Preface: What is Truth?
10/03/2008 ©Charles Germany

Who was Jesus? Was he a man or a myth? Was he divine, or was he a mere mortal? Some maintain that Christ was a charlatan, a magician of sorts. Others refer to him as a good teacher, a philosopher. Some describe him as the Son of God. Throughout history this simple Jewish carpenter has ignited immense controversy like no other.

People have committed great deeds of sacrifice, unselfishness and kindness in the name of Jesus. And yet there is a darker side. People have killed and tortured in the name of Christ. When we look at the Crusades and the Inquisition, we must ask how did these things come to be? Did Jesus' teaching allow for these events, or was his message subverted? Is his message still being hidden from us today - twisted, abused and exploited by charlatans and opportunists?

"What is truth?" Pilate asked (John 18:38). Like most citizens of Greco-Roman society, Pilate sought after that elusive substance. 2,000 years ago Jesus had the audacity to make the claim before Pilate that he was the truth:

"Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”" (John 18:37)

The historical account unfolds like a Greek tragedy. Christ's statement unnerved Pilate. He tried repeatedly to free Jesus. He examined him and found no fault that was worthy of the death penalty. His wife had warned him in a dream to avoid this man. In the pluralistic culture of Rome where there were so many "truths", Christ had made the arrogant and outrageous statement to Pilate that that he was THE truth.

Christ's words still offend our sensibilities today. Two thousand years have passed and we act so nonchalant in modern society - so sophisticated. Surely we are not a people preoccupied with the unprofitable search for "truth". We have progressed, we have evolved beyond such juvenile pursuits. Or have we? Somewhere buried under the facade of "having it all together", we hunger for that same elusive substance that the Romans sought after - truth. We find our lives empty and incomplete - without ultimate "truth", there can be no Carpe Diem.

Aristotle called spending one's life in pursuit of the truth the practice of living "the examined life". This may be in sharp contrast to the way many of us live our lives today. Hurried on by the pressures of our daily lives, we scurry like ants within our cities and towns, unable to complete the endless yet mundane tasks of survival. Most of the time, we're too busy to think about it, but occasionally, just once in a while we stop. Like a bee separated from its hive, we temporarily lay aside our function as a mindless drone in planet earth's colony of billions. Something unexpected happens and we're left alone with our thoughts - to think for ourselves.  The questions come, crashing on the shores of our mind like a tsunami. Why is this happening? Why are we here? Where do we come from? Where are we going?

In the movie "The Matrix", the central character Neo discovers that everything around him is an illusion. All he has been taught, all he has ever known has been a fabrication generated by something else. This epiphany is revealed to him by Morpheus, who then offers him a choice. This choice presents itself to him as two pills and a glass of water. Neo may take the blue pill and forget all that has transpired. He might then live out his life in some measure of contentment, unaware that a deeper yet more painful reality exists. He may also take the red pill, which will open his eyes to the truth that eludes him, hidden by the machinery of deception that intoxicates his reality.

The blue pill can be soothing and cool. It is the comfort of familiarity, the bliss of ignorance and the state of being somewhat satisfied. If one takes the blue pill, one need never desire anything more. The red pill is hot - it burns! It can be painful, and yet it calls to each of us. We have this inner hunger pang that compels us to seek the truth. Though we may enjoy deception at a superficial level, none of us is satisfied with its illusions, however beautiful they may be. It is our nature to search, to seek and to question. At some point we might all seek to know the "real" Jesus, to strip away the deceptive facade that 2,000 years of history have built around the one we call Jesus Christ. The question remains, will we take the blue pill or the red?

Foreword | Chapter 1 - The Real Jesus  |  Bibliography

10/03/2008 ©Charles Germany