“Incorrect” Theology
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (J. Green)
Truth – God does what He says He will do. He is the ultimate promise-keeper. That’s why Moses can call God emunah – faithful. But emunah is also related to another Hebrew word, ‘emeth, the word that means “truth.” When Yeshua spoke to Thomas, he did not say, “Ego eimi he hodos kai he alethia kai he zoe.” That’s the Greek translation of His Hebrew sentence. He didn’t use the Greek word alethia for truth. He used the Hebrew word ‘emeth – and the difference between the two is critically important.
The classical Greek idea of truth is related to what is factually correct. True means “without mistake,” like the choices you have on an exam. When the Greeks talk about “the Good, the True and the Beautiful,” they convey the ideals of what is noble and virtuous, what is factual and accurate and what is aesthetically pleasing. Much of this thought is incorporated in our view of truth, but it is not the biblical view. In fact, if we think of the idea of “true” in the Bible as factually correct, our theology will be very incorrect.
Jepsen makes the following remark on the Hebrew idea of ‘emeth: “‘emeth was used of things that had to be proved to be reliable; of the word that was really true, on which a person can rely; of a man who is really trustworthy, and thus to whom an office can be entrusted; of judgment that is righteous; and in general, of the innermost nature of man, that which determines his character and his actions. But OT admonitions to ‘emeth and laments over its absence show that such ‘emeth is not something that is obvious in man. Indeed, only rarely does the OT dare to say that some man (or men) is a man of ‘emeth, and it is almost astonishing when a word is really true. And yet, ‘emeth is the prerequisite for justice and righteousness. . . . ‘emeth is that on which others can rely. To this extent, ‘emeth involves a personal relationship, it is not merely an objective fact.”[1]
If we read Yeshua’s statement in its Hebrew context, we realize that He is saying something shocking. Every one of His disciples would have recognized that ‘emeth was almost never attributed to a man, and even less to a man who claimed it for himself. Yeshua’s statement is outlandish! Unless He is not like every other man. Furthermore, Yeshua’s statement is not about some theological fact or some propositional dogma. It is about the total reliability of His own words. It is about His claim to do exactly what God does – to always keep His promises. What Yeshua claims is that we can rely completely on what He says, that there is no need for even the slightest doubt or hesitation, in spite of the fact that this is obviously not true of nearly all other men. Therefore, accepting His claim must itself be a step of faith. We must decide to trust Him. ‘emeth is a condition that has to be proven in action.
We are reminded once more of the Hebraic character of Paul’s declaration, “Faith comes by hearing.” To experience Yeshua as ‘emeth requires us to venture forth into the relationship. I must obey in order to know. If I wait for all the facts before I act, I will never understand ‘emeth.
Topical Index: truth, ‘emeth, alethia, obey, know, John 14:6
[1] Jepsen, “aman,” TDOT, Vol. 1, p. 313.
Loving Abba Father we pray right now and ask You to help us through Your beloved Son Yehoshua HaMoshiach to OBEY ALL of your commandments as You intended it to be. Our spirits are so willing but our flesh are so weak. Please forgive us for these weaknesses and give us more faith/emeth to love You like You love us. Thank You Abba that You do not just wipe us from the face of the earth – I certainly deserve death. Thank You Abba for so much grace. Thank You Abba that Your power will manifest through us to bring godliness into Your world. Please help us to keep on overcoming the evil inclinations in our hearts.
In the most precious Name of Moshiach HaMoshiach we pray. We love You Abba. We want to love You with perfect love. Please help us. We cannot do this on our own. We really really need Your intervention right now. Save us from our selves. Protect us from the wicked one.
Amein and Amein.
Your sons and daugters to be in Yehoshua.
Thank you for these words, Christina, converting a theological piece into a prayer; a prayer that I am sure echoes in all of our hearts.
I am reminded of Romans 3:1-4 – “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: ‘So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.'”
I will live according to the instructions of G-d, His Torah, and then I will know. G-d’s will, what He wants in revealed fully within His word. He has given written instructions where we do not have to guess or imagine what we need to do in order to please Him. Friends, this is the basis, the foundation upon which we stand (or fall)- the word(s) of G-d.
The word of G-d is “both” written and Living. We have the written word and we, who belong to Him- have the Author and the Living Word, the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ living now residing within us- to cheer, to guide, to comfort, to exhort, to correct, to teach- He is our Living LORD!- Our ADONAI.
“He that has the Son has life.” How do I know this? How do you know this? How does anyone-anywhere know this? – “It is written.” G-d said this. “It is written” in 1 John 5.12. G-d has spoken (once again..) through another of His servants- this time it was John. G-d always speaks to a human heart- through a human heart. Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, Skip, Carl, Mary, Martha, my children, your children- all human.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of G-d, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:that the man (or woman) of G-d may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 3.16,17)
Thank you, faithful Father for the truth of your Words. Every word of G-d is pure. We shall not live by bread alone but by every word that has proceeded from your mouth. Your word, our Father, is our daily bread. It is our manna in the wilderness. Thank you for speaking your words to us- now speak your words through us. Use us, this day, our gracious G-d to speak your words to one another. Words of kindness, compassion, understanding, discernment. Words of truth and of life. Give unto us- who are learning, day by day, the words that bring life and joy and comfort and peace- your words. These are my words and this is the prayer I offer unto You- my blessed Redeemer-my only Hope. Amen.
