What is Truth?
“Infallible Proofs”
by Walter Giddings
May 3, 2026
(John 18). How do we know that something, or someone, is true? [Repeat] Who, here, has never been tricked? It would be fair to warn you. This is a trick Question. Centuries of Philosophers have wrestled with the nature of truth, reality and perception. Reading much of it is a special kind of torture. This is especially true when philosophers dive into the nature of Adamic perception. What say you? (John 18:37-38). The age-old Question, “What is truth?”, appears here!
p 37 Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? Jesus answer-
ed, Thou sayest that I am a king.
To this end was I born, and for this
cause came I into the world, that I
should bear witness unto the truth.
Everyone that is of the truth heareth
my voice.
c 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is
truth? And when he had said this,
he went out again unto the Jews, and
saith unto them, I find in him no
fault at all.
John chapter eighteen.
“What is truth?” Did I say this is a trick question?
“What is truth?”
The trick in the Question is this: there is no need to answer it! The Question was answered already, almost 20 Centuries ago. Little did Pilate know. (John 17:17). The Answer was given the evening before, in Prayer, before Jesus and the disciples entered into the Garden of Gethsemane.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.
John chapter seventeen.
“Thy word is truth.” What Scriptures do that bring to mind? (Ephesians 6:13-14). Is “truth” the 1st piece of Armour we put on?
p 13 Wherefore take unto you the
whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all to stand.
c 14 Stand therefore, having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on
the breastplate of righteousness;
Ephesians chapter six.
Can we perceive that the 1st piece of armour we put on is the loin girdle of truth? Are nearly all the other pieces of armour we put on connected to the loin girdle of truth?
(Romans 1:18). Beginning in Verse 18of the 1st chapter in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Paul begins his classic description of the descent into depravity. It begins with something men do with the truth!
18 For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans chapter one.
Ungodly and unrighteous men “hold the truth in unrighteousness”!!! Is what we do with the truth pivotal?
Was what Eve did with the truth pivotal? And she was in her forever-living body! When she ate the forbidden fruit, did she corrupt herself? (2 Corinthians 11:3). And when Adam ate, also, did he corrupt himself likewise?
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as
the serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtilty, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ.
Second Corinthians chapter eleven.
Did Eve begin to think she was expert on what is good, and what is evil? (Hebrews 5:13-14). Since we are the corrupted seed of the guilty pair, how much more are we babes concerning what is good and what is evil?
p 13 For everyone that useth milk is
unskilful in the word of righteous-
ness: for he is a babe.
c 14 But strong meat belongeth to
them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both good
and evil.
Hebrews chapter five.
“Have their senses exercised” in what?! The “strong meat” of what?! (Look back to Verse 13). We want to be skillful in what? “The word of righteousness.”
(Return to Romans, this time the last chapter, 16:27). Who “only” is the real expert on what is good and what is evil?
27 To God only wise, be glory through
Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
Romans chapter sixteen.
(Ephesians 5:17). What should we understand from this?
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the
Lord is.
Ephesians chapter five.
We are bombarded by Media sources with truth claims! How well are our “senses exercised to discern both good and evil”? Shall we examine a few truth claims to test our discernment?
“Believe nothing just because a so-called wise man said it.
Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held.
Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books.
Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin.
Believe nothing just because someone else believes it.
Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.”
Is there something innately troubling about this claim? What do you see? What do we perceive here? Anybody?!
