The Truth Project - What is Truth?

What is Truth? Who is God? Who is Man? What is a worldview? Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?

Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview, and because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.

The Truth Project is an innovative DVD curriculum that teaches viewers how to develop a systematic and comprehensive biblical worldview. Educator Dr. Del Tackett is both engaging and winsome as he teaches Christians to apply biblical truths to every area of life. As it has been throughout history, God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.


Visit The Truth Project Website:
http://www.thetruthproject.com

Produced by ColdWater Media:
http://www.coldwatermedia.com

What is Truth? Interview with Os Guinness

university events • life's hardest questions • relevance of Jesus Christ
http://www.veritas.org/media

Short interview with Os Guinness before the forum at UCLA in 2010. Join a globally recognized Christian leader in a discussion on several questions of great importance. To see the recording of the Forum, please visit our website at www.veritas.org.

Over the past two decades, The Veritas Forum has been hosting vibrant discussions on life's hardest questions and engaging the world's leading colleges and universities with Christian perspectives and the relevance of Jesus. Learn more at http://www.veritas.org, with upcoming events and over 600 pieces of media on topics including science, philosophy, music, business, medicine, and more!

What is Truth? Ravi Zacharias, Os Guiness, RC Sproul

Excerpt from the Focus on the Family series "The Truth Project", Ravi Zacharias, Os Guiness and RC Spoul answer the question "What is Truth?"

"Is There Absolute Truth?" by Living Waters

Mark Spence, from Living Waters, teaches on the subject of "What is Truth?"
Download the Entire Episode here: http://tinyurl.com/6m7pb5z 

This segment is taken from The Way of the Master TV show, Episode: Zurich

"What is Truth?"
It's difficult to think of a more important topic than the nature of truth. Truth is that which agrees with reality.  

Society no longer cares about truth.  It doesn't matter what one regards as "truth", just as long as they are sincere.  Truth is subjective, society says, and it's up to each individual to decide for themselves what is right and wrong.  On the contrary, we need to remember that anything other than the truth needs to be rejected.

When an individual "suppresses the truth in unrighteousness" and comes to the false conclusion "that there is no truth" or "that there are many truths" they will inevitably reject the concept of absolute morals. What "seems" right to one individual may "seem" wrong to the next.  

According to this logic, to one person child pornography is acceptable, but to another it's a serious offense. So who's right? 

This is why Jesus said, "Sanctify them by the truth.  Your Word is truth.  The Bible alone is the standard for 'absolute' or 'objective' truth.

The main reason why people reject God's Word as truth is because they do not want anyone telling them how to live their life.  Our culture shuns authority and looks down upon biblical values. Many think that if you reject the Bible, you can live however you want. They say, "You can follow the Bible if you think it's right for you, but since I don't think it's right for me, I won't."

That view is held by many, but when taken to its logical conclusion it proves disastrous.

For example, what if I feel that it's "right for me" to ignore traffic lights?  Can it really be right in any sense of the word? Of course not. If something is true because someone thinks it is true, then all sincere statements ever uttered would be true-- even those that weren't correct! 
If morals are decided by the individual, why not live that way? Why not rob a bank to feed your family or steal a car to get to work on time? Why not base all your decisions on whether or not YOU think something is right or wrong? That would be ridiculous.

Jesus said He came into the world to testify to the truth. Don't be wrong when it comes to the truth that Jesus is the only Way to the Father. There is no other name under Heaven, given among men, by which man must be saved." And that's the truth.

If you use any of the above text please give attribution to:http://www.LivingWaters.com/

What Is Truth?

Norman Geisler explains how one can know what truth is.

Truth, Reality, God: How do we know? Two professors discuss

http://www.veritas.org/talks - Is there such a thing as universal truth? If so, how can we know this truth? In a pluralistic world, how do we deal with competing truth claims? Is relativism the only way? Join us as Satyan Devadoss of Williams College and Deen Chatterjee of the University of Utah discuss these and many other questions.

Full library available AD FREE at http://www.veritas.org/talks.

