By: Kyle Austin

There is a whole lot of talk about truth in our culture today. We're told by many people that truth does not exist. That all truth is

relative to each person. There are no absolutes when it comes to truth. This brings up many questions such as: Is there really truth? Is truth really just relative to each person? Can I discover and know truth for myself and if so what is truth? The question of, "What is truth?" is the greatest question that anybody can ask in their life. So let's talk about it.

Truth is that which corresponds with reality. It's really that which corresponds with its object. It is describing an actual state of affairs. One writer put it this way, "It's just telling it like it is." So we need to understand that there are two different claims to truth. The first one is subjective truth and the second is objective truth.

Subjective Truth

Subjective truth deals with truth claims about the subject or the person making the claim. Essentially, these are just matters of preference or taste about the properties or how we're describing what we're talking about. So an example of a subjective truth for me is this: Simply Natural ice cream is the best ice cream on earth! No questions asked! And out of the variety of flavors that they offer Fudge Ripple is the best. Now while this may be true for me, it may not be true for you.

You may say, "Look, I'm sorry! Hershey's ice cream is the best and Moose Tracks is their best flavor!" Somebody else may say, "Look, I'm sorry! You're both wrong! But Breyers ice cream is the best and vanilla is their best flavor!" You see, these truths can be true for each of us but they're not true for all of us at the same time at the same place. Therefore these are subjective truth claims and not objective truth claims.

Objective Truth

An objective truth attempts to accurately name or describe the properties of an object and can be tested to see if each is true or false. An example of an objective truth is this:

• The boiling point of water is 212° Fahrenheit.
• Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States of America.
• The earth has one moon. 

Each of these truth claims can be tested and proven as either fact or false and that is the essence of an objective truth. It is important that we understand the difference and be able to discern what type of truth claim is being given because many times people will try to pass off a subjective truth claim as fact like it's an objective truth.

So truth as we consider it by definition is absolute and therefore narrow and exclusive. All truths exclude their opposite. There can be many claims to truth but only one can be true. You can't have many variations of a truth. This is why all religions cannot be true. Each makes objective truth claims that are totally different. So either one is true or all or false.

Since truth is absolute, there must be a source of truth. So where does truth come from? Jesus Christ said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He would continue on in 17:17 and say this, speaking of God, "Sanctify them by thy word, thy word is truth." So we understand the source of truth is God and Jesus is the embodiment of that truth. And since God is unchanging, truth is unchanging. Therefore truth can be discovered.

Now, if someone comes to you and makes this statement, "There is no truth." Respond by asking this, "Is that true? How do you know that's true If there is no absolute truth?" You see, they're making an absolute truth claim that there is no truth! That statement defeats itself. You will be turning their logic upside down and revealing that to them.