Unit: Reliability of the Bible

Lesson: The Nature of Truth

I. The Ultimate Questions of Life

A. Worldviews answer the big questions of life…

1. Does God exist?

2. What is reality?

3. How should we live?

4. How did life begin?

5. What does it mean to be human?

6. What happens after we die?

B. Why is it important to know the true answers to these questions?

1. Your worldview affects what you… a) value b) how you behave c) shapes culture

II. How can we identify truth?

A. Truth has certain characteristics.

B. If we know the nature of truth, it will be easier for us to recognize false ideas when we see them.

III. The Nature of Truth

A. Truth is Necessary

1. Truth must exist. a) The statement “there is no truth” is a claim to truth! b) If someone says, “There is no truth” c) Ask them, “Is that true?”

2. How would you describe your dreams? a) Rational or chaotic? b) Are your dreams true?

B. Truth is Knowable

1. It must be possible to know at least some truth. a) The statement “you can’t know the truth” is a truth claim about truth! b) If someone says, “You can’t know the truth” c) Ask them, “Do you know that?”

2. This is not to say that we can know 100% of the truth. a) We don’t have to say we know something 100% before being able to say we know it. (1) EX: Doctor and Cancer (2) EX: Professional Basketball Player

C. Truth is Absolute

1. Absolute means unchangeable.

2. Truth is independent from our thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs.

3. Truth does not conform to our beliefs; our beliefs should conform to the Truth. a) The statement “there is no absolute truth” is an absolute statement. b) If someone says, “There is no absolute truth” c) Ask them, “Are you absolutely sure?”

D. Truth is Exclusive

1. The opposite of true is false.

2. If a claim to truth is not true, then it must be wrong. a) EX: Either God exists or He doesn’t exist; there is no middle ground.

3. Not all worldviews can be true because they contradict each other.

4. There can be only one that is right! a) EX: Atheism says we cease to exist when we die; Theism says there is life after death. (1) Both can’t be right. (2) The truth is exclusive to one.

E. Truth is Unified

1. All truth will point to truth.

2. If a claim contradicts the truth, then that claim cannot be true.

F. Truth transcends time and culture

1. If something is true, it is true for everyone, everywhere, at every time. a) “But isn’t it true that I like vanilla ice cream? That’s not true for everyone!” b) You have to be more specific with that statement to get to the transcendent truth.

2. The truth being spoken is that you like vanilla ice cream; that truth doesn’t change with time or culture.

3. Truth is constant, even if personal preferences are involved.

G. Truth corresponds to reality

1. If something is true, it corresponds to reality. a) Correspondence theory says that what we know to be true must correspond to what actually exists.

2. EX: Saying "the sun is shining" corresponds to reality if the sun is indeed shining.

H. Truth is coherent

1. Coherence theory suggests that truth is coherent with the rest of our beliefs and experiences.

2. If something is true, it should make sense in relation to the rest of what we know.