Grand Rapids Dominican Sister Barbara Reid, OP is professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. This past Sunday, Feb. 10, Sister Barbara presented a program about Truth from Biblical and Dominican perspectives. The program was part of
Watch and listen now by clicking on the video below.
Sr. Barbara shared the following as an introduction to her talk.
A recent cover of TIME magazine posed the question in bold red letters set against a stark black background: “Is Truth Dead?” With the proliferation of “made-up facts” and “fake news,” it is a difficult time to know how to discern truth. In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). And at the end of the Gospel, as he is being interrogated by Pontius Pilate, Jesus says, “for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” to which Pilate responds, “What is truth?”(John 18:37-38). That is still a live question.
To help us know how to answer it, the Scriptures and Dominican tradition, with its motto “Veritas,” can offer guidance in these troubling times for how to seek the truth that sets us free. (John 8:31-32).