Lester Start’s Works

1Truth

Lester Start

The passages read in the New Testament lesson illustrate the problem for the contemporary Christian. On the one hand lies the promise of the truth of God which makes men free; on the other is the worldly wisdom that finds, not liberation, but cynicism or despair. The first is found in Jesus’ great affirmation to those who are led by the Spirit of God: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The other is represented by Pilate’s plaint and, so frequently, ours, “What is truth?”

One cannot help but sympathize with Pilate’s point of view. Here he stood as representative of the great Roman empire with its tradition of law infused with Stoic wisdom, placed in a notoriously difficult colony because of the unwillingness of the people to abide by the laws of reasonable men, despairing at the problem of keeping order, and hearing one more claim to a special truth from the Messiah who had been brought to his tribunal. No wonder that he voices this plaint - “What is truth?”

And Pilate’s plaint is ours - here we stand in a world increasingly comprehended by the empire of scientific laws, where all is to be understood under the rational laws of empirical knowledge, but in a notoriously difficult situation of conflicting powers, partisan interests, and opposing ideologies, in the midst of war and rumors of war, so that we despair at finding any peace or order or freedom for the human spirit. And so we to ask “What is truth?” when presented with a special revelation drawn from a crucified Messiah of long ago.

There are so many claims and counterclaims to truth! For all our efforts to achieve it, we wonder if we have come any closer to the dream of freedom and happiness. We feel with Ecclesiastes - vanity of vanities - all is vanity - and he who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow, because he sees so much more clearly how little the spirit of truth avails. One is tempted to wash one’s hands of the problem - like Pilate - shrug off the question of ultimate truth and perhaps follow in the spirit of the poet Houseman who counseled:

Think, no more lad, laugh, be jolly,

Why should men make haste to die?

Empty heads and tongues a talking

Make the rough road easy walking.

And the feather pate of folly

Bears the falling sky.

But folly cannot bear the collapse of our world of ideals. What about the truth that liberates?

I.

You shall know the truth etc. Of course there is a sense in which this is true - but in a qualified way. The whole course of Western civilization has marked the history of man’s progressive conquest of nature through the spirit of Greek science. Truth about the operation of nature’s laws has given man freedom - through technology he has gained freedom from backbreaking toil. With the promise of automation - still greater freedom from monotonous work is indicated, along with the problem of finding things to do when this work is done away with. Through medical technology man has gained freedom from plague and disease - along with the challenge of curing new disorders peculiar to civilized patterns of behavior. Man has freed himself from old superstitions and fears. By understanding the operations of nature, man no longer attributes lightning to Zeus, or calamities to the wrath of the gods. He has freed himself from superstitious terrors, yet finds himself fearing a new kind of man-made terror by night and fallout that wasteth by noon day.

In short, with all our conquest of nature, we have failed to understand or conquer human nature. With all the promise of freedom that truth about nature brings, we still have difficulty in freeing man from a sense of estrangement, loneliness and despair because of man’s inhumanity to man, from a spirit of meaninglessness, because man’s vision of a purpose and goal is clouded.

Like Pilate, we find that the promise of truth has a hollow sound. That is why it is so futile to identify of this kind of truth, knowledge about the laws of nature, with the redemptive Spirit of Christ. He was not the spokesman for the new science, or a public relations expert plugging progressive social reforms in the light of new knowledge. The truth that unlocking the secrets of nature reveals is the revelation of power, sheer limitless power, but power without purpose or direction. So we still do not know whether by unlocking the secrets of the atom we have begun a great new era of peace and plenty or paved the way for a final explosion that will rival the liveliest visions of the last days.

It is interesting to note that the Greek god Pan, originally a nature deity who came to be identified with all of nature, all things, is the root from which the word panic comes. If this is all the truth there is, the sheer blind powers of nature, then panic in the face of this seems natural. If truth means the power of manipulation, not only of nature but of other selves, if life is nothing but a struggle for power for its own sake, then life seems to point to panic or despair. Power without a reconciling purpose is destructive; power without ideals and vision is blind. Truth that gives us power without purpose is incomplete. No wonder it has a hollow sound. No wonder it cannot satisfy.

II.

There is another kind of truth we inherit from the Biblical tradition - and this, of course, is the truth Jesus represents. It is the teaching that the world is not so much a system of nature to be understood, but a history of events that are to be interpreted as the purposes of God. Man’s salvation lies not in understanding the laws of a static nature, but in following the purposes of God by obedience to His commandments. This is the unique revelation of Biblical religion - God is in the world - in history - reconciling man to Himself.

It is an ancient truth, the development of which can be traced in the religion of the Hebrews. It is the truth solemnly reaffirmed in the Jewish holy days - how the Lord has led the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt to the promised land - the great declaration of freedom. It was God who led them safely through the sea - who fed His children in the wilderness, led them into Canaan - who gave His law to Moses. It is God who is at work in all things, leading His people to the spirit of righteousness. Thy way, O Lord, is in the sea, sang the Psalmist

Even the enemy becomes an instrument of the purposes of God, when the children of Israel fall aside from the law of righteousness. As the prophets correctly warned, Israel is destroyed by her apostasy. The theme grows through the prophets - until God is the God of all peoples and all history, and the Jews are to be understood as a light to the Gentiles.