Over the past two decades, The Veritas Forum has been hosting vibrant discussions on life's hardest questions and engaging the world's leading colleges and universities with Christian perspectives and the relevance of Jesus. Learn more at http://www.veritas.org, with upcoming events and over 600 pieces of media on topics including science, philosophy, music, business, medicine, and more!

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The Truth Project - What is Truth?

What is Truth? Who is God? Who is Man? What is a worldview? Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?

Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview, and because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.

The Truth Project is an innovative DVD curriculum that teaches viewers how to develop a systematic and comprehensive biblical worldview. Educator Dr. Del Tackett is both engaging and winsome as he teaches Christians to apply biblical truths to every area of life. As it has been throughout history, God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.


Visit The Truth Project Website:
http://www.thetruthproject.com

How Does Faith Relate to Reason and Truth? (William Lane Craig)

http://reasonablefaith.org - Dr. William Lane Craig explains that contrary to popular belief faith is not blind but reasonable and trusting.

Is Truth Relative? - Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias give a quick answer to the question, is truth relative.

The Sin of NOT Fighting For The Truth

Quoting John MacArthur:

"As always, a war is being waged against the truth. We are on one side or the other. There is no middle ground--no safe zone for the uncommitted. Lately the question of truth itself--what it is and whether we can truly know it at all--has become one of the major points of contention. We also happen to be living in a generation when many so-called Christians have no taste for conflict and contention. Multitudes of biblically and doctrinally malnourished Christians have come to think of controversy as something that should always be avoided, whatever the cost. Sadly, that is what many weak pastors have modeled for them.

Controversy and conflict in the church are never to be relished or engaged in without sufficient cause. But in every generation, the battle for the truth has proved ultimately unavoidable, because the enemies of truth are relentless. Truth is always under assault. And it is actually a sin not to fight when vital truths are under attack.

That is true even though fighting sometimes results in conflict within the visible community of professing Christians. In fact, whenever the enemies of gospel truth succeed in infiltrating the church, faithful believers are obliged to take the battle to them even there. That is certainly the case today, as it has been since apostolic times. ...

When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, believers from this generation will not be able to justify their apathy by complaining that the strife of conflict over truth just seemed "too negative" for the kind of culture we lived in--or that the issues were "merely doctrinal" and therefore not worth the effort.

Remember, Christ rebuked the churches in Revelation 2 - 3 who had tolerated false teachers in their midst (2:14-16;20-23). He expressly commended the Ephesian church for examining the claims of certain false apostles and exposing them as liars (2:2). Churches have a clear duty to guard the faith against false teachers who infiltrate. Christ Himself demands it.

At the same time, we need to notice carefully that a polemical defense of the faith by no means guarantees a healthy church, much less a healthy individual Christian. Christ also rebuked the doctrinally sound Ephesians for departing from their first love (Revelation 2:4). As vital as it is for us to enlist in the Truth War and do battle for our faith, it is even more important to remember why we are fighting--not merely for the thrill of vanquishing some foe or winning some argument, but out of a genuine love for Christ, who is the living, breathing embodiment of all that we hold true and worth fighting for."

The transforming effect of truth

By Isaac Hydoski @ http://www.newattitude.org

“Orthodoxy” is one of those words that, for me, used to conjure up images of stodgy, dry, boring, impassable old men in suits telling me what God’s will is without explaining how to do God’s will.

But I’m grateful to God that this former perspective of mine has been forever shattered by the humble, passionate, and caring demonstration of orthodox truth believed and lived out by the members of our local church. Seeing the reality of truth taught clearly and lived out purposefully has given me a vision and even a passion for knowing the truth so I can more specifically live in a manner of the calling I have received as a Christian.

The conclusion that I have arrived at over the years is that doctrine transforms. Right knowing leads to right living. Truth about God, His power, His glory, His majesty, and His disposition towards those who are in Christ brings grace and power that absolutely transforms our lives in discernable and eternal ways.

This was brought home to me again recently as I was having lunch with an old friend of mine. As he began to open to me about his recent struggles, the significant questions he was wrestling with, and the level of discouragement he was experiencing I realized how much my friend needed help. As he talked his shoulders were slumped, his head was down, and he had tears in his eyes describing his last few months.