Do we see quotation marks? This truth claim is attributed to the writings of Buddha. Has anyone here ever heard of J. Warner Wallace? J. Warner Wallace is the 3rd generation Jim Wallace of the Torrance, California Police Department. At the time he posted the Buddha quote on his Web Site, Cold Case Christianity. com, he had been a cold case investigator for the Department for 8 years. His work has been featured on television shows, Dateline, Court TV and Fox News. J. Warner Wallace is the only Christian in his family. The rest are Atheists, and some Mormons. Since Jim was a self-described “thoughtful” Atheist, he decided to investigate Jesus Christ as a cold case Murder. He was astonished at what he found in The Scriptures! Using the Principles of Cold Case Investigation Jim Wallace wrote the Book Cold Case Christianity to publish his findings. One of our members at Christian Reform Fellowship put together a sampling of Wallace’s guest Lectures and Broadcasts from Cold Case Christianity.com on a DVD. The 2 Titles for my source are “Four Lies the Culture Tells Us” and “The Case for the Truth”. J. Warner Wallace also played himself as an expert witness on the existence of God in the movie “God is Not Dead” Part II. This was the story of a high school teacher fielding an honest question from a high school student, honestly, who was not only fired, but embroiled in a court case where the Prosecution venomously sought to pull her Teacher Certification! It pictured an effort to murder her living. Shades of AOC’s comment: Deplatforming works!”
Does anything trouble us innately about the Buddha Quotation? What do we discern here? Within the Buddha Quotation, who is the final arbitrary Authority on “What is truth”? Does “what is truth?” abide with the subject: us?
Would that mean Objective Truth does not exist? Even as a subjective truth claim it commits suicide! How can we objectively know that Buddha’s truth claim is true? Is this a self-refuting claim?
Shall we examine another popular truth claim?
“Truth cannot be known.”
What thought occurs to us? What Question should we ask of someone who says this? Could we imagine a world where Truth is always unknown? Is the Question to ask obvious? How do we know that’s true if truth cannot be known? Does this truth claim, “Truth cannot be known”, commit suicide? Does this eat itself like a self-consuming cannibal? Is this a self-refuting claim? According to J. Warner Wallace this truth claim has a cousin. This cousin is a Quotation from a bespectacled lady named Molly Ivins. She looks for all the world like she is all dressed up for the family to come to the Institution to take her out for dinner and bring her right back. Here is what Molly Ivins said:
“I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil.
And that no one knows the truth.”
--- Molly Ivins.
Does that sound a lot like “Truth cannot be known.”? Does this claim sentence the claimant to a lifetime of evil ignorance? Does this truth claim also a self-refuting claim? Do we know that no one knows the truth is true?
Here is one more truth claim that seems to increase in popularity daily:
“We cannot trust the truth of anything unless we test or verify it with science.”
What is the 1st question that pops into our mind? Can we test or verify this truth claim with science?
How bold are The Scriptures with Truth claims? (John 14:5-6). Here Jesus entertains a question from the Apostle Thomas.
p 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest; and
how can we know the way?
c 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John chapter fourteen.
“I am ... the truth”. If the Verb “to be”, here, constitutes an = sign from an equation in Algebra, can we then say that Jesus equates the Truth to himself? Shall we ask ourselves a companion question? What or Where is our 2nd Witness for that?
(Ephesians 4:21). How bold is it that Jesus equates the Truth to Himself?
21 If so be that ye have heard him,
and have been taught by him, as
the truth is in Jesus:
Ephesians chapter four.
“The truth is in Jesus.” Does this confirm we all have the same Master Teacher?!
We have already shared Jesus’ Prayer before he entered into the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His arrest. [John 17:17. “Sanctify them through thy word. Thy Word is Truth.”] (1 John 5:7). Is Jesus also called “The Word”?
7 For there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.
First John chapter five.
Are things equal to the same thing equal to each other? Are they?
(1 Thessalonians 5:21). Are we taught to examine everything?
21 Prove all things; hold fast that
which is good.
First Thessalonians chapter five.
(Acts 1:1-3). Is there such a thing as “infallible proofs”?
c The former treatise have I made,
O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach,
p 2 Until the day when he was taken
up, after that he through the Holy
Ghost had given commandments un-
to the apostles whom he had chosen:
c 3 To whom also he shewed himself
alive after his passion by many infal-
lible proofs, being seen of them forty
days, and speaking of the things per-
taining to the kingdom of God:
Acts chapter one.
