*What is the difference between “belief” and “truth”?
*>You have been given the opportunity to have any one wish come true, but you can't ask for more wishes.
What will you wish for?
>DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What would it take for your wish to come true?
2. What would the world be like if people could simply wish things into existence?
3. Could believing stronger help the wish become reality? What if everyone agreed that your wish was true? Would that matter? Why or why not?
4. If something isn’t true, can believing make it so? Why or why not?
5. Given that we can’t make something true simply by believing it, what is the relationship between belief and truth?
6. Can you think of any examples where believing something makes it true?
7. Can we make invisible things—such as love, numbers, or God—true by believing them?
>Read 1Cor 15:14-17
--What would happen if Jesus did not rise from the dead?
--Can believing change this reality?
--If He did not rise from the dead, what does that mean for people who believe He did?
--What would it mean to us?
>Truth
--If there is no such thing as objective truth, then you can believe contradictory things like God exists and God doesn’t exist at the same time and the same sense.
--Truth consists of ideas or statements that match what is (reality).
--Truth is that which corresponds to its object
--All truth by definition is narrow
--Truth is not determined by one's sincerity.
-- if all views are true than nothing is true.
--opposite ideas cannot be both true at the same time and in the same sense.
--Truth does not depend on or change as a result of our personal belief or feelings
--Something cannot be true for one person yet not true for another.
--Belief is a personal view of how things are, but truth is the way things actually are in reality.
--Contrary believes are possible but contrary truths are not
--Does believing in something make it true?
________________________________________________
Why was Jesus Born?
Why did He come into the World?
>John 18:33-38; 1:17; 14:6; 17:7; 4:24; 8:32; 14:16-17; 16:13; 1Tim 2:3-4; Eph 6:14
A. To testify to the Truth – John 18:37
NKJV
(37) Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
Joh 14:6 NKJV
(6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Joh 8:31-32 NKJV
(31) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
(32) And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
1Ti 2:3-4 NKJV
(3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
(4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
B. Scriptural emphasis on Truth – Sanctification and salvation connection to Truth
C. Man's sinful nature will suppress, distort, reject, and exchange God's truth for lies
The Cosmic Battle – Spirit of Truth vs. Spirit of Falsehood – Reality vs. Illusion
A. Scene in heaven between God and Satan - Job 1 & 2 - "Did God really say?"
B. Link between salvation and truth - 2 Thessalonians 2 - "…God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the spirit and the belief in the truth."
C. Two Fathers – John 8:44 – "You belong to your father, the devil"
D. Connection between sin, lies and deceit – Every sin that besets us can be traced to a belief in a lie – Our sins take us captive to the lies of the world
E. Dealing with outsiders - 2 Timothy 2 and Colossians 4:5-6 –
F. Battle of Worldviews – Opposition between God's truth claims and the lies of the
world, the flesh, and the devil
**From the Truth Project: Veritology: What Is Truth?
Conclusion:
Jesus claimed to be the source and definition of the truth about reality: Metaphysics (why there is something rather than nothing), Theology (God), Epistemology (knowledge), Ethics (morality), and Anthropology (nature of man). (John 18:37; 14:6; 8:31-32)
THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF TRUTH—Biblical References: There are only two sides with respect to statements about reality, the side of error and the side of truth. John 18:37 – “For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” By definition, truth is a statement or idea that corresponds to reality (God). The Spirit of God is the fixed point of reality (1 John 5:6 “The Spirit is the truth) and God’s Word is truth because it matches reality (In John 17:17 Jesus said, “your word is truth.”). Jesus is the truth because he perfectly corresponds to God (In John 14:16 Jesus said, “I am the truth.” In Hebrews 1:3 we read, “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.”
** From 1st Principles By Peter Bocchino found http://www.legacyoftruth.org/read.asp?document=8
II. Truth should be the guiding principle for what we believe, and how we live our lives.
Why do people believe what they do?
About God, life, nature, mankind, death, Jesus, right and wrong, evil, history...
Sociological
Parents
Friends
Society
Culture
Tradition
Psychological
Comfort (Emotion)
Peace of Mind
Meaning
Experience
Hope
Identity
Religious
Scripture
Pastor
Priest
Guru
Channeler
Church
Philosophical
Consistency
Coherence
Completeness (best explanation)
True
Is it a good reason to believe something?
Something is worth believing if we have reason to believe it is true.
Read Hos 4:6; 2 Thess 2:8-20
-----------------Notes--------------------
1. Wordview Ministries: http://www.seanmcdowell.org/media/articles.asp
2. Meekness and Truth Ministries: http://www.meeknessandtruth.org/
3. 12 Points That Show Christianity Is True by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek
Relativism: The belief that all truth is relative, being determined by some group.
Subjectivism: The belief that all truth is subjective, being defined by the perspective of the individual.
Skepticism:The belief that truth cannot be known with certainty.
Perspectivism: The belief that truth is found in the combined perspectives of many.
Pragmatism: The belief that truth is ultimately defined by that which works to accomplish the best outcome. “The end justifies the means.”
Objectivism: The belief that truth is an objective (independent) reality that exist whether someone believes it or not.