As I expected, start writing about spirituality and the subject proliferates! Last time, describing my spiritual roots, I asked “what is truth?” and promised to explore this question in more depth.
Pilate, an officious and brutal man by all accounts, asked this question; perhaps not someone noted for his concern for truth. The exchange appears only in John’s Gospel (18: 37, 38) and Jesus claims he has come to bear witness to the truth “and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice”. “Truth”, says Pilate, “what is that?” and then walks out without waiting for an answer.
Pilate is a bureaucrat; he’s not interested in answering his own question, he is interested in getting himself out of a difficult situation.
But Jesus does not define truth, he is there to bear witness to it. It’s almost as if truth is out there but somehow beyond our grasp. “I’m sure there is such a thing as truth, just don’t ask me to tell you what it is!”
Truth As Conversation
So, how does this work? The answer is conversation. Truth emerges from conversation, see my post about generative conversation, for example. The conversation between Jesus and Pilate is in John’s Gospel, which begins with the words “In the beginning was the Word”. The English word is logos in Greek. What exactly does logos mean?
It is not possible to convey the nuances of any word in translation. John wrote in common Greek, the Greek spoken by ordinary people. Logos can be translated as word but if you think about it, words take on meanings in conversation. The first line of John’s Gospel could just as accurately be translated “in the beginning there was the Conversation.”
Truth as conversation emerges from various types of conversation, which can be between people, between a person and God (prayer) or between a person and the world (science).
Truth is a journey, a journey that never arrives at a destination. Sometimes the dead hand of religion or politics tries to silence the conversation and we all know where that leads.
Most genuine religious or spiritual leaders understand this and so value hospitality towards those from other traditions because great conversations happen where people of different traditions start talking. Many traditions actively encourage dialogue because it deepens their insights into their own tradition.
Fundamentalists understand truth as something final and complete. They have texts they believe to be true in the superficial sense of being a historic given. They do not understand these texts are given to us specifically for interpretation – when we question scripture, it encourages us to think in a deeper way.
This is why the radical atheists are so profoundly wrong. They make the same mistake as fundamentalists, believing there is one interpretation of any religious text. My religious text may not be what you would choose, if you are an atheist, but my question, is what challenges your beliefs?
Texts from my tradition challenge my beliefs and help me understand my own deeper motivations. Texts from other traditions can help me understand my own; my appreciation of my tradition deepens as I engage with others. It can be harder if you don’t have a book but a book can be an immense barrier if your interpretation is the last word.
Next time I shall show you how my tradition helps me understand the nature of truth. How have you found conversations leading to deeper understanding?
