Week 4 Scripture: Galatians 2:11-14
Truth throughout the Bible is
commonly understood as reality in contrast to a mere appearance of reality. How
then does Paul use this term in relation to the gospel? Remember Paul’s
situation once more; Christian Jews opposing his message (a Law-free gospel) have
infiltrated the Galatian church and began teaching that freedom and liberation
from sin and death can only occur when one believes in Jesus and follows Jewish laws. By Paul using
the word “truth” (ἀλήθεια) he
makes a distinction between his message that in reality brings freedom, and the
message of his opponents, which only appears to bring freedom. Therefore, when
Peter chooses not to eat a meal with the Gentiles, what he is in fact doing is
agreeing with the message, which “appears” to bring freedom, but in reality
only enslaves. Peter’s gospel at this juncture is wrong, and must be adjusted
to reflect the true gospel, which he cowered from in fear of the “circumcision
group.” Interestingly here, truth for Paul is exclusive. This thought reminded
me of my experience in my undergraduate courses in college.
I
received my bachelor’s degree from the religious studies department at a state
university, and at multiple times encountered raging pluralist (the belief that
truth is relative to the individual) peers and teachers. Conversations would
usually develop around the idea that Jesus, Buddha, Vishnu, or Muhammad were
all viable paths to arriving at “truth.” Often, monotheists (belief in one
God—therefore Jews, Christians, and Muslims) would actually be chastised, or at
least accused of reckless religious practice, if they limited truth to a
singular figure. I heard a number of Christians/monotheists labeled as “close
minded” or merely stamped as “religious fundy’s.” Paul is his claim to the
“truth of the gospel” is making clear that there is a wrong and a right path in
the discovery to truth. Paul claims the gospel—namely that trust in Jesus alone
brings salvation to the world—is exclusive to the reality of truth. Therefore,
for Paul, and all Christians, multiple paths are not viable options to
obtaining or receiving truth; only Jesus can provide this truth (John 14:6). My
conversations with peers and teachers were always interesting because they
taught that belief in one path was naïve and non-progressive, and if humanity
wanted to really move beyond the barbarism of religion it needed to accept that
all paths were right. The problem with this latter belief is that it too is a
claim about truth, namely that all religions lead to “truth.” Why should their
truth claim be superior to mine? Do they have more evidence than I do?
Certainly not! Their claim is merely another within the scheme of religious belief,
and Christians should not be ridiculed, feel bad, or cower because of their
claims in a singular truth regarding the gospel and figure of Jesus.
Questions To Ponder:
1.
Do you think, “All roads lead to God”? Why? How
does your belief line up with Paul’s thoughts in Galatians 2:14?
2.
Have you ever been ridiculed for believing that
truth is only found in Jesus? What happened? How did you deal with it?
3.
Have you ever been embarrassed to speak up about
your belief in Jesus as truth because you thought someone might make fun of
you? Explain what happened. How can you overcome that fear?
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