The Search for Truth: A Self-Titled Post

I don't think it matters whether you are religious or not. The scene in John's gospel where Pilate interrogates our Lord is a chilling passage. Pilate, the Roman governor of what was considered to be a troublesome province has a beaten and bruised carpenter brought before him. This apparent rabbi is accused of blasphemy and, on the eve of the Sabbath, the Jewish leadership is calling for his execution. Not being one to easily fold to hysteria, Pilate calls this Jesus in for questioning. After a roundabout line of interrogation, Jesus finally says to Pilate, "You say I am a king- for this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.", to which Pilate responds, "What is truth?" (John 18:28-38)

Pilate asks, "What is truth?"

Pilate's final question is one that rings with me personally, and in my opinion, it stands as one the great questions of our age. Now, if you have been active in Catholic circles for more than five minutes, you have most likely been told about the relativistic culture of western society and the need for the acknowledgement of objective truths in order define our morality, our spirituality, and our very place in the world. This is true and I could write all about it, but men much smarter than I have taken up the task and it would be presumptuous of me to try and say something that has most likely been pondered and written about my many a scholar.

What I want to write about instead is something under the surface of the debate as to whether or not objective truth exists. I want to discuss why we even care. Why does it matter whether something is true or not? Why, if something is true, do you even have to share it? Finally, if there is truth in this world, how do we find it?

But first, a little background. I am a senior sociology student a George Mason University. I have spent the majority of my undergraduate career studying the various ways in which people socialize, and how those social worlds shape us and our relationships with one another and with society. I can confidently say after 4+ years in college that sociology is a largely liberal science that, in my opinion, tries all too often to fit the world into preconceived theories and worldviews developed by people who are far too interested in their own opinions to really care as to whether or not their theories truly fit. Now, I say this for two reasons. On the one hand, I've just wanted to say that about sociology forever. On the other hand, despite the flaws of its practitioners, I still have faith in sociology as a science, not because of what it has done or achieved, but because of what it seeks. As with any other science, whether it be natural or social, sociology asks the same question that Pilate asked of Jesus: "What is truth?"

You see, human beings are not simply passive creatures. We search for things. We search for love, happiness, companionship, community, fulfillment, and all other manner of seemingly abstract things. But, at the heart of every person and every question lies the desire to know oneself and to know the world one lives in. This is what we commonly call the search for the truth. We want to know fully, and we do not accept answers that we consider to be lies or half-truths. Somehow, we all know that there is a right way to live, and an answer to the question of who we are and how we relate to this world (hey look! I just disproved relativism!). So we reach out. We try to find the answers. We develop systems that lead us to truth and help us to know the answers to our deep and fundamental questions.

This is where all of our various scientific and religious endeavors enter the picture. And yes, I do truly mean both. As the late John Paul II said in his encyclical letter Fides et Ratio, "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth". And he's right! Think about it. We have all met  people who are on either side of the spectrum. In one corner, we have the person who relies only on faith while rejecting social and scientific proofs to the detriment of his own knowledge, and in the other corner we have the staunch atheistic whack-job who relies only on quantifiable data with no belief that there could possibly be anything more that what it laid before him. Both are angry and defensive, and the irony is that the more one drifts to one end or the the other, the more he thinks that he is rational while everyone else is crazy.

So where does this dualistic notion of investigation leave us? It leaves us stranded between two camps, feeling as if we need to choose between faith or science to answer our deep and burning questions. Well here's a lifeline my dear friend. You don't need to choose!

Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics

The Church has always said that as long as we are seeking truth, we are seeking God. In fact, that's why the Catholic Church has been the largest patron of education in all of human history, and why many of the most famous and influential scientists have been faithful Catholics. That's right, as Gregor Mendel (a monk) was developing the basic laws of genetics, he was searching the face of God. As were Roger Bacon (a friar) when he developed the scientific method, and Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc (an abbot) when he discovered the Orion Nebula. They used their reason to make great leaps in science which only deepened their faith when they sought truth in prayer and in the sacraments. These were balanced men who rose to a greater knowledge of truth through the investigation of both empirical science and religious devotion. How else can one delve into things unseen and undiscovered without faith that there is something greater than what is known?

Now, many atheists will say that the Church is against science. To that I blow an enormous and audible raspberry. I challenge them to look up the lives of the men I mentioned above as well as this list for more information. The most famous objection, of course, is the fact that Galileo was forced to recant his findings by the Church. They will also mention that the Church never officially apologized to Galileo until 1992. To that I say, our bad for the mix up, now get over it. We had bigger and more important things to worry about than Galileo's feelings.

The point is, don't be discouraged by factions of atheists and religious alike who would tell you that you must choose between religion and science, between faith and reason. In order to truly find ourselves and answer the deep questions of our hearts we need both. We need to understand how the world works. It has the potential to increase our faith in a Creator who put so much detail in the universe to be discovered and investigated. However, we have to have an understanding that we are not the be all end all. There is a God who has put within us a desire to know truth; to know him. We can have faith in a God that reveals his own beauty and intricacy in understandable and quantifiable ways while still expanding beyond them into infinity. Hopefully with our faith and reason developed and unfolded, we can answer Pilates inquiry and point to what is really true and what is really good.

Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us
God, Father in Heaven, bless us