truth

Truth and God’s Communication

The Curious PilgrimLeave a comment

(Hebrews 1:1–12 as a foundation)

Hebrews begins with a profound claim: God communicates. Not randomly, not vaguely, but purposefully and relationally. To understand how God communicates, we first need to ask a deeper question:

1. What Is Truth?

Truth is not merely correct information or factual accuracy. In Scripture, truth is:

  • That which is faithful and trustworthy
  • That which corresponds to reality as God intends it
  • That which leads toward life, justice, love, and wholeness

Biblically, truth is not just something we know—it is something we live.

Jesus himself redefines truth when he says:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

So, truth is ultimately personal and relational, revealed most fully in God’s character and actions.

2. God Communicates Truth Through Scripture

“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets…” (Hebrews 1:1)

Scripture is the written witness of God’s interaction with humanity over time.

Through Scripture, God communicates truth by:

  • Story (creation, exodus, exile, resurrection)
  • Law (justice, care for the vulnerable)
  • Poetry and prayer (Psalms, wisdom literature)
  • Prophetic critique (calling out injustice and false worship)
  • Gospel witness (the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus)

Important:
Scripture does not give us simple answers to every question, but it gives us:

  • A moral compass
  • A vision of God’s character
  • A story we are invited to inhabit

Truth in Scripture is not static—it invites interpretation, humility, and ongoing engagement.

3. God Communicates Truth Through Tradition

Tradition is the living memory of the faith community.

This includes:

  • Creeds and confessions
  • Worship practices and sacraments
  • Teachings of the early church
  • The accumulated wisdom of generations

Tradition reminds us that:

  • We do not read Scripture alone
  • Truth is discerned in community
  • The Spirit has been at work long before us

Tradition does not replace Scripture—but it guides and grounds our reading of it, helping us avoid purely private or self-serving interpretations.

4. God Communicates Truth Through Experience

God also speaks through lived experience:

  • Suffering and healing
  • Love and loss
  • Community and loneliness
  • Joy, injustice, and longing

The Bible itself is full of people who learned truth through experience:

  • Israel learned freedom through slavery and exodus
  • The disciples learned love through failure and forgiveness
  • The early church learned inclusion through conflict and growth

Experience tests and deepens truth. It asks:

  • Does this belief lead to compassion or cruelty?
  • Does it produce life or harm?
  • Does it reflect the love we see in Christ?

Truth that cannot survive real life is incomplete truth.

5. God Communicates Truth Through Reason

Reason is God’s gift that allows us to:

  • Think critically
  • Discern wisely
  • Ask honest questions
  • Weigh consequences

Reason helps us:

  • Interpret Scripture responsibly
  • Engage science, history, and culture
  • Recognize complexity and nuance
  • Resist manipulation, fear, and false authority

Faith is not the absence of reason—it is reason illuminated by trust in God.

Hebrews itself models reasoned argument, carefully interpreting Scripture and history to help believers understand Christ.

6. Christ as the Unifying Truth

Hebrews makes a decisive claim:

“In these last days God has spoken to us by a Son.” (Hebrews 1:2)

Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason all find their coherence in Jesus.

If a claim:

  • Contradicts Christ’s love
  • Promotes fear or domination
  • Dehumanizes others
  • Ignores mercy and justice

…it fails the test of truth, no matter how religious it sounds.

7. Why This Matters Today

In a world flooded with information, opinions, propaganda, and fear-based messaging, Hebrews reminds us:

  • Truth is not loudest voice—it is faithful voice
  • Truth is not power—it is love rightly lived
  • Truth is not abstract—it is embodied in Christ

God still speaks—but requires discernment, humility, and listening hearts.

A Closing Reflection

Truth is not something we possess.
It is something we walk toward.

God communicates truth:

  • Through Scripture, to shape our vision
  • Through Tradition, to anchor our faith
  • Through Experience, to refine our understanding
  • Through Reason, to guide our discernment

And above all, through Jesus, who shows us that truth is not just spoken—it is lived in love.

Truth and Brightness: Telling the Whole Story of America

The Curious PilgrimLeave a comment

Recently, President Trump criticized the Smithsonian museums for putting “too much emphasis” on slavery and not enough on the brightness of America. His words made me pause, because they touch on something I’ve wrestled with for a long time.

When I was in school, we were never really taught the full ugliness of slavery or the genocide of Native Americans. The story was simplified, scrubbed clean, and made to look like progress was always smooth and triumphant. Only later in life did I begin to see how much had been left out.

Just the other night, I watched the film Glory—the story of the first Black regiment to fight in the Civil War. I was amazed and deeply moved. Their courage, sacrifice, and dignity were part of the fight not only to preserve the Union but also to expand the meaning of freedom itself. Yet I realized I had gone most of my life without ever knowing that story.

The truth is this: we cannot hide what we have done. To tell the story of America is to tell both the light and the darkness. If we only celebrate the “bright side,” we are not telling the truth. And without truth, there can be no healing, no reconciliation, and no deeper greatness.

Scripture reminds us:

“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32)

Jesus’ words point us to a freedom that is rooted in honesty. Truth may hurt, but it heals. Truth may unsettle, but it sets us free. If we want America to be strong, hopeful, and bright, we must be willing to face the shadows as well as the light.

A Prayer for Truth and Healing

Lord of light and truth,
We give you thanks for the blessings of this land and for the people who dreamed, built, and sacrificed for freedom.
We confess that our history is scarred with slavery, injustice, and violence against the vulnerable.
Give us courage to face these truths without fear.
Give us wisdom to teach the next generation both the brightness and the brokenness of our past.
And give us hope that, by your grace, honesty will lead us to healing, and truth will make us free.
In the name of Jesus, who is the Truth. Amen.

Pilgrim’s Reflection: The pilgrim’s path is always walked in truth—for only by facing the shadows can we see the fullness of the light.