What is truth? It's our greatest challenge.

When Pontius Pilot on Easter Friday dismissively asks: "Quid est veritas?" he articulates the greatest challenge to face the human race in the 21st century.

According to Christian tradition by now Jesus has died and his body has been removed from the cross. Early this morning he was taken to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilot,?for interrogation. The case against him is his apparent claim to be 'King of the Jews'. This will then challenge the authority of Caesar - and it will ultimately be inscribed above his cross.

Now remember how he had already rebutted that challenge of the Pharisees of whether he recognised the authority of Caesar. The gospels states that hostile questioners tried to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and thereby dangerous stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to the Roman?authorities. But Jesus ingeniously challenges his questioners to show the coins in their pockets - which of course carries the face of Caesar. So his response is: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". Matthew 22;21. And so Jesus has differentiated between paying what is due to the system you use, and to 'ultimate conscience' - as the things that are God's.

Now on Good Friday we read in John 18; 37, 38 how Pilot checks to see whether he has political aspirations and asks: “Art thou a king then?”

Jesus does not directly answer this question but declares: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."?

Pilot’s cynical response,?“Quid est veritas? (What is truth?) has become legend. And so this brings us to the significant moment in the message of Easter Friday to this troubled world

What is truth?

Jesus declares that the whole purpose of his incarnation is to reveal truth - and those who are of truth hear his voice. So clearly we are talking about our quality of consciousness.

What does it mean in a post-truth age where truth is either deemed to be empirical scientific fact, based in quantifiable evidence, or relativistic social convenience - and open to manipulation and distortion?

Herein lies the greatest problem facing humanity at this historical juncture - and it surely accounts for our meta-crisis. ??

St Paul will subsequently do battle with this vexed question and come to a startling insight of the deficiency of our consciousness. In Corinthians 13; 11, 12 he writes:

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

And so here’s the key - he says ‘...Now we know in part’- that’s the reductionist position. But he makes a promise on his understanding of the 'spirit of the whole' - but then ‘face to face’. He's suggesting a profound encounter with reality - and in ‘knowing even as we are known’ - he's pointing to a fully intersubjective experience with the fullness of being.

Where does he draw this contention of the intersubjective experience with the fullness of being? We can go back to the David who writes in Psalm 139; 15:

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.... for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: ... My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

There is a deep ontological message here - when Jesus is said to be of the Royal Lineage of David this is not a political Kingdom - it is a Spiritual Kingdom - the Kingdom of Truth. There is a potentially deeper fundamental quality of knowing which is of Being itself.

When Carl Jung was repeatedly challenged by a BBC interviewer whether he believed in God - he consistently answered ; "I know!"

In a forthcoming posting we shall examine Jan Smuts' holistic perspective on this all-important topic and correlate that to findings by Iain McGilchrist in his magnificent book, 'The Matter with Things' (2021).

Meanwhile on Good Friday Jesus declares by implication that the full intersubjective experience of Being is his source - and its revelation is his mission. And for that he will die so that we may live - so that this promise might be realised.