Thank you, Carl. The heart of a disciple shows up here.
and thank you Skip. For me..- there is no higher calling..
“Just the facts, m’am” lol!- Too Greek? Ignore the facts? Ignore what is true? Two plus two does equal four- every day of the week- including Sunday or Saturday. Shall we review the facts?
How many shall we entertain? One? One hundred? One thousand? Was there really a real man in the garden by the name of Adam? Fact or fiction? (lol!-I’m not making this up!)- Just the facts.
How about Moses. (one of our favorites!) Was Moses a man? You know,- the breathing, walking, talking kind.. Fact or fiction? Pretty good stories- Someone, somewhere had a vivid imagination to write all that is written concerning this Moses character- Or did he ‘really’ (in reality) exist? Fact or fiction? Not to worry- we’ll get to feelings later..
As we continue to read the stories of the great men (and ladies) of the past- the heroes of our faith-We soon recognize and realize- these were ‘real people!’ Men and women, sheepherders,goat-herders, fisherman, etc. People, like you. People, like me. -Just the facts. This is “Greek?” Then, let it be..Greek it is. Facts is facts. Hebrew facts- (things that are true) Greek facts- well, you know- those bad ol’ Greeks. Too bad G-d, in His Sovereignty couldn’t prevent the N.T. from being written in Greek! – Why was it written in Greek anyway? – I’d love to know..Inquiring minds like me want to know..”show me” the evidence- (the facts).- Evidence that demands a verdict. Liar, lunatic or LORD- Who is Christ?
Go in to any court of law and what are we trying to cover or uncover? Either conceal or reveal- what is Truth? Go ask a man by the name of Pilate. He had TRUTH standing right in front of him! Or was this Man merely a myth?
I’m speechless, but not paralyzed or incapacitated. So, humbly I journey on.
I think the trouble with the truth is that our natural inclination in groups is to “go with the flow”
But at some point, if we are aligned with the truth, we find ourselves going “against the grain”
Which is at best stressful, and can often lead to a great deal of pain
My favorite movie on this particular theme is called “Courage Under Fire”
Where Denzel Washington plays Colonel Nathaniel Serling
And his superior officers, for good reasons, do not want the truth exposed
But in the end, Colonel Serling proves to be very reliable:
“in order to honor a soldier like Karen Walden,
we have to tell the truth, General, about what happened over there.
The whole, hard… cold truth.”
“Thus the Kotzker sought to jolt minds out of their complacency. His utterances jarred people who were accustomed to sermons in praise of piety. He unleashed pangs of anguish. It seemed that his concern was to unsettle, to question accepted habit of thought. The Kotzker refused to live in the past and felt no commitment to revere his ancestors because they were dead. Nor did he feel respect for many of this enterprising contemporaries, whom he believed to be dead, though they themselves did not know it.” A. Heschel
If you ask me, this sounds exactly like Yeshua. To live according to the truth is to shake the foundations of other men’s complacency, to destroy their false hopes and fragile illusions, to undermine their self-confidence and confront them with the holiness of God. Few men can live this way since it requires such intensity that anyone who approaches them is burned.
Yes, burned is right & most people don’t appreciate that…
when a person is so turned toward truth/HIM – that when you come into relationship with them anything that needs to be exposed to the light & the darkness dispelled – it will happen & most times they don’t like it –
for a while in my life it was well known that if you got close to me & there was anything that needed exposed in your life it would be – i don’t have many friends…
jan
Ah, but that’s not true. You do have many friends. You just don’t have many people who are living according to the world’s view that you would call friends.
SO TRUE SKIP, so true & thank you for pointing it out that way – gives me encouragement & courage to go on & be used of HIM like i ask HIM too… ♥
jan
Michael, i did see that movie more than once & every time i watch it – i like it…
the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth – so help me/us GOD… ♥
of course we/you/us don’t want the truth exposed if we are lacking in it…
i have learned in my 58 years on earth that telling the truth is always the best for us – even if it does hurt or cause stress – seems it always comes out or turns out better than the lie(s) – mainly because HE is Truth too…
jan
Powerful prayer and statements here. I was thinking as I look at my life now, I seem to resemble a salmon swimming against the current of the world. Counting the cost/ I am clinging to YHWH as I trust Him to never let me go. He is worthy!
Amen!!
Skip,
I am confused by your logic here. Perhaps you need to flesh it out more. And possibly I am too influenced by Greek thinking. Possibly.
But when you say that the Greek idea of truth is the idea of things that are factually true, you then seem to infer that the Hebrew idea of truth is not dealing with things that are factually true.
Is that what you are suggesting here, or have I misunderstood something?
