The fine line between truth and falsehood

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

How do you recognize the line that distinguishes truth from falsehood? Aristotle gave the world three tests for knowing whether or not an event or a document is authentic.

Aristotle’s first test was whether or not the individual asserting something was an eyewitness to the event itself. Scores of people today cite discredited documents and weave the fabric of truth and fiction so closely that the uninitiated is convinced that what he hears or sees is “the truth.”

Aristotle’s second test was based on the number of copies of the record we have, and how closely they conform to the event that is described. For a moment consider the manuscript evidence for your New Testament. Portions of the Gospel of John in existence today are dated as early as 125 AD – no more than a generation after the event itself. Available to scholars today are more than 5,750 manuscripts of the New Testament alone, and if we include Latin and other language translations, the number climbs to over 24,000 documents.

Aristotle’s third test was if other documents corroborate what the proof document says.

Do all of these things matter? Yes. That’s why it is important for us to have confidence in the Bible. Jesus was convinced. He said, “...your word is truth” (John 17:17). Only when you are confident that the Bible is the Word of God will you embrace it and allow it to guide your life.