Life's Inanities and Ironies

After Jesus had spoken to them about the kingdom of God and the coming power of the Holy Spirit , something extraordinary happened on the Mount of Olives . The risen Lord—fully alive, fully human, fully divine—was taken up before their very eyes. A cloud received Him out of their sight. In that moment, the King of kings was crowned. This was no mere disappearance. This was the coronation. The same Jesus who had walked dusty roads, touched lepers, calmed storms, and conquered death now ascended to the right hand of the Father. He entered the throne room of heaven not as a servant but as the victorious Sovereign. Every knee in heaven bowed. The angels sang. The Father placed the scepter in His hand. The One who had humbled Himself to the cross was now exalted above every name ( Acts 1:9 ). The disciples stood there, necks craned, eyes locked on the empty sky—exactly where many of us find ourselves today. That is when two men in white appeared with the gentle rebuke that still echoes thr...

  The conversation we’ve been having about biblical truth—*emet* and *aletheia*, Jesus as “the Truth,” and the sobering warning of Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates a lying tongue—does not exist in a vacuum. From the very beginning, the Church has been locked in battle over truth. False teachers, heresies, and cultural pressures have repeatedly tried to twist, dilute, or replace the clear teaching of Scripture. Conservative Christians today stand in a long line of faithful believers who refused to compromise on the absolute, objective truth revealed by God. These historical debates are not dusty relics; they are urgent warnings for our own day, especially when politicians (and sadly, some church leaders) treat truth as negotiable.  1. The Early Church: Truth vs. Gnostic Secret Knowledge (2nd Century) One of the first major assaults on truth came from Gnosticism, which claimed that salvation came through secret, hidden knowledge (*gnosis*) available only to the enlightened elite....

 In our last exploration we saw that Scripture defines truth as *emet* (faithfulness, certainty) in the Old Testament and *aletheia* (unconcealed reality) in the New—rooted entirely in the unchanging character of God. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Truth is not abstract; it is personal, absolute, and divine. But what happens when we set this biblical view alongside the major philosophies of truth developed by human minds? The contrast is stark—and instructive—especially for conservative Christians who hold the Bible as the inerrant, sufficient Word of God. 1. Correspondence Theory (Aristotle, Aquinas, Modern Realism) This is the most intuitive philosophical view: a statement is true if it corresponds to reality—“The cat is on the mat” is true only if the cat really is on the mat. **Biblical alignment:** Scripture strongly affirms correspondence. God’s Word corresponds perfectly to reality because God Himself cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18)...

The Bible does not treat truth as a philosophical abstraction or personal preference. Instead, it presents **truth** as an unchanging, objective reality that flows directly from the character of God Himself. Truth is not something we invent; it is something we discover, obey, and embody because God *is* truth. Scripture uses two primary words for truth—one in the Old Testament and one in the New—that together paint a rich, multi-layered portrait.   1. Old Testament: *Emet* – Truth as Faithfulness and Certainty In Hebrew, the most common word translated “truth” is **emet** (אֱמֶת). It comes from the root *aman*, the same root as “amen” and “faith.” *Emet* carries the idea of firmness, reliability, trustworthiness, and what is solidly established. - ** God Himself is the source and standard of truth. **     “The LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King” (Jeremiah 10:10, ESV).     His word and His promises never fail: “Thy word ...