“He shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs.” “Thy word is truth.” “The truth is in Jesus.” “The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.” Do people who “walk in the spirit” [Galatians 5:16, 25], and not in the flesh, have a firmer grasp on the nature of“Truth”? Are we able to understand that Jesus equates the truth to himself, the Word is equated to the truth, and Jesus is equated to the Word! Are things equal to the same thing equal to each other?
To see if we can answer that Question, shall we test ourselves in a hostile situation where a Christian encounters multiple accusations? If somebody we have just now met states there are no objective moral truth claims, how should we reply? And if he uses that as the basis to condemn all Christians as arrogant, judgmental, intolerant jerks, how do we answer with a Christian demeanor?
Shall we discuss how brothers in a local church body can disagree? When that happens, should we follow Pastor Everett’s advice, and find where we disagree interesting? Having entered into my ninth decade of life, I have noticed that the most common cause of our disagreements results from using the same word but having different definitions for that word! If we are unaware that has occurred between us and another brother, could we be at a loss to understand what is happening? This trick is being played upon Christians by those who enjoy telling us our Bibles command us to “Judge not that ye be not judged.” (!)
J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity.com discovered that those who enjoy taunting Christians operate on a changed definition of the term “Tolerance”!
“tolerance” [tol-er-uh-ns]
“All views have equal merit
and none should be considered
better than another.”
--Cold Case Christianity.com
And those taunting the Christians argue Scientific Theories are constantly changing, and no scientist can know the truth! Therefore “you Christians are a mob of intolerant jerks”! How do we reply to these taunting accusations with Christian demeanor?
(2 Timothy 2). Instinctively, because of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” [Colossians 1:27], we leap to the defense of “The Truth of the Holy Scriptures”! Did Jesus, under the Temptations of the Devil in the Wilderness, have occasion to leap to the defense of “The Truth of the Holy Scriptures”? When the Devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of this world in a moment of time, did He say in Luke 4:6, “All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me? Did Jesus choose to argue with The Devil about all the kingdoms of this world being delivered unto him? There seems to be no record of that in Luke 4, nor in Matthew 4. Were those kingdoms His to give? In the Fall did Adam abdicate the Throne of Dominion? Do we have a 2nd Witness in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 that Old Serpent is the small “g” god of this world? Did Jesus use man’s wisdom? As Christians being taunted with accusations can we use God’s Wisdom?
In 2 Timothy 2:26 do we have wise instruction on how we can reply with Christian demeanor? Can we find among these that taunt Christians some poor wretched sheep that need mercy, loving kindnesses, even our willingness to sacrifice for the sake of a lost sheep ensnared at the pleasure of the devil’s will? Or are sheep the smelliest, stupidest, most irritating creatures in all creation?
26 And that they may recover them-
selves out of the snare of the devil,
who are taken captive by him at his
will.
Will The God of our Fathers judge how well we handle this? Are our instructions in The Scriptures? (Verses 24-25).
p 24 And the servant of the Lord must
not strive; but be gentle unto all men,
apt to teach, patient,
c 25 In meekness, instructing those
that oppose themselves if God perad-
venture will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth.
Second Timothy chapter two.
Can we give them repentance? Have we all been working way too hard? Who “only” gives repentance? “If God peradventure will give them repentance.” Why do we still insist on doing God’s Job for Him?
How easy is it to apply Verses 24-25, when our families and friends have the inside track on how to get under our skin and enrage us to the max?!
Is it possible to apply these Verses to those who taunt us? Yes! The answer is Yes (!), because they are trying to provoke a reaction from us. We can control our reaction.
J. Warner Wallace presents the older definition of “Tolerance”:
Tolerance tol-er-uh-ns
a fair, objective, and permissible attitude to-
ward those whose opinions, practices, race,
religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s
own.
--- J. Warner Wallace. Cold Case Christianity.
If you are worried about the word “permissible”, the synonyms for it mean that it is right in the eyes of the LORD. To illustrate, shall we turn to (Deuteronomy 4:19)?
