The judge asked: “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

The ten words “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, gets to the crucial point in this phrase used for centuries to “quicken the conscience” of those giving testimony in court. A lie is commonly what we might call a half-truth – or even mostly all true! It’s simply not the whole truth. We’ve all seen the crime shows where the evidence all appears to lead to one conclusion. But at the last minute, another piece of evidence reveals the falsehood and the true criminal. Indeed, partial truths are frequently used to support a grand lie.

Thus, the grand lie of evolution starts with the truth of adaptation and natural selection. But then are added untruths, conjecture and wishful thinking on the part of rebellious mankind. And natural selection – to support evolution – becomes a grand lie. The truth is that natural selection cannot migrate out from the created “kinds” – the distinct species groups. The truth is that natural selection and mutations cannot add new creation, new complexity and new information to the genome. It can only shuffle the genetics that are already there!

The truth is that in nature the laws of probability are governed and indeed overwhelmed by the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics – the incessant move toward increasing entropy (disorder). The truth is that new specified complexity requires an outside energy and intelligence! The truth is that creation requires God.

Epitomizing the Nazi genius of propaganda under Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels famously and correctly said: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will come to believe it yourself.” Herein lies the secret to the grand lie of evolution, and to so much of the other disinformation being thrust upon us in the world today.

Climate Change as Climate Alarmism, for example, begins with the undeniable truth that climate changes. But added to a few truths about greenhouse gases are a lot of assumptions, conjecture and agenda-driven grant money for desired research outcomes with computer models. Another grand lie then becomes the drumbeat that is heard everywhere and has been now for 30+ years: We must unite globally to reset world economics and save the planet!

Subverting democracy under the pretense of protecting it is another grand lie. The lie includes people saying: “We must suppress their ‘disinformation’” (which is frequently truth) “in order to advance ‘our truth’” (which is frequently disinformation). And so they feel we don’t actually need free speech at all! They want more authoritarian powers to target political opponents who dissent from their approved narratives – whether that be disagreement with school boards about gender confusion and race theory indoctrination, or disagreement about COVID policy, or pointing out the various problems in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. They cannot and will not allow true reporting or debate on these issues!

Interestingly, Goebbels also said, “This is the secret of propaganda: those who are to be persuaded by it should be completely immersed in the ideas of the propaganda, without ever noticing that they are being immersed in it.” This is the great subtlety of the deception.

These grand lies are from “the father of [lies]” (John 8:44), “which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), i.e., the devil. And they are quite ugly upon examination. Lies, like any evil thing, are inherently ugly. Nobody, not even the worst perpetrators of the worst crimes, would honestly describe immoral acts as “beautiful”. The morally deformed is not beautiful.

Here is where the truth of Biblical Christianity also shines through uniquely. We believe in the Creator Almighty who established His original perfect order and is truly glorious in His perfection. In addition, we define human nature as inherently flawed because of Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God and to listen to the devil. Understanding the truth about man’s depravity is satisfying because it is true and makes our redemption all the more lovely! Our liberty in Christ from the ugly bondage of evil is truly a beautiful thing!

Truth is vital. Without truth, we are left, in the end, with meaninglessness. We are left unable to detect propaganda, lies and disinformation. Therefore, we are at the mercy of evil, as well as despair. But the absolute truth of God – His righteousness and complete integrity, His omniscience and holiness, His love of liberty and His word – grounds us with meaning, purpose, joy and goodness so that we are able to trust Him and love Him.

We rightly appreciate the created beauty and freedom that God has given us. It is ultimately an appreciation of perfection – a perfection which derives from and is a joyous, marvelous reflection of the truth and nature and personality of the Lord. He is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And that truth is beautiful! As the poet John Keats wrote, “Beauty is truth, truth is beauty.”

Divine beauty is characteristic of God and is vastly superior to even the very best of created splendors. Our great calling is to dwell in His house, “to gaze upon His beauty and to inquire in His temple,” as the Psalmist expresses his desire. The Lord is the purest loveliness and the very essence of joy and wisdom, perfect in all His ways without end.

So it is no wonder that saints throughout the centuries have experienced an inexpressible delight in worship, prayer and studying His word, even though the Truth is veiled in this fallen world. Through the lenses of our redeemed nature, we can appreciate the Lord as we survey the reflections of His creation. We were redeemed for an interior, supernatural joy as we indulge and even over-indulge our new nature! It is the meaning of “to be blessed”.

“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25). May you be blessed in the indulging of the new nature that is given us through faith in our great Creator and Redeemer, looking into the perfect law of liberty and continuing therein!

(Image: Sailboats of Lies – created with elements from Pixabay.com and courtesy of  Willard Outdoor Photography)

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