room saying, "You've go your opinions and I've got mine."
As the Covid-19 pandemic subsides, we might ask if people are responsible for their opinions. Are anti-vaxxers responsible for the death of millions? For reasons of their own, which are known only to God, they refused to be vaccinated and argued loudly against the science despite their frank ignorance of the scientific method. Notoriously, some campaigned against the vaccine even after they had taken the reasonable precaution and gotten all three shots. Can they be blamed for the frustration, exhaustion, burn out, and death of many health care workers?
Clearly, they cared nothing for the truth. If they have committed no crime by human laws, are they nonetheless responsible for their statements and actions and the consequences?
Jesus, as we meet him in the Fourth Gospel, demands of family, friends, strangers, and enemies belief in him. He speaks the truth and is more than willing to pay the price, even of crucifixion and death. He invokes John the Baptist, the Scriptures, and the voice of the Father. All testify to him.
He will not argue from "scientific proofs" since there was no such philosophy in the first century Roman empire. But, as our polarized era has shown, postmodernism also dismisses the scientific method. We either accept Jesus at his word, or we face the consequences of John 3, verse 18:
"... whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
Nor is Jesus, who is the Incarnate Word of God, divorced from the truth of vaccinations, the Big Lie, the Holocaust, or climate change. There is only one truth; at the heart of all reality is the Truth made flesh who dwells among us. While individuals can differ as to what the truth of a matter might be, they must agree there is a truth which must be discovered or revealed. To declare there is none is to surrender to insanity, inanity, and the tyranny of the strongest.
Those who love the truth strive to live in the truth; to speak always the truth: and to listen to the truth especially when they don't like what they hear. Truth owes no apology to fragile egos.
To answer the question, "No one owns the truth. We pray that the truth owns us."
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.