The theme reaches its culmination in the New Testament revelation that God became flesh in Christ, thereby showing His redemptive love, and providing the perfect example of the godlike for man. What clearer symbol could there be of the supreme truth that God is concerned with the world of men, that God is in history, reconciling man to Himself. For God so loved the world -

There are two kinds of truth suggested by Athens and Jerusalem a Greek one and a Biblical one and we cannot ignore either. The very words for truth suggest a compressed philosophy we might well examine. The Greek word for truth is V8Z2`l that which is unhidden - the clear, the evident, that which can be seen as real being. For the Hebrew truth is aman (amen) - that which is faithful, certain, or sure, that which can be relied upon, as God. For the Greeks, truth was a matter of [Sun] (4V*i@L: for example the light of truth ,seeing the true order of being - a theoria. For the Bible truth is a matter of hearing the commandments of God, to discover His purposes - a hearing and faithful obedience. The still small voice within is the symbol of truth. The Greek truth is spatially oriented - the true is that which eternally is - the abiding real. For the Bible, truth is temporally oriented - the true is the revealed pattern of the purposes of God in history. The Greek mind turns to objects - the Biblical to events. The Greek view is static - the Biblical dynamic. The Greek view thinks in terms of world cycles. The Biblical view thinks in terms of progress toward kingdom of God.

III.

It is the distinction between seeing and hearing that gives us the clue to the distinction between reason and faith. To the Greek, scientific truth consists in seeing an order of nature, understanding its operations, so that we may have the power of dominion. Biblical faith consists in hearing the word of God, believing in God’s presence, obeying His commandments of righteousness, and single-mindedly devoting oneself to His purposes.

It is precisely this Biblical faith or truth which corrects the one sidedness of Greek reason. And in a general sense, if we are to appreciate anything truly, we must do more than see it - we must be sensitive to it, respond to it, listen to it, hear it. Buber used to say, “speak to me so that I can really see you.” And religious truth involves that same attentive responsiveness.

Take the problem of human relations - man’s inhumanity - man’s estrangement from his true self and from his fellow man. Consider the way we twist the Golden rule - how we consider others as objects to be manipulated. [Lonely crowd - staring -]

We see others as objects - but when we hear another, we must respond to the other not as an object but as a self. And what is love, if it is not the response of a self to a self - and the caricature of love, if it is not treating the other as an object. Another is an it, when he is an object to be seen. The basic commandment of love can never be followed until we hear the other, and respond to the other as a self - not on object.

Take the problem of the meaning and purpose of life - the meaning of the world as a whole. It is so hard to see God in the world. That is why the traditional arguments for God are so inconclusive. The religious relation has always been a response to hearing the word of God as it is revealed in divine history. Hear the word of the Lord - was the theme of the prophets. Thus saith the Lord - the statement of authority. Here, again, the problem of faith is clarified. Faith, then, is not a kind of seeing darkly a truth which we hope to see more clearly by a higher theoria or knowledge. Faith is hearing and responding to the word of the Lord, trusting in His purposes, being faithful to His commandments, standing firmly by His Spirit of righteousness. It is precisely this kind of faith, this commitment to God’s purposes as revealed in history, that we mean when we speak of faith in love of Christ. Those who have faith in Christ do not have a higher knowledge in the Greek sense.

This is why worship and personal devotion are so important. One does not go to church to “learn about religion” as one might learn about modern physics or literature. Or to be told to be good. Those who think this stay away.

One goes to hear the word of God. The real task is to discover God in history in our world - to listen - to try to find out His purpose for us now and sense His presence. Going to church should be more like going to a concert than a lecture.

They have something else - and something more - commitment to a cause - confidence in the purposes of God and His love - and most important of all - in this age of anxiety and estrangement - the spirit of reconciliation - reconciliation to God because they can find a meaning to their lives in terms of his love and reconciliation to their fellow man as the love of God is reflected in their love of others - not seeing others as objects to be used, but responding to others as selves to be listened to and heard.

Conclusion.

There are two sources of truth - truth as power (means) truth as purpose( end). Both are found in each tradition - dominion in Old Testament - purpose and Plato.

Bible stresses image of God

Implications - turn to dimension of faith - believe in reconciling power of love.

Hear the word of God - respond to His will

turn in prayer - hear God

another dimension intimations from art and beauty.

The inner light.

Share in love of God -

break down barriers -

devote oneself to the creative purposes of God.

This is the union of power and purpose.

The liberating power of learning requires learning two truths.

Greek gives power (means).

Bible gives purposes (ends).

For the truth that liberates we need both. Old Testament Dominion.

Relevance

“Young people’s group has helped me to admire and respect God”

hear God - hear need.

Believe in love - inner light.

Reconciliation - break barriers.

Unite power and purpose