I ended the previous article on “freedom” with a great quote of his from John 8:32: NIV: Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. To help you understand this quote a little better, I intended to link to an explanation of the meaning of the Greek noun translated as “truth.” Whoops! In try to find that article, I realized that I hadn’t written that article yet. So, here it is.
Thanks, Afonso, and I appreciate the feedback, but I do not write about the philosophical implications of these words, not intentionally, anyway. I am only writing about how listeners in the time of Jesus heard these words. My personal opinion is that fiction exists to reveal "truths" about being human that are hard to see otherwise. So we agree. The question, in the time of Jesus, was what was "seen" and what was "hidden." The word usually translated as "know" in the NT actually means "have seen." It is the past, perfect form of the most common verb translated as "to see," but that word form is used as the present tense word meaning "know." People at the time had to use less common words meaning "to see" when they wanted to express something that they had seen physically in the past so it didn't seem that they were talking about what they "know" to be true.
I really appreciate this approach you have regarding truth and reality.
However, I have looked at other sites like Abarim Publications for example, and this site says this about truth and reality:
Is Truth the same thing as Reality?
Not true
Truth is a Person: Jesus Christ (John 14:6). A true story is a story that reflects the nature of Christ.
Truth comfortably stretches from reality into fiction (parables like the Good Samaritan are true, but not historically verifiable), and does not contain all reality.
An event that really happened may not be true and an event that was made up may be true.
In your opinion is this a completely wrong approach (divergent from yours) or not?
Thanks, Afonso, and I appreciate the feedback, but I do not write about the philosophical implications of these words, not intentionally, anyway. I am only writing about how listeners in the time of Jesus heard these words. My personal opinion is that fiction exists to reveal "truths" about being human that are hard to see otherwise. So we agree. The question, in the time of Jesus, was what was "seen" and what was "hidden." The word usually translated as "know" in the NT actually means "have seen." It is the past, perfect form of the most common verb translated as "to see," but that word form is used as the present tense word meaning "know." People at the time had to use less common words meaning "to see" when they wanted to express something that they had seen physically in the past so it didn't seem that they were talking about what they "know" to be true.
Hi Gary,
I really appreciate this approach you have regarding truth and reality.
However, I have looked at other sites like Abarim Publications for example, and this site says this about truth and reality:
Is Truth the same thing as Reality?
Not true
Truth is a Person: Jesus Christ (John 14:6). A true story is a story that reflects the nature of Christ.
Truth comfortably stretches from reality into fiction (parables like the Good Samaritan are true, but not historically verifiable), and does not contain all reality.
An event that really happened may not be true and an event that was made up may be true.
In your opinion is this a completely wrong approach (divergent from yours) or not?
Thank you,
Sincerely.