According to the Gospel of John, after Jesus’ arrest he was eventually brought before the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to be questioned ( John 18:38 ). During their brief dialogue, Pilate utters the famous phrase, “Quid est Veritas?’, or “What is truth?”. Scholars often refer to this retort as “jesting Pilate”, as he seems to be mocking Jesus’ claim to be, or at least to know, Truth. While Pilate is but a bit player in the Biblical drama that eventually unfolds, I submit to you that we are all l
WE ALL HAVE A DOGMA IN THIS FIGHT
Speaking of dogma, it is important that I first address a particularly annoying mischaracterization of dogma because it actually helps one to understand why we have fallen into the cynical worldview presaged by Pilate two millennia ago. Non-religious types love to dismiss as mere dogma the basing of one’s belief in objective truth upon one’s religious faith. Despite the negative connotation secular moderns have tried to give it, dogma simply means the ideas or notions laid down by an authority as incontrove