Position Paper

Jonathan Stueve
4-21-15

Brit Lit.
Mr. Lindow

Throughout time one phrase has become fairly common in secular culture: Seeing is
believing. This statement normally is not seen as harmful but simply a comment on human
psychology. The odd part about the phrase is that its not true in the slightest by secular, religious

or even scientific standards. The entire life of a human is spent believing in things that they have
not seen or cannot be seen. Knowing that truth does not preside in the light or revelation but in
the darkness of the unknown. Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:21 Blessed are those who have
not seen and yet believe, this certainly may be a comment specifically on christianity but it also
has a significant degree of commentary about life as a whole. Seeing is simply not believing,
believing is believing, the act of putting faith into a truth not seen is belief. Truth cannot be seen,
whether by opinion or by evidence, truth is a lighthouse that presides in the quagmire of doubt
that one must trust is leading to safety (The Holy Bible).
Truth has been studied for many years by many philosophers. Epistemology is the study
of knowledge and determining fact from opinion, thus truth. Unfortunately, or fortunately
depending on how one personally views it, there are numerous different opinions on what is
truth. The irony of the study altogether is the effort to attempt to prove the truth of truth with
truth. Conceivably this is impossible unless you rely specifically upon things we don't
understand thus avoiding truth all together. Leading to the next paradoxical step, truth must be
proved by the absence of truth (The Meaning of Truth). A brilliant philosopher by the name of
William James in his numerous essays concerning epistemology used the ideas of inherent
truths to prove truth. He likens belief to be truth as it exists in one's mind. A common theory
among epistemologists is the theory that truth is relative to the mind of the believer this is known
as pragmatism (Pragmatism). Under this theory truth can never be proven completely true
because it all depends on the personal opinions and beliefs of the individual. James in his Will
to Believe essay likens the belief that a mother loves her son to the truth and belief of God.
There is no physical proof that a mother loves her son, yet everyone acknowledges it. Similarly
the belief in God is a belief in something that does not require physical proof only faith. This idea
completely breaks down the average perception of truth as fact and instead reveals that not all
truths must be proven through mathematical or scientific fact but can be proven to be true in the
mind of believer through belief (The Will to Believe).

Some epistemologists believe that truth can be proved through fact or vice versa, that
through truth fact can be proven. One of these philosophers, Alfred North Whitehead, believed
that truth could be proven mathematically. Whitehead followed in the footsteps laid by William
James, whom he respected greatly, yet believed that where James saw pragmatism, there was
actually mathematics (Irvine). In Whiteheads Principia Mathematica, he described methods to
prove that not only did fact exist but that math itself existed. What he originally anticipated as a
year long project turned into a decade as Whitehead found it rather difficult to prove
mathematics were even existent let alone using them to prove the existence of truth. Initially this
idea seems logical, to attempt to prove truth mathematically, in his ten year long project
however it became apparent it was less than logical and borderline impossible (Whitehead). The
concept of attempting to prove truth with truths that may or may not actually exist is a problem
that persists when attempting to explain the existence of truth by physical means. Rather, the
more likely conclusion is that to prove truth at all is a fools venture, a goose chase that leads no
where. No man can prove the existence of truth, much like religion you just have to accept that it
exists, or live life in denial.
The Bible specifically, one of the most widely known religious book of all time, has a lot
to say about truth and its existence, but much like pragmatism it is dependant on belief. The
concept of truth is talked about over 500 times in the entire Bible but several of the most famous
verses in the Bible mention it specifically. Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me... (John 14:6) This verse is one of the
foundations of the Christian church and perfectly describes what truth is. Jesus Christ is truth, or
to modify the text slightly, belief in Jesus Christ is truth. Many other verses refer to Jesus as
being the one true way and a beacon of truth. Other verses, also a common belief in christianity,
is that the Holy Bible is the one and only truth in the world. The theory that truth is held within
the mind of the believer, coincides perfectly. To believe is to know the truths revealed in the
Bible and by the Holy Spirit.

Then Pilate said to him, So you are a king? Jesus answered,

You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this
purpose I have come into the worldto bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to
him, What is truth? After he had said this, he went back outside to
the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him.
-John 18:37-38

In the narrative before the crucifixion of Christ, Pilate asks of Jesus a question that
philosophers have been asking ever since: What is Truth? Jesus gives him no answer yet we
know what Jesus is inferring, that through him and through his truth he has come to save
everyone from their sins. It is because of this question that Pilate realizes Jesus innocence. The
belief that Jesus is God and he saves us from our sins, that is the root of all truth and thus the
basis for the belief in truth. William James once said that to believe in God is to fall short of
knowledge, this was not a criticism of religion, yet a compliment. A compliment that the human
mind could look beyond the facts revealed in physical knowledge and that truth could be found
in the unknown (The Holy Bible).
Thomas even through his doubt, had truth revealed to him. Thomas needed to see to
believe, to his benefit he had the opportunity to see truth. Truth, even now, can now be found
through belief and through faith. Truth cannot be found in the physical world because the
physical world depends on truth existing in facts. You cannot see truth but it can be revealed to
you. Only when you have faith that the truth exists is it truly revealed to you and this is why truth
is not seen, it is believed.

Works Cited
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New. Oxford: U of Oxford: Printed by
John Baskett, 1719. N. pag. Print.
Irvine, Andrew David. "Alfred North Whitehead." Stanford University. Stanford University, 21
May 1996. Web. 04 Apr. 2015. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/whitehead/>.
James, William, and James Fieser. The Will to Believe 1897. South Bend, IN: Infomotions,
2001. Print.
James, William. The Meaning of Truth, a Sequel to "Pragmatism," New York: Longmans,
Green, 1909. Print.

James, William. Pragmatism, a New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking; Popular
Lectures on Philosophy. New York: Longmans, Green, 1907. Print.
Whitehead, Alfred North, and Bertrand Russell. Principia Mathematica. Cambridge: UP,
1925. Print.