What is truth?

Abstract

"“What is truth?”1 It is hard to imagine a more profound question with more momentous consequences. A quest for truth has driven the world’s greatest philosophers and theologians. “What is truth?” is also the question Pilate asked Jesus according to John. Has Pilate therefore gone among the philosophers? Few are prepared to argue this. More likely, Pilate’s question has several layers of meaning, which is why it has intrigued commentators over the centuries and continues to exercise a fascination that pays tribute not so much to the one who originally asked the question but to the evangelist and theologian who wove the question into the fabric of his Gospel concerning Jesus, the Christ and Son of God"