Have you ever been puzzled by a particular character in scripture? I have; it is Pilate and his eternal question: “What is truth?” Philosophers over the millennia have yet to agree on a unanimous definition of that very straightforward query, and today the question seems more insoluble than centuries ago.
Why is a simple answer to an apparently simple question so hard to get agreement on? One thing is that individuals see and hear the same thing differently, a major factor being that each of us is shaped by a wide but different set of experiences. Ever since Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, siblings and other family members who have shared the same experiences shape them differently within themselves. This conscious or unconscious action in turn creates filters through which the world’s realities must pass on their way to becoming part of any person’s life view.
Think about how many commentators there are about ordinary things like food, travel, movies, and political choices. Rarely do two people identically experience the same thing. When the views between individuals differ in whole or in part, fertile ground is created for either conflict or harmony, depending on how porous each one’s internal filters are.
Another factor is the difference between belief and truth. Sometimes it is very hard for a person to acknowledge this can exist within themselves. The universe is so vast, it is impossible for one person to know everything about anything, but it is super easy to get comfortable in one’s own space and to remember anyone’s personal view is limited. This reality provides more fertile ground for dissension or agreement.
All this makes it difficult for many of us to change our minds. At least one scripture writer says that even Jesus changed his mind about something important. In the story about a Canaanite woman begging Jesus to heal her daughter (Matt. 15: 22-28), the passage implies that Jesus considers his mission is to be to the Israelites, not to Gentiles like this woman. What she says about getting crumbs from the master’s table seems to give Jesus pause. He says, “O woman, great is your faith. Let it be as you desire” and he cured her daughter. Here Jesus apparently broadens his understanding of his own mission as he responds to this Gentile’s plea.
Weighing all of this should, I think, make each of us a little less secure in what we see as absolute. If we do, our discussions might become a little less defensive and divisive. We might also gradually learn to give ourselves permission to change a little. Then, like philosophers through the ages, we will be a little less absolute in our conviction of what is true, and 2000 years later Pilate’s question remains unanswered.
