Imagine a murder trial. Long before the judge enters the courtroom, before the attorneys make their opening statements, and before the first witness is sworn, the truth already exists. Either the accused committed the crime, or he did not. Nothing said during the trial changes that reality. The proceedings exist to discover, as best humanly possible, what already is.
The witness tells what he saw, though incomplete.
The detective pieces together evidence that others overlook.
The prosecutor emphasizes one line of evidence.
The defense attorney tests that evidence, looking for weaknesses or alternative explanations.
The jury weighs everything presented and decides whether the required standard has been met.
The judge renders a legal decision based on the evidence before the court, not on omniscience.
No one in the courtroom possesses the whole picture, yet each contributes to the pursuit of the same truth.
Scripture often describes knowledge in much the same way. God knows reality completely. Human beings know it partially. “Now we know but in part.”
That observation explains more than we
Parents know things their children do not. Physicians know things their patients do not. Historians reconstruct the past from surviving evidence. Scientists investigate creation through observation and experiment. Judges determine legal responsibility. Church elders interpret Scripture. None of these offices possesses exhaustive knowledge, yet each has a legitimate relationship to truth.
Perhaps this also explains why sincere and intelligent people often disagree.
Disagreement does not mean truth is relative. It reflects the simple reality that people approach the same subject from differing perspectives, with different evidence, experiences, and assumptions.
We all interpret reality through existing frameworks. Modern psychology calls them paradigms and cognitive biases. Scripture simply assumes that human understanding is always shaped by more than observing raw data.
Finally, Christians understand that Truth is embodied in the divine Logos, personified in Jesus Christ. No one is presumed to be known by others completely, nor in precisely the same way.
Article posted with permission from Bill Evans
