In Search of the Truth

             In the internet world of clickbait headlines and fantastic articles, it is not rare to see a title advertising “The Truth About Jesus” or “What Would Jesus Really Do?” or something along those lines.  While the style of these articles is a new take, the idea of revealing the ‘True’ Jesus has been around for quite a while.  Each new document or artifact found that relates to Jesus or the New Testament is eagerly awaited by the popular community, temped by the possibility of newly revealed ‘Truth’.

            This desire for the truth is not a new phenomenon.  It has not always been, however, based upon new discovery.  As far back as the second century, there were those seeking to protect the truth (407). In this case, Irenaeus did this by denouncing the New Testament Apocrypha as “spurious writings” intended to deceive the less knowledgeable (407).  Later, he would be refuted by those who believed that the apocrypha held more truth than the rigidly defined canon. This debate, still, to a degree, in motion today, has been argued from both sides countless times.  While the debate is not exactly over, it has shifted somewhat from a focus on preserving the dictated canon to a curiosity for unknown texts.

            Today, with more focus on newly discovered, previously unknown texts, there is a fascination with revealing secret information that will unveil truth.  This shift from seeking to preserve truth to pursuing new discoveries is an interesting one, something that appears to reveal a dissatisfaction with the set canon.  While both extremes have their values, it seems that both preservation and discovery are equally important, and can both reveal information, Truth or not, that is valuable to history and scholarship.