I began praying as he shared and after a few minutes sensed God saying, “encourage him.” Hebrews 3:13 came to mind: “Encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

You see it was clear that my friend had lost sight of God’s presence in his life and more than that God’s intimate knowledge and personal activity in the midst of his life. As a result, he was discouraged and downcast. But a wonderful thing happened as we talked together about the reality of “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. As I simply pointed out the many ways I could discern God’s activity in his life and reminded him that God’s work in his life was both good and wise he was encouraged by the truth and this specific truth was brought to life by the work of the Spirit. And the result was that he was transformed!

Inwardly he began to perceive the riches of God’s grace and His immeasurable kindness given to him in Christ his Savior. He was encouraged by the fact that he was in a fight for holiness but it was fight where he was being assisted by the power of God at work in him through the gospel. The encouragement of God’s sovereign and benevolent activity in his life returned joy to his heart in turn even changed his outward demeanor. What a joy it was to see the smile on his face as we left that restaurant!

We must proclaim the truth and remind each other of the truth daily and as we do so we need to make sure we’re making the truth attractive to those around us. That’s why I love this “humble orthodoxy” that we are embracing. Doctrine does indeed transform but the manner in which we teach and demonstrate the truth can either draw or repel people from the truth. We need to be humble and we have every reason to be humble! As one new friend of my recently put it, “I want to be around people who know they are right but don’t act like it.” I love this statement! It captures, in a subtle way, the fact that what God has revealed to us in His Word exalts Him and not us. The truth rightly grasped should humble us. The truth rightly grasped gives us every reason we need to be humble. The truth rightly grasped gives us every reason to exalt our God.

______________

Isaac Hydoski is a pastor in the singles ministry (ONE) at Covenant Life Church. This week the blog contributors are continuing to share why they’re committed to a humble orthodoxy.

Nothing But the Truth

By John MacArthur @

Biblical Christianity is all about truth. God’s objective revelation (the Bible) interpreted rationally yields divine truth in perfectly sufficient measure. Everything we need to know for life and godliness is there for us in Scripture (2 Peter 1:3). Good wrote only one book — the Bible. It contains all the truth God intended us to order our spiritual lives by. We don’t need to consult any other source for spiritual or moral principles to govern our lives. Scripture is not only wholly truth; it is also the highest standard of all truth – the rule by which all truth claims must be measured.

Such a conviction is the very antithesis of the post modern notion that no one should ever claim to know objective truth. And that is another major reason why Christianity has been targeted by the proponents of post modern inclusivism.

Authentic Christianity is “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Christian truth is not subject to change or amendment. It isn’t nullified by changes in worldly opinion or standards of political correctness. It doesn’t need to be adapted and redefined for every new generation.

Certainly, an individual’s understanding of the truth can be refined and sharpened by study of the Scripture. But the truth itself does not need to be reinvented or retooled in order to make it suitable for the times in which we live. The same truth Abraham, Moses, David, and the apostles believed is still truth for us. Changing times do not change the truth. Scripture is as unchanging as God Himself: “But the word of the LORD endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25). In other words, we need to adapt our understanding to the truth of God’s Word, not try to manipulate Scripture in a vain effort to harmonize it with the changing opinions of this world.

The truth of Scripture is something precious that must be carefully handled and closely guarded (1 Timothy 6:20). Once again, a proper understanding of Scripture involves conscientious and diligent study. Second Timothy 2:15 says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” By implication we see that all who do not divide the Scriptures right are sloppy workers who ought to be ashamed. In other words, no one has the right to be a theologian who is not first a careful exegete.

The truth is everything to a Christian. That is why we are called to refute error, defend the truth, and proclaim Scripture as the supreme truth against every lie propagated by the world.

I fear that the church in this post-modern era has lost focus on that fact. It is no longer deemed necessary to fight for the truth. In fact, many evangelicals now consider it ill-mannered and uncharitable to argue about any point of doctrine. Even gross error is now tolerable in some quarters for the sake of peace. Rather than rightly dividing the word and proclaiming it as truth, many churches now feature motivational lectures, drama, comedy, and other forms of entertainment — while utterly ignoring the great doctrines of the faith. Even people who attack the truth in pseudo-scholarly ways are finding publishers in the evangelical realm and being honored as if they had deep insight.

