Do you want “truth” or “lies”?
And how will you tell the difference?
Watch our Truth in Two to find out. We continue our summer examination of Hebraic-Christian words appropriated by the dominant American culture.
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Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat
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The New York Times commented on Facebook’s decision in early May to maintain President Trump’s suspension on its famed website. In an early morning headline, The Times declared, in part, “The issue here isn’t the question of what constitutes truth but whether Facebook will tolerate lies.”
Huh?! Isn’t the opposite of “truth,” a lie? Set aside for a moment Facebook’s decision about President Trump. Consider the two words: truth and lie. I had to read and reread the sentence multiple times. I wanted to make sure I was fair in my analysis. What are we to conclude? Do the writers of The New York Times *not* understand that “truth” and “lie” are opposites? I doubt that very much.
What seems to be clear is that The Times, Facebook, Big Tech, perhaps journalism all together, wants to be the arbiter of what constitutes, makes up, “truth” and “lie.” My biblical analysis begins with the Hebraic understanding of “truth.” When First Testament people spoke of truth they began with God, since God’s person is the standard for truth. Truth is not “what,” Truth is “who.” Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Notice that the God who is truth acts on it with justice based on righteousness. The Hebrew word for truth gives us our word “amen,” meaning, God is faithful to do what He says. We can count on it.
Truth is not about sincerity or authenticity; nor is truth about the arbitrary decision of social media or media elites to declare something “true” or “false.” Media overlords want to be the “who” of truth, substituting themselves as the final arbiter of what should be said, accepted, or perceived as truth.
Pravda was the Soviet Union’s propaganda mouthpiece. In Russian, “Pravda” means “truth.” Citizens of Russia, indeed, anyone around the world, knew: “Pravda” really stood for “lies.” The difference between cultural and Christian truth is that any objective truth must have a source of truth. The New York Times or Facebook has a view of justice based on their own moveable standards. Christians, indeed all people, depend on an immovable source, especially if they want justice. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth based on The Rock of Truth.