Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
More Blogs 1
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
What is Truth?

     "You can't handle the truth!" This was a famous line in a movie called "A Few Good Men" The story is about two Marines who was accused of murdering a fellow Marine. Their defense was that the order to conduct a "Code Red"- a form of informal discipline, came from their commanding officer Col. Jeseph. The Marines' defense was that they were ordered to conduct "disciplinary action" on their fellow Marine that caused the death of their fellow marine, a death they did not mean to happen.

     I have been puzzled about this thing called "truth". Why did Colonel Jeseph, after being pushed to admit that he ordered a "Code Red", retorted with that statement. Was it a defense that he thought will absolve him of any responsibility in a young Marine's death? The term "truth" can be seen in the small picture as the specific actions of the two Marines and his specific action- ordering a "Code Red". "Truth" can also be seen in the big picture. Truth is seen as the complete reality, from Colonel Jeseph's perspectiive, which would make it a justification of his action. Colonel Jeseph's perspective, in a nutshell, was that the Marine's death was for the greater good, the security of the nation, its need for strong soldiers to protect. The elimination of the Marine was the elimination of a weak link who may endanger the security of the nation. His conception of "truth" was rejected by the judge who placed him under arrest for murder. The judge went with another "truth", that the deliberate, or at least culpable, taking of human life is absolutely wrong.

    This reflection on "truth" made me think about what Jesus meant when he said "I am the truth." I think what Jesus was saying is that his perspective on anything- on life, on the human heart, on eternity. reflects the reality of how things really are. It is a bold statement. We human beings see only little truths- evidences and data that needs to be interpreted. Human coneptions of the big truth- the interpretations of the phenomenon (evidence and data) is limited. He may be able to find evidences that a certain someone committed a murder, but the ultimate judgment of that murderer is in God's hand. King David, despite the obviously wrong act of muder that he repented of, was declared by God to be a man after his own heart. That is God's perspective, the big picture that can only be seen by the all-knowing one, what matters in the end. Jesus claims the place of having the final perspective on all matters. He is the truth means he is the ultimate interpreter of reality.

 

     


Posted by eeviray at 3:03 PM CST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

View Latest Entries

« December 2011 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Entries by Topic
All topics  «