WHAT IS TRUTH?

[sunodino]

The Apostle John recorded the following dialog between Pontius Pilate and Jesus:
John 18
37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. 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.
38  Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

My questions are these...
1. HOW CAN WE KNOW WHAT IS TRUTH AND WHEN THE TRUTH IS EVIDENT IN A GIVEN DEBATE?
2. What can we  rely upon?
3. What can we compare with?
4. What is the confirmation we should look for?

[Royo]

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth." [John 16.13].

There are many Godly men and women on this forum, who are a blessing to us in the truth they share with us. But the ultimate Guide to the truth is the One who lives in us. The Holy Spirit of God.

I know this may seem a simple answer, but that is how God works. "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." [Matt. 11.28-30].

Blessings to you in Christ our Lord.  Roy.

[Heidi]

The truth is the answer to the question of whether or not God exists. He either does or he doesn't. It is the answer to the question of whether the proverbial tree fell in the forest, it either did or it didn't. It is the answer to the question of how we were created. It is the answer to any question under the sun. THE TRUTH ABOUT EVERYTHING LIES OUTSIDE OURSELVES! There are answers out there. We call those answers God.

Our perceptions about things come from our own imperfect minds. However, once we receive a connection to those answers, which are then from God,  which is done through the Holy Spirit because it enters us from the outside, we have the possibility of discerning truth. Our perceptions are now being aided by an outside source who knows those answers.

Now an atheist might ask "how do you know if this entity that entered you is from God?" The answer is that it HAS to be from God. If it weren't from God, it would obviously be a deception which is from the opposite entity out there, the devil. But it can't be the from devil because the devil re-enforces the notion that there are no answers out there. Therefore, how could we receive them? It would be a gross contradiction and truth has no contradictions.

This entity (the Holy Spirit) that is sent to us from God has also re-enforced everything Christ said about it. In other words, it hasn't contradicted anything that it promised. It opens up our minds to objective reality rather than to subjective reality. We are no longer coming from purely subjective reality. We are now acknowledging the outside as well as our inside world. That's why the truth searches all things. We realize there are many more things outside of us than just our fallible minds. The truth always re-enforces itself. It never contradicts itself.

[sunodino]

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth." [John 16.13].

There are many Godly men and women on this forum, who are a blessing to us in the truth they share with us. But the ultimate Guide to the truth is the One who lives in us. The Holy Spirit of God.

I know this may seem a simple answer, but that is how God works. "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." [Matt. 11.28-30].

Blessings to you in Christ our Lord.  Roy.

Not so simple, ROYO, there is a lot in what you said. "HE will guide you into all truth"

OK then, The Spirit, "HE", will guide me to it, and TEACH ME TRUTH; (I may be on the wrong track, but if the Holy Spirit comes, or I come to Jesus, He will guide me"

"He" is God (do we all agree?)

I looked up that scripture and the second portion of it says this:
"for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come."

I don't agree with what Heidi said, and I quote; "Now an atheist might ask "how do you know if this entity that entered you is from God?" The answer is that it HAS to be from God. " I have read plenty on this forum so far that may sound smart, but does not sound TRUE!

There HAS TO BE SOMETHING TO COMPARE A PERSON'S STATEMENT TO SO THAT YOU CAN DETERMINE IT IS TRUE, ELSE THERE IS NO TRUTH(?) that is what Pilate was implying to Jesus.

I  do agree, however,with what Heidi has said, quote, "This entity (the Holy Spirit) that is sent to us from God has also re-enforced everything Christ said about it." I agree because that in what the scripture says.


To summarize, based upon the replies so far:
1. The Holy Spirit guides us to the truth if we come to Jesus,("come unto me, all ye...")
2. The Holy Spirit, does not  "speak of himself"
3. The Holy Spirit, comes from God
4. And the MOST OBVIOUS, is we must use the Bible as the base, because opinions are just that OPINIONS. YES?
5.  The truth is  restful to your soul
 

[Mr. 5020]

And the MOST OBVIOUS, is we must use the Bible as the base, because opinions are just that OPINIONS. YES?

