Let’s talk a little more about truth!

Truth by definition is unique. There can only be one truth, and we acknowledge anything as a fact, we are immediately saying that everything else is false or illegitimate.

Truth is also essential. Without truth there would be no life. Truth is life-giving. For example, if you are about to cross the road, you are going to want to know the truth about whether any vehicles are coming. So you look left and right, at least you should do, and then you make a truth statement about the condition of the road. Nothing is coming! It’s safe to cross. If this statement is true, you live. If not, you might die.

This illustration tells us something else about truth. Truth must be both coherent in and of itself, and correspondent to reality.

So, if I say, ‘there’s a bus bearing down on me, it’s safe to cross’, you would think me foolish, illogical or crazy. There’s no coherence within this statement.

Similarly, if I say, ‘there’s nothing coming’, when a bus is bearing down on me, you would equally think me foolish … or perhaps in need of a visit to the optician. You see, the statement didn’t correspond with the reality.

And so as we come to consider two books, the Bible and the Quran, we are on a search for truth. These books do not agree, and therefore they both cannot be true. To understand which one is true, we must ask three questions:

1. Is there coherence within the book?
2. Is there correspondence between the book and the reality historically and presently?
3. Does the book lead us to life?

Examining the Books

• The Bible

• The Quran