I am not suggesting that Hebrew doesn’t deal with facts and what is factually true. What I am saying is that the Greek idea of truth is tied up with propositions that are either true or false and the truth or falsity is determined with the referent. So, for example, in Greek thought the statement, “God was at work in the parting of the sea,” would be determined by the observation of God’s action in this event. The truth resides in the statement, not in the event, because the event can be interpreted in many different ways. Truth is a function of justified beliefs (Plato). But in Hebrew, truth is about the action, the events, the relationship, the dynamics, not limited to the propositions about those. So Yeshua can say that he is the truth, and he doesn’t mean that propositions about him are true or false but that he embodies the essence of God and therefore the actions of the creator. I suggest reading Boman Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek. This is only to scratch the surface. The difference affect the syntax, the grammar, the lingustic patterns and more.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. It is appreciated. We’ve discussed Bowman’s book on another occasion, and you wrote a very good review of Barr’s critique of Bowman.
We both seem to be saying: Truth is what God declares it to be. He declares that through verbal propositions (Scripture) linked to events (history). The propositions are linked to the events of the past. There are propositions that are linked to events that are future. Are we dependent upon the event to provide the truth of the proposition? ANd when Sha’ul declares the whole creation declares the evidence of God, these are non-verbal propositions by God.
So when you write “So Yeshua can say that he is the truth, and he doesn’t mean that propositions about him are true or false . . .” that doesn’t seem to compute. Maybe you need to write yet another book! 🙂
One of the problems (and only ONE of many) with a blog conversation is the interruption of dialogue, the lack of immediate feedback to explain and the labor-intensive process to communicate everything in writing. A subject like this, and the epistemological question in the other on-line discussion, really requires a long sit-down to hash out all the details and implications so that we aren’t talking past each other. And frankly, please don’t take this personally, I just don’t have the time or the energy to write the book needed to detail all this right now. Therefore, I am sure my brief explanations are less than adequate. I apologize. 45 years of philosophical training often means that I assume too much. As you are well aware, there are significant problems in philosophy of language about how meaning actually works. They bear on this topic as well (e.g Barr). We can perhaps at least agree on some of the basics. God does speak truth. True propositions with biblical referents do exist. Knowing about God (His nature, attributes, etc.) may be knowing the truth or falsity of propositions within the paradigm of biblical texts. But none of this exhausts the idea of TRUE as presented in the biblical material, an idea that rests more on the reliability of relationship than it does on the propositional truth value of its referring statement. As Wittgenstein discovered before he ventured into the remarks of Philosophical Investigations, ostensive definition has truth value that cannot be reduced to tests of referents.
God speaks the truth, but what He says is not the limit of what TRUE means in Scripture.
I will try to add something about epistemology and ethics later – maybe by tomorrow. Maybe.
Thanks Skip. I appreciate very much your kindness in responding.
I have to travel to NYC this weekend. That usually means I have a few hours in airports. I’ll try to write something cogent along the way.
But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7.14)
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. (Isaiah 35:8)
Yes- we are absolutely “going against the flow”. On this “highway of holiness” we travelling and making aliyah towards our destination- (life is a pilgrammage) the New Jerusalem. We (who are His) are twice-born people living in a once-born world. We are (pursposefully, intentionallly,decidedly “different.”) We are salt and light to a world living in darkness.
The world (I should say for clarification- those who are “outside of Christ”) has two problems. (lol!-only two?). Basically- yes. They are ignorance and apathy.- But I bet you didn’t know that- and I wonder if you care! The best humor always has an element of truth.
Here we are discussing the merits of the Master and “attempting” to plummet the depths of the holy writings YHVH gave unto us- and yet- how many have never met Him and could (in reality) care less about the things of G-d? Those who come to this “blog” are hungry and thirsty after “righteousness” and according to the word(s) of G-d, – they shall be filled. I delight in G-d’s word and take great joy in His commandments, precepts for living, and His holy instructions for life. I (too) delight to do His will- that which pleases my ABBA.
Now how many of the people I work with daily may say this? I am a square peg in a round hole. I seek after holiness. I seek to be like my Master and to live a life pleasing unto Him. What do “they” seek? -I believe you already know the answer as each of us have been “called out” from our former lifestyle of sin. I could go down the list of “dont’s” and “thou shalt nots” but you know them well. We- the readers and participants of this website start from a different Source and are following a different Course. Our Rock is not their rock. “They” base their lives upon ??? and our lives are based upon a Book. One builds a house upon sand and another upon a Rock. Yes, – Who is the Rock?? If you know the answer to this- you already are light-years ahead and may count yourself to be ‘blessed.’
Speaking of blessings- (we all are partial to that word!) What does the ‘world’ – again- those who are not “in Christ”- define as “blessing?” -More “stuff and things”. What do we define as a blessing? Is it in having or in being? Have we ‘discovered’- less is more? How can these things be? Because we are His. This is (in itself) a blessing. To say it, know it, show it- “I belong to Him”- “the LORD is my Shepherd.”
Our Bible simply says: “Let the redeemed of the LORD- say so.” With our lips and with our lives- we are “ambassadors” for ADONAI, a holy nation, a “peculiar” (amen to that!) people. “Decidedly different”. -Isn’t He wonderful?