When I named my blog I did so because of my favorite verse, John 8:32. (then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free). I could also hear in the background Pontius Pilate’s frustrated question in John 18:38 “What is truth?”
For people who are spiritually on the outside, that is a real legitimate question. Unless you know The Truth, you have to reason among competing agendas to apprehend a belief that you hope is closest to the truth. Or, if you have power, lots of power, you can purchase it and establish it, regardless of its reflection of reality.
E. E. Schotsneider in his landmark book called The Semi-sovereign People, gave the famous quote “He who defines an issue, decides who wins.” Every political battle is a war of defining issues. Is the Mexican immigrant problem about poor families needing to work to survive or is it about an invasion of illegal aliens? Or is there another issue that defines this dilemma?
Schotsneider’s observation is very simple but extremely complex. The war of truth in the world today is all about defining the issues. How do you make your definition of the issue stick and the others pass in to oblivion? Is truth subject to revision?
I submit that in the world today, the power struggles are all about the definition of truth. That takes power and capital. And once defined, the maintenance of that definition also takes power and capital because of the constant assault on that definition. I have come to believe that this issue, the establishment of truth and the subsequent maintenance of it are now the primary driving forces in the world today. “He who defines an issue, decides who wins” Wins what? Wins the world! But he who knows the Truth wins what? Wins eternity with the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
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