"What is truth?" Pilate's question reverberates anew in the second millennium since its asking. Today, we seemed to have moved beyond presupposing truth's existence to being firmly confident of its absence and proud of our "enlightened" condition. Truth has been relegated to the realm of personal preference while it is seemingly banned from appearance in the public square. Argument ceases in the face of the unbeatable trump card, "It's true for me." We have arrived at the point where both opposite and contradictory positions are equally valid. What may work nicely for matters of chocolate and vanilla, ain't necessarily so when calculating the load bearing of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"It's either the bus or me," quipped the lecturer extolling the virtues of the "either/or" method of logic versus the "both/and" for evaluating ultimate truth or foundational principles. His humorous anecdote about looking both ways before crossing the street cut to the chase and lay waste the claims of the modern-day pundits that all "truth" is relative. In other words, it cannot be both the bus and me. No one consistently lives according to this foolish doctrine. Sooner or later, we all run headlong into the law of non-contradiction.

Before we exalt ourselves above the foolishness of others, we might ask how much of the modern view has crept into our thinking by hook or crook. We may be surprised at the influence exerted by the public square in our general outlook. As the sons of Issachar in Ancient Israel, we need to understand the times in order to know what we ought to do.

In other words, we need to sharpen our thinking. What is it about the "times" we are living in? We need to define the context in which we live and identify how it has informed us. Truth is not relative. It transcends times and cultures. The more we sharpen, the more the dull edges masking the truth fall away.

Healthy discussion is a great means toward honing thought. "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Exacuo means to sharpen.٭  We thought we’d initiate a discussion and would be quite pleased if you, our friends, would join. Visit the contact/submissions page to write us.

Charlie, Derek, Greg & Jonathan