Friday, August 6, 2010

Veritas


I was recently reading John H. Sailhamer's The Meaning of the Pentateuch when I came across a quote which I found to be a fairly simple statement yet also profound. Sailhamer quotes apologist and theologian Edward J. Carnell:
Truth, then, in its simplest dimension, is a judgment which corresponds to things as they actually are. . . . This definition of truth, however, is deficient from the Christian point of view, for it does not link truth with the mind of God sharply enough. For the Christian, God is truth because He is the Author of all facts and meaning. There is no reality apart from the eternal nature of God Himself and the universe which He has created to display His glory. . . . Since the mind of God perfectly knows reality, truth is a property of that judgment which coincides with the mind of God. . . . Truth for the Christian, then, is defined as correspondence with the mind of God. On any level of judgment, therefore, man has truth only as long as he says about facts what God says about these facts.

-Edward J. Carnell, An Introduction to Christian Apologetics: A Philosophic Defense of the Trinitarian-Theistic Faith
I think this is a simple statement to which no Christian should have difficulty assenting. And yet when I think of my own mind I can't help but see that I often see this or that sin as an attractive thing instead of believing what God says about it.

3 comments:

Ed said...

Durn pesky fallen passions! You can blame Adam for that one. :-P

Anonymous said...

Amen, I couldn’t have put it any better myself. I agree, especially with the part that states: “On any level of judgment, therefore, man has truth only as long as he says about facts what God says about these facts.” So true! I too struggle daily with wanting to do my own thing and feel the pull of the devil, the world, and my own flesh. However I know that Christ in me and my belief in Him and His saving grace will help me cling fast to that truth everlasting. Like you said last week in your response to S.P., one can’t live in fear of the devil and evil forces by letting them control you, because that would be giving into them. One should rather be strong in the Lord and firmly believe that “greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
I appreciate the reminder Matt, A.J.

Anonymous said...

Hi Matt,

I hope you have had a good week. I like that statement, "Truth...is defined as correspondence with the mind of God". What could be more correct than The Source of truth?

Do you have any feelings about your semi-resident state's Prop 8 overturn? Good? Bad? Don't care?

Take care~

SP