Pilate’s question

Pilates Question

On the day of His crucifixion, our Lord stood before Roman governor Pontius Pilate. He was brought there by the Jews to be executed, since under Roman law they were not permitted to do so themselves. Pilate questioned Jesus, asking what he had done. A brief discussion of kingship and kingdom followed concluding with Jesus saying: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) Pilate then asked: “What is truth?”

Indeed. What is truth?

Pilate did not listen or care. The answer had already been given. Many in today’s world are little different from Pilate.

Jesus brought us the truth and is the truth. He testified before us that we might know it and be saved.

There is no such thing as “versions of the truth.” That is an oxymoron. There are no alternate paths leading to God such as eastern spirituality or new age thinking. When embraced in whole or in part by Christians, those are manifestations of the heresy of indifferentism.

Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) and “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32).

Our Savior gave us the 1 true faith and founded 1 Church to teach and preserve it. Almost all Christian communities agree on this (the notable exception is Unitarian Universalists who suffer from both indifferentism and relativism).

Each Christian community believes they have the truth. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Fundamentalists, Evangelicals and others each believe they are correct. Despite some overlap with each other and the Catholic Church, each Protestant denomination differs from every other. Logic alone informs us that where there are differences, only 1 can be correct. There is no way to finesse this hard fact and it is a serious issue. This is not Protestantism vs. Catholicism since Protestantism is not a single theology, but a collection of Christian communities defined primarily through their schism with the Catholic Church. Secondarily, they are defined by their founding 1,500 (or more) years after Christ.

Our Lord founded a very real, visible Church. He formed men to lead it and commissioned them to spread truth to the world. That Church, led by the direct successors to the Apostles, has continued unchanged and uninterrupted for 2,000 years.

Seek the truth. It will set you free.


Comments

  1. Thank you for addressing this topic! It’s very touchy these days, but there is so much at stake, we have to talk about it. Indifferentism has become the default attitude of most Christians today, intimidated and confused by the New Age hegemony.

  2. A hearty Amen. About four years before my conversion I considered getting a masters degree in theology. What kept me from pursuing this was my realization that I didn’t know which program to choose. Should I go to a traditional fundamentalist, Armenian, Calvinist, charismatic, conservative Methodist? I just gave up because I didn’t want to waste time pursuing a truth, or a near truth. I asked myself, how do I really know what is true? A few years later I found my way back to The Truth, only by His Grace.

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