Truth, Knowledge, and Wisdom

What is truth?

This is a fundamental question that has been asked countless times over the ages to which humans have come up with countless explanations.

In our current age, and really beginning with the Enlightenment, truth and fact are determined based on empirical evidence. Empirical evidence is part of the scientific method and is basically a fancy way of saying that something is true only if it can be experienced and tested through the senses - and that an observer must rely on the observation alone without any due regard for system or theory.

There are dozens of sources dedicated to utilizing empirical evidence to determine if God and the bible are true. Here is a quote I found on one of them:

“With every other object and phenomenon in our experience, we use the scientific method to determine whether it exists or not. For example, X rays are invisible, but we know that they exist. We can devise scientific experiments to prove that they exist. Then, once proven to exist, X-rays can be used predictably in all sorts of beneficial ways.
If you would like to hypothesize that God exists, then you should say to yourself, "Let's devise a repeatable scientific experiment to provide evidence that God exists." Every experiment we devise demonstrates, yet again, that God is imaginary”

Our God does not fit into this box. The very idea that somehow He is subject to our rules is just not plausible. He is invisible, immortal, and created everything for His purpose.

Colossians 1:15-16 – He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.
1 Timothy 1:17 – To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

However, most of us have been indoctrinated with the scientific method of determining truth. But if we are followers of Jesus, how does this notion fit within our belief system? How do we reconcile what the bible says with the standard that the world uses to judge its truthfulness?

I think that to better appreciate truth, a distinction must be made between knowledge and wisdom. To paraphrase the notes in my study bible, "Knowledge tends to focus on correct understanding of the world and oneself as creatures of the magnificent and loving God, while wisdom is the acquired skill of applying that knowledge rightly, or skill in the art of godly living."

With that in mind, look at the following verses from Proverbs:
Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 2:6 – For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
The assertion here is that submission to God is foundational to the attainment of real understanding, an idea that is not present in a worldly pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.

The underlying issue here is that by taking God (or more accurately, the fear of God) out of the picture - we distort the truth. In Matthew 28:18, just before giving the Great Commission, Jesus says to his disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Not some of the authority, not authority over certain things, but all authority. What does this mean? For me, it means that absolutely everything, on every level, is subject to the lordship of Christ. We reject that notion when we assert that our ways of determining truth and discovering knowledge need not involve God.

The bible is clear on the dangers of the arrogance and folly of thinking that truth is independent of Christ:
Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
Colossians 2:8-9 – See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Truth, knowledge, and wisdom are part of God's desire for us - as long we have the definition and context of those embedded clearly on our hearts. The truth around which all other truths come from is referred to in these passages:
1 Timothy 2:3-6 – This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Ephesians 3:17-19 – so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

So what did our Mediator, our Redeemer, our Savior have to say about truth?
John 8:31-32 – So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Here we are not only dealing with biblical perspective on truth, but also some other ideas. Modern day society is big on things like relativism & tolerance - and they sound like good qualities to have. But there is no relativism here - there is no tolerance. There is no sense around there being one god, but many different paths. Jesus Christ says that he is the only way to God. This statement in its very nature is exclusive, and if you believe Jesus' claim, is absolute truth.

The question, "what is truth?" is asked in the bible in the context of Jesus being interrogated by Pontius Pilate before his crucifixion.
John 18:37-38 – Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
How ironic that Pilate, whose job it is to determine the truth in the matter, sarcastically dismisses the relevance of truth in the very presence of the embodiment of truth in Christ Jesus.
I think that Romans 1:16-22 sums it up nicely:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

Just because we cannot see something or feel something or measure something does not mean that it does not exist. One of Satan's greatest deceptions is convincing people that he does not exist, which leads them to believe that neither does God.