We must recover our love for biblical truth, as well as our conviction that it is unassailable truth. We have the truth in a world where most people are simply wandering around in hopeless ignorance. We need to proclaim it from the housetops, and quit playing along with those who suggest we are being arrogant if we claim to know anything for certain. We do have the truth, not because we are smarter or better than anyone else, but because God has revealed it in the Scriptures and has been gracious to open our eyes to see it. We would be sinning if we tried to keep the truth to ourselves.

The Truth Is Rational

By John MacArthur @http://www.sfpulpit.com

As Christians we oppose rationalism (the idea that human reason alone — apart from any supernatural revelation – can discover truth). But Christianity is by no means hostile to rationality. We believe the truth is logical; it is coherent; it is intelligible. Not only can truth be known rationally; it cannot be known at all if we abandon rationality.

Irrationality is an assault on the Scripture and the intent of God. When God gave the Bible, He meant for it to be understood. But it can be understood only by those who apply their minds to it rationally. Contrary to what many assume, the meaning of Scripture is not something that comes to us through mystical means. It is not a spiritual secret that must be uncovered by some arcane or arbitrary method. Its true meaning may be understood only by those who approach it rationally and sensibly.

It’s not as if we can make the words mean anything we want them to mean, so that whatever connotation we impose on the words becomes the Word of God. Only the true interpretation of the text is the authentic Word of God, and any other interpretation is simply not what God is saying. Remember, God’s Word is objective truth revealed, and therefore it has a rational meaning. That meaning, and that meaning alone, is the truth. Getting it right is of supreme importance.

That is why it is so critical that we interpret Scripture carefully in order to understand it correctly. It is a rational process, not a mystical or whimsical one.

Is it a spiritual process? Absolutely. It starts with the understanding that Scripture is internally self-consistent. Therefore as we compare Scripture with Scripture, the clear parts explain the more difficult parts. The more we study, the more light is shed on our understanding. It is hard mental work, but it is spiritual work nonetheless.

In fact, we are utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit to teach us truth, because “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). But the way the Holy Spirit gives us understanding is through our minds – employing our rational faculties (v. 16; Ephesians 1:18; 4:23; 2 Timothy 1:7) so that we can comprehend the truth.

Truly Objective

By John MacArthur @

Biblical truth is objective. It is true by itself. It is true whether or not we feel it’s true. It is true whether or not it has been validated by someone’s experience. It is true because God says it is true. It is wholly true, and it is true down to the smallest jot and tittle. Psalm 119:160 says, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

That is the very starting point and the necessary foundation for a truly Christian world-view. Give up the ground of biblical truth, and whatever belief-system you have left is not worthy to be labeled Christian, even if it retains vestiges of Christian symbolism and terminology.

Many who would call themselves Christians today are in precisely that situation. They use the language and symbolism of Christianity, but their real source of authority is something besides Scripture. Some simply live by their feelings and shape their beliefs in accord with their own personal preferences. Others actually claim God speaks directly to them through voices, strong impressions, or vague feelings which they interpret as direct revelations from the Holy Spirit. Still others think of the Scriptures as an improvisational script, which they can modify or interpret any way they please. In any case, their lives and beliefs are ordered in accord with their own personal preferences.

But historic Christianity is based on the objective revelation of Scripture. That is why our first key word for describing the Christian world view is objectivity. Our faith is grounded in the conviction that God has spoken, and His Word is objective truth. What He has given us is absolute and unshakable — and it is the truth by which all other truth-claims are measured.

Why truth matters

by Dan Phillips @ http://teampyro.blogspot.com

This morning's reading was 2 John. The apostle's emphasis stood right out:

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

Notice an stress there? John uses some form of ἀλήθεια (alētheia, truth) five times in the first four verses. You don't have to be the Archbishop of Exegesis to figure out that the man is emphasizing something: truth matters.

