by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Jesus claimed that it does and that it can be known (John 8:30-31). However, others make the claim that truth does not exist and that it is only what each person wants it to be. Some “intellectuals” say, “There is no truth.” But that itself is a truth claim. Is it true that there is no truth? The statement is self-defeating and does not pass its own validity test.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Truth.png\")
Some say, “That may be true for you but not for me.” That is absurd. Something is either true for all or it is not true. Would you appreciate a banker holding your money and telling you an absurd balance that depletes your funds and lands your funds in his own pocket? What if he said that balance may not be true for you but it is true for him? Talking about “your truth” versus “my truth” is absurd. Something is either true or it is false. Here are three crucial things to remember:<\/p>\n
1. Contrary beliefs<\/strong>\u00a0are possible, but contrary truths<\/strong>\u00a0are not possible.<\/p>\n 2. You can believe<\/strong>\u00a0everything is true, but everything can’t be<\/strong>\u00a0true.<\/p>\n 3. Objective truth can’t be denied<\/strong>\u00a0without being affirmed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Let me explain that last one. When you say “That is absolutely not <\/b>true,” you have affirmed an absolute truth, and thus you have entered into affirming that there is <\/b>absolute objective truth. So, pretending that there is no truth, is affirming that it is t<\/strong>rue <\/b>that there is no truth. Face it! There is truth, and it is absurd to pretend otherwise.<\/p>\n Now, Jesus claims to be the truth<\/strong>\u00a0(John 14:6), that God’s word is truth (John 17:17), and that you can know the truth and the truth can set you free (John 8:30-31). Those are truth claims. They are either lies or truth. You can’t pretend they are merely his<\/strong>\u00a0truths but that you have different truths. He stated the truth, and different views are false, but Jesus and different views cannot both be true. Jesus can be false and others true, but different views cannot all be true. If Jesus is true<\/strong>\u00a0and right, then Muhammed is false. Both cannot be true. Both might be false, but both can’t be true. There is a way to discover if Jesus is true or false, but merely choosing a position without searching the evidence is hardly the right way to go about discovery. Jesus claimed that if you continue listening and studying His word you would know the truth and the truth would set you free. I’ve found it so by search and discovery.<\/p>\n Truth is real and available, but an opinion does not invent it. We must search for truth, and quit pretending that every opinion is every person’s truth. No! Truth does not work that way! People hold to truth or error, but every error is not to be claimed as merely “their truth.” Now, as far as they know, they think they hold the truth, but thinking something is true does not make it so. “There is a way which seems<\/strong> right to a man, but its end is the way of death<\/em>”\u00a0(Proverbs 14:12). Something seeming<\/strong>\u00a0to be true does not make it true. Discovery sometimes makes us realize that what we thought was true was not really true. That is why honest search and evaluation is crucial to the discovery of actual truth. Have you searched and evaluated fairly Jesus’ truth claims?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Jesus claimed that it does and that it can be known (John 8:30-31). However, others make the claim that truth does not exist and that it is only what each person wants it to be. Some “intellectuals” say, “There is no truth.” But that itself is a truth claim. Is it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1514,441],"class_list":["post-19239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-religion","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23699,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-matter-what-i-believe\/","url_meta":{"origin":19239,"position":0},"title":"Does It Matter What I Believe? (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 18:25-40 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal in I Kings 18 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t that the false prophets were insincere or had no belief at all \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They cut themselves, danced in a frenzy, and spent a day calling on their god. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-i-say-you-cant-prove-god-is-real\/","url_meta":{"origin":19239,"position":1},"title":"What if I say you can’t prove God is real?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If religion (Catholicism) is the absolute truth, then how come when questions are asked about it no one can ever answer with facts, only faith and belief? Basically, if I say \"you can't prove God is real\", you can only prove it with faith and belief, no facts. Why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44604,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-or-free-thinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":19239,"position":2},"title":"Truth Or Free-thinking","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton To the modern man, it seems wrong to believe that you can actually \"know the truth\", and therefore be in a position to \"answer\" the false religious claims of others. While an open mind is indeed a good quality, that open-minded nature ought to eventually settle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/open-mind-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52757,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/trapped-in-a-lie\/","url_meta":{"origin":19239,"position":3},"title":"Trapped in a Lie","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 3:8-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I ran across an article titled, \u201cThe Philosophical Contradictions of the Transgender Worldview\u201d by Ryan T. Anderson \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The transgender movement claims \u201cthat people are what they claim to be, regardless of contrary evidence.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The lengths the promoters of transgenderism go to deny\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-can-know-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":19239,"position":4},"title":"We Can Know the Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Objectivity is not a strong point in our society \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Objective means the existence of something outside of oneself. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our society prefers things to be subjective \u2013 belonging to one\u2019s own mind \u2013 especially when dealing with matters of right and wrong. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52160,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-to-suppress-the-truth-in-unrighteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":19239,"position":5},"title":"What does it mean to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good afternoon, Jeffrey. I've been meaning to ask for a while now what it means to \"suppress the truth in unrighteousness.\" It's something that gets said about atheists quite a bit. For the longest, in regards to Yahweh, I've thought it meant pretending He doesn't exist for the sake\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}