‘What is Truth?’:
Truth and Christology in the Johannine Literature
Pontius Pilate can lay claim to an encounter with the earthly Jesus, and yet unlike many of John’s readers over the centuries, he walked away from the encounter blind to the truth that is Jesus Christ. The iconic question, ‘What is truth?’ (John 18:38 NRSV), reverberates through time – the words of a man who has completely missed the point. He does not wait for an answer from Jesus. Nonetheless Pilate finds Jesus innocent and recommends his release. Believing himself in complete temporal control of the situation, Pilate attempts to have Jesus released, but ultimately fails. Pilate’s question is the question we take up in this essay: What is truth in John’s gospel and the epistles of John, and how is it related to Johannine Christology? We begin with an examination of the use of the word á¼€λá½µθεια in the fourth gospel and its connection to the revelation of the ΛÏŒγος. Jesus is revealed in the prologue to be the incarnate word, but also the incarnate truth. His claim to be the God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai is the cause of an early attempt to kill Jesus. It is a clear claim to divinity. Truth it seems is deeply related to who the divine Christ is. We then briefly discuss some of the dialogue between Jesus and Pilate, who seems completely disinterested in the truth. Finally we turn to the First Epistle of John where several similar themes are present.