truth

it's a topic I've been thinking about lately. Why is truth so compelling? Or so controversial?

Let's start with scientific truth. In science, there is no truth, only theories and hypotheses. I'm not dissing science here, keep reading. A scientific theory is something that scientists have researched, experimented and studied for years. It is something that has been retested and approved by the scientific community as a whole and thus accepted as what we laypeople call 'fact'. Now, a hypothesis is a baby theory. It's something that one or a group of scientists think could become a theory, but it isn't approved or re-tested by the scientific community yet. The reason there is no truth or fact in science is because true scientists know that at any point, anything they thought to be true before could be proven false. Thus, the term theories shows that they are open-minded and admitting that they don't know everything.

Therefore, taking for example the theory of evolution for example, I've heard people make the statement that you can't trust it because it's only a theory, not a fact. Um. Yes and no. From a scientific standpoint, you can trust the theory of evolution as much as you can trust the idea that your heart pumps blood through your body, in other words, it's no different than other scientific theories that people have no problem accepting as fact. The 'yes' part lies in the uncertainty of anything and even something like your heart pumping blood through your body could be disproven in the future.

So truth isn't found in science, as long as we expect truth to be something absolute and unchanging. So, logically it must be found somewhere else.

But where?

Does truth exist in human relationships?
In hard work?
In Hollywood?

Ever heard the phrase "All truth is God's truth"? Let me stretch your mind a tad.

Truth does exist in Hollywood. Because I say so. Ok, that's not the reason really.
I strongly believe that when people encounter 'truth' it is a profound experience. It is something that moves them. It is something that is exciting and engrossing. Remember my favorite CS Lewis quote?

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

Men - humans have a desire for truth. Somehow or another we want to know for sure why things are the way they are. Why else do we take personality tests or watch the discovery channel? Why else do we watch the news or study the stars or play that dumb rpg all the way to the end? It's because we want to know for sure what happened, what's happening and what will happen.

I am very blessed to know and have access to the one complete source of truth that we can have. It's called the Bible. It isn't a group of theories, it isn't incomplete teachings that needs to be elaborated on, it's just simply truth. God's truth. All truth.

Waitaminute here, you said truth was in Hollywood! Well, yeah. Because inevitably the things in the Bible get reflected in real life. Just because it is said a different way or by someone else doesn't make it any less true. If a non-Christian says that there is a heaven and a hell that doesn't make it any less true than if a pastor says it. So sometimes (not often, just sometimes) we can experience truth even in Hollywood when we're watching a fictitious movie. Or playing a video game, or talking to our best friends. And how do we know the difference? The same way you can tell a counterfeit bill from a real one. You have to know what the real thing looks like. You have to spend time 'in the word' reading your Bible and examining it. When you expose yourself to truth in God's word, its much easier to pick truth out of the world we live in, and see it for what it is.

I told you that to tell you this. :P

remember that post about Arthur that one time? it's here.
Well, since then I think I figured out that this is the reason why certain myths and legends just seem to stick, they stay around for generations and we still hear about them today. It's because they're like a fantastical mirror held up to truth. They mimic stories and commandments and epiphanies that are in the Bible. So, in any longstanding fairy story or legend, take a closer look and see if you can find that kernel of the gospel. And if you do, share it with someone!
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Developing a grid where we let truth in and keep lies out is our responsibility as Christians - like a truth dreamcatcher.