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes
unto heaven, and when thou seest
the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
even all the host of heaven, shouldest
be driven to worship them, and serve
them, which the LORD thy God hath
divided unto all nations under the
whole heaven.
Deuteronomy chapter four.
“Which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.” As we can easily see God forbids us to do that but permits all nations to worship them. A religion that requires the extermination of the uncorrupted races, as the Koran does the Caucasian Race, is not covered under “permissible”!
Is race God’s stamp of ownership on His Creation? Can we see by comparison that the older definition of “Tolerance” is different from the new subtle counterfeit definition of “Tolerance”? J. Warner Wallace in his classes on Truth shows us how to deal with the changed definition of “Tolerance”! If we disagree with the statement “All views have equal merit”, would those loyal to the new definition of “Tolerance” be able to have “a fair, objective, and permissible attitude” toward our claim “Not all views have equal merit”? Can the new definition of “Tolerance” tolerate our claim some views are bad, some views are dangerous, and some views, like torturing babies for the fun of it, are inherently Evil!!! Would that mean that the new definition of “Tolerance” is inherently “intolerant”? Does this new definition eat itself? Is it dead on arrival? Is it Stillborn?! Is this new definition of “Tolerance” a self-refuting truth claim?!
Every male Muslim between the ages of 9-12 is taught in American Mosques to dream of being a hero of the faith by entering every Caucasian household in America as the soldiers of Allah to kill every male and female with the exception of virgins who will be kidnapped to bear children to Allah. Should we adopt the new definition of “Tolerance”, and say this View is equally meritorious with our views?!
Would Muslims tolerate the view that certain parts of the Koran should not be taught in American Mosques? Do we remember that the Koran commands the faithful to lie to infidels? Would Christians tolerate the view that certain portions of The Bible should not be taught in “the house of God”? Is that already practiced in every denominational church in America? Is this going to be a fair fight? Would our view that Muslims are inherently unfit for citizenship in these United States be equally meritorious? Would the views of the Koran which commands the death of the infidels be equally meritorious with the views of our Bibles?
(1 Peter 4:17). Is American Israel aware that secret cells of Muslim males of military age are in every one of these United States? Are there too few Watchmen on the Wall in American Israel?
17 For the time is come that judgm-
ent must begin at the house of God:
and if it first begin at us, what shall
the end be of them that obey not the
gospel of God?
First Peter chapter four.
“What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
Bibliography
John 18:37-38. “I should bear witness unto the truth.”
John 17:17. “thy word is truth.”
Ephesians 6:13-14. “the loin girdle of truth”
Romans 1:18. “hold the truth in unrighteousness”
2 Corinthians 11:3. “the serpent beguiled Eve”
Hebrews 5:13-14 “to discern both good and evil”
Romans 16:27. “To God only wise”
Ephesians 5:17. “the will of the Lord”
To test our discernment: quotation from Buddha, “Believe nothing”
Another popular truth claim: Truth cannot be known.
Molly Ivins quote: “ignorance is the root of all evil”
We cannot trust the truth of anything unless we test or verify it with science.
John 14:5-6. “I am ... the truth.”
Ephesians 4:21. “the truth is in Jesus”
1 John 5:7. “the Word”
1 Thessalonians 5:21. “Prove all things”
Acts 1:1-3. “infallible proofs”
[Matthew 7:1] “Judge not that ye be not judged.”
“tolerance” “all views have equal merit”
[Colossians 1:27] “Christ in you the hope of glory”
[Luke 4:6] “for that is delivered unto me”
[2 Corinthians 4:3-4] the small g god of this world
2 Timothy 2:26. “taken captive”
2 Timothy 2:24-25. “instructing those that oppose themselves”
The older definition of Tolerance: “permissible attitude”
Deuteronomy 4:19. Worship of the host of heaven.
1 Peter 4:17. “What shall the end be of them who obey not the gospel”
