Jonathan Noyes answers the question “What is truth?”
Transcript
Truth is that which accurately reflects reality. Now, when I teach my kids—I’ve got four amazing little girls, and I’m teaching them about the world around them, I’m teaching about the Christian worldview—I say that truth is that which accurately reflects reality. But what do I mean by that? I mean that that truth describes the world as it actually is, as it really is. That’s important.
Truth is also factually and logically correct, meaning it’s not false. Something can’t be both true and false at the same time. Truth is, by definition, exclusive. That’s really important to remember. If it’s true, it’s not false. That means it’s an exclusive claim. So, when people say you’re going to be exclusivist because you’re holding a truth claim or a worldview, in our instance, or a belief that stems out of our worldview, well, everybody believes—we’re going to get to that.
Truth is discovered, not invented. Now this is one of my most favorite parts of this definition. Truth is discovered, not invented. You see, scientists, they discover Pluto. They don’t invent Pluto. Scientists, they discover COVID-19. It’s a huge issue right now. That’s why we’re doing it this way, this conference, the summit, because there’s a virus. And the scientists didn’t invent it, they discovered it. And they discover things about it. See, truth is discovered, not invented. And I love that, because truth exists independent of it being known.
And when you relate those two last definitions of truth right here—truth is discovered, not invented, and truth exists independent of it being known—it blows my mind. There are so many truths out there that haven’t even been discovered yet. I love thinking about that because as I’m talking to you, I’m 40. You guys, I don’t know how old you are in your setting right now, but you’re the future. And you, you guys are going to go discover so many more truths that are already out there waiting to be discovered. And I love that; it’s really exciting.
It’s also important to understand here, lastly, that truth is not belief. What do I mean by that? That’s a good question. I hold a ton of beliefs, I’m sure, that are false. Hopefully not willingly. Like I said at the onset of our discussion, right now, if you hold to a false belief and you learn that it’s false, it probably benefits you and do you well to abandon that belief. But truth is not belief. Truth is independent of that.