Well, I just got back from watching "The DaVinci Code."

It was...intriguing. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but entertaining enough to hold one's interest. Little re-watch value, I'm afraid. But definitely intriguing.

Truth. According to Augustine, all men desire it. Certainly, even if some do not, it can be said quite realistically that all men wonder about it. Wonder about truth. Pontius Pilate did.

"Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, 'Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.' Pilate saith unto him, 'What is truth?'" (John 18:37-38)

What is truth? According to Christ Himself, truth is that which liberates us, which grants us freedom. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)

There are two things, I am convinced, that every man seeks, about which every man wonders, and which every man desires in his heart of hearts, where his deepest convictions reside. The first is happiness, and this we all seek with great enthusiasm indeed. The second is truth, and of that many among us are willfully ignorant. Truth is that which, if it could be understood, would unlock the secrets to life, the universe...and everything. And, I am convinced, that truth can be understood, and it does do just that.

I sought truth, as all do. Nearly all my life, I sought truth. The irony of it all is that, due to my background and upbringing, truth was under my very nose from the time I spoke my first words. No, better yet, truth was laid in my lap from the moment I was capable of understanding what a lap was...and I set it aside. I turned away from it, and sought truth down another path. And, when that path failed, I turned to another. And another; but never did I return to that original truth which I had deserted, and in fact never accepted.

What is truth? I do not claim to understand truth because of my own ingenuity, or because I possess greater understanding than anyone else, or because of anything inherent to me, but simply because, at the age of five, I learned to read. And once I began to read, I learned to reason. This is not difficult, and so the quest for truth, though abandoned by many as it was by me, is a simple quest the end of which can be attained by pure and simple faith, unpolluted and unadulterated by sacraments or deeds or anything inherent to us as humans. Faith. The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

What is truth? "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (I Cor. 15:1-4)

And so, I continued seeking truth in all the wrong places. I see now just how closely I avoided smashing into it, just how near I came to finally realizing my own foolishness. But, sadly, I was too thick-skulled and too bloody stupid to come around to the logical conclusion myself. Until, finally, on February 2nd, 2003, when I had exhausted all my options and had left truth with no other alternative, it smashed into me with all the subtlety of a hurled anvil. It took me by the collar, and forced me to acknowledge it as what it was: the truth. And from there, I had no choice. How could I deny what was so obvious, and had been so obvious, yet had eluded my grasp for so long? The hope for every man, passed down through the ages by word and deed. Ignored by most, but transfixing nearly all, and dramatically affecting everything with which it came into contact.

What is truth? "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Is 53:5-7)

The quest for truth is not an ignoble one. But it is one that should not be undertaken lightly, for if to know the truth is to be free, then surely to not know the truth is to be enslaved! And that is just what we all are apart from Christ. Enslaved. Slaves to our sin, slaves to our father, the Devil. Slaves to ourselves.

Do not fear truth, my friends. Do not fear to seek it out, do not fear the evidence which can only illuminate truth, and shatter deception. But understand that the quest for truth has never been and never will be the quest for the so-called Holy Grail. It is not a quest for a tomb, or an ark, or an artifact, or anything made by human hands. Truth cannot be held, it cannot be touched or manipulated or fathomed, but it can be known. It can be known for the sole reason that the quest for truth is not a quest to answer the question, "What is truth?" It is a quest to understand the answer to the question, "Who is truth?"

What is truth? Who is truth? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:1,14)

Truth is Christ. Truth is Christ crucified, and him raised from the dead three days later. Truth is the biggest problem in higher criticism, the essential figure in proved theology, the key to all knowledge, the doorway of deliverance, the highway of holiness, and the pathway to peace and perfection. Do not accept those quests for truth which have fallen astray as though they were fact, my friends. History, and historical evidence, is on our side. The reliable biblical- and extra-biblical evidence strongly affirms the Jesus' own predictions, that he would be crucified and then raise from the dead three days later, came true with supernatural accuracy. But it is not on the basis of historical fact that truth can be known. Rather, on the basis of human faith. The substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. Blessed are they which believe, yet have not seen.

And, in the end, the answer came directly from Jesus Christ's mouth. What is truth? Who is truth? What is the purpose of truth, and why must we come to know it?

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:6