Sometimes you wonder if the information you get is actually true, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. With the advent of AI, and the ease with which images can now be altered and manipulated, along with the deliberate spread ofmisinformation on social media, how can you be sure of the truth of a matter?
Some organisations like the BBC have “Verify” procedures which check their news
reports to give some reassurance. Against this there are online statements and
Twitter posts which carry the label “Truth”, but that name hides their intent and
content.
In court cases and public enquiries, evidence must be backed up and established by
two or three witnesses. This fundamental aspect of testimony was declared in the
Bible around 3500 years ago (Deuteronomy 19.15) and remains basic to the
administration of justice in civilised societies. False witnesses sometimes try to
bolster an unworthy cause, as happened when Jesus Christ was being tried by
Pontius Pilate. They failed, but the sentence was still a serious miscarriage of justice.
To “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” is a solemn responsibility. So where can we get reliable, absolute truth? Some people assert that you can never get it, but I’m sure you can! An ancient but up to date book called the Bible claims to give us the truth from God. He says, “My Word is truth.” For centuries now millions of people have found this claim to be true and this truth reliable. And it is not something abstract, it is realised in trusting and following Jesus Christ because He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. And everyone who has trusted what He said and accepted what He offers has never been disappointed.
Written by a guest blogger
Photographs courtesy of Unsplash and others
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