John's love for them is a love in truth; what characterizes them is knowing the truth; the truth abides in us now and forever; our experience of God's graces is in connection with truth; what really makes John happy is that his audience is walking in the truth.

This stands out in another way in verse 7:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.

This is emphasis by contrast. The deceivers stand in opposition to the truth. A deceiver is someone who wanders from the truth, and attempts to induce others to wander with him. There were many such about as John wrote. But his readers had withstood them, because they loved one another (v. 5), and "this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it" (v. 6). Love, walk, commandments, walk.

So we see this intricate weaving of truth and life, of facts and values, of doctrine and practice. The opposition of truth to life, of doctrine to practice, so cried up by some, is absent (to say the least) in the apostolic writings.

Faith and practice, truth and life. The latter is meaningless without the former; the former necessarily issues in the latter. To single out one without the other is to advocate breath without lungs, or blood circulation without a heart. Without truth, one has no clue as to whether a life must change, or why, or by what means, or in what manner. On the other hand, if the life does not change, is not affected, then truth has not been embraced. Divorcing the two is damnable folly.

But John clarifies the issue even further (if possible) in verse 9:

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

The teaching is the expression of truth. It is truth with edges. It verbalizes truth, gives it form, crystallizes it. Truth is not left as a floating fogbank, but framed and carved and established.

Embrace this expression of truth in doctrine, and you have "both the Father and the Son." Wander from it and you do "not have God." It is as simple as that, according to the apostle.

This fits in with the canonical position that saving faith is a matter of how we respond to the word of God (Genesis 15:6). Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes — not by interpretive dance, not by humming a ditty, not by great art, not by a great cup of coffee, but — by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). That's why the pastor's greatest, highest, and most critical calling is to preach the Word no matter what (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Or, to put it in Johannine terms, a relationship with God comes from and is sustained in the words, the verbally-expressed doctrines, of the apostles. It is how we "do" Christianity.

Does truth matter? God says it does.

Woe to him who thinks he knows better.

The Time for Truth

By John MacArthur @ http://www.sfpulpit.com/2006/12/14/the-time-for-truth/#more-342

The following is adapted from John’s upcoming book, The Truth War (Nelson: Spring 2007).

This is by no means the first time the Truth War has intruded into the church. It has happened in every major era of church history. Battles over the truth were raging inside the Christian community even in apostolic times, when the church was just beginning. In fact, the record of Scripture indicates that false teachers in the church immediately became a significant and widespread problem wherever the gospel went. Virtually all the major epistles in the New Testament address the problem in one way or another. The apostle Paul was constantly engaged in battle against the lies of “false apostles [and] deceitful workers [who transformed] themselves into apostles of Christ”

(2 Corinthians 11:13). Paul said that was to be expected. It is, after all, one of the favorite strategies of the evil one: “No wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness” (vv. 14–15).

It takes a willful naïveté to deny that such a thing could happen in our time. As a matter of fact, it is happening on a massive scale. Now is not a good time for Christians to flirt with the spirit of the age. We cannot afford to be apathetic about the truth God has put in our trust. It is our duty to guard, proclaim, and pass that truth on to the next generation (1 Timothy 6:20–21). We who love Christ and believe the truth embodied in His teaching must awaken to the reality of the battle that is raging all around us. We must do our part in the ages-old Truth War. We are under a sacred obligation to join the battle and contend for the faith.

In one narrow respect, the driving idea behind the Emerging Church movement is correct: The current climate of postmodernism does represent a wonderful window of opportunity for the church of Jesus Christ. The arrogant rationalism that dominated the modern era is already in its death throes. Most of the world is caught up in disillusionment and confusion. People are unsure about virtually everything and do not know where to turn for truth. However, the absolute worst strategy for ministering the gospel in a climate like this is for Christians to imitate the uncertainty or echo the cynicism of the postmodern perspective—and in effect drag the Bible and the gospel into it. Instead, we need to affirm against the spirit of the age that God has spoken with the utmost clarity, authority, and finality through His Son (Hebrews 1:1–2). And we have the infallible record of that message in Scripture (2 Peter 1:19–21).