AMEN!!!

[Heidi]

Sunodino, i'm confused with why you don't agree with my statment that it HAS to be from God. If something from the outside has entered us, it's either a deception or it's the truth. I said it can't be a deception because the father of lies doesn't admit there are truthful answers out there because he doesn't believe in truth. So the outside entity has to be from the truth. The devil is already in us and is what leads us into deception. Only until we receive the truth from the outside entity can we be led into truth.

The truth is the answer to every question. It lies outside of us. Even if we interpret the bible correctly, there are still other elements of the truth that we missed. It is BIGGER than we are. We can call those answers, God. Even your assertions, Sunodino, that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth, which I agree with, is still only part of the truth. It is not all of the truth but it is FROM the truth.  

[Royo]

So the outside entity has to be from the truth. The devil is already in us and is what leads us into deception.
Quotr from Heidi.
____________________________________________________
Heidi, why do you keep refering to the Holy Spirit of God as 'the entity'?  I just never heard God called 'entity' before.

And the devil is NOT 'already in us'  unless a person has been posessed by him. We are born with a sin nature, but that is not the same as 'the devil is already in us', as you stated.

Love in Christ.  Roy.

[Heidi]

Royo,
If we are not following God the Father, then we are following the father of lies. Jesus said that those who are not for Him, are against him. Until the Holy Spirit enters us, we are slaves to sin which is being a slave to the devil. Once we receive knowledge from God, we no longer are slaves to the devil.

[ebia]

Can you really not see the logical fallacies in this post?

Sunodino, i'm confused with why you don't agree with my statment that it HAS to be from God. If something from the outside has entered us, it's either a deception or it's the truth.

Fallacy 1:  This is not an exclusive list.

I said it can't be a deception because the father of lies doesn't admit there are truthful answers out there because he doesn't believe in truth.

This makes no logical sense at all.

So the outside entity has to be from the truth.

Assuming there is an outside entity at all, and not just your imagination.

The devil is already in us and is what leads us into deception.

Others have addressed this

Only until we receive the truth from the outside entity can we be led into truth.

I don't think this says what you mean it to say.

[Heidi]

So, Ebia, you think the Holy Spirit comes from inside ourselves? Where's your evidence?

[Heidi]

Ebia, I take it that you believe we are truth? We know all things? If the truth doesn't come from outside ourselves (God), where does it come from? Your mind? Your perceptions?

[ebia]

Ebia, I take it that you believe we are truth? We know all things? If the truth doesn't come from outside ourselves (God), where does it come from? Your mind? Your perceptions?

1.  I didn't say that truth didn't come from outside.  I attacked your logic, not your premise.

So, Ebia, you think the Holy Spirit comes from inside ourselves? Where's your evidence?

As above.

[Heidi]

You attacked my logic but didn't explain why it's illogical.

[ebia]

You attacked my logic but didn't explain why it's illogical.

I did for part of it.

As for this bit - I didn't bother because, while it clearly doesn't logically follow, its hard work to put it into words, but I'll give it a shot:

I said it can't be a deception because the father of lies doesn't admit there are truthful answers out there because he doesn't believe in truth.

1.  Can you demonstrate the father of lies doesn't believe in the truth?  (As opposed to believing in it but opposing it.)
2.  If 1 is demonstrable, then how can can he be the father of lies - to lie is to tell something other than the truth.
3.  How does "It can't be a deception" inevitably follow from the rest of the sentence?

[Heidi]

The father of lies is by his very nature the father of deception or he wouldn't be called the father of lies to begin with. If he is the father of lies then lies are what he gives birth to, not the truth.

If God is the answer to all things and the answer of all things lies outside ourselves, then when when we receive the Holy Spirit from outside of ourselves, it HAS to come from God because it comes from an answer outside of ourselves. Before we receive the holy Spirit, we are already responding to the devil. Jesus says that our hearts are wicked. Wickedness doesn't come from God so what's in our hearts comes from the devil. Thus, the devil already exists inside of us. Therefore, what comes from the outside can only be from God.