Terminology Tuesday: Truth

Truth: That which corresponds to or adequately expresses what is real. Most philosophers have conceived of truth solely as a property of propositions. The most common account of propositional truth is the correspondence theory, which holds that a proposition is true if and only if it corresponds to the way things are. Rival accounts include the coherence theory, which views truth as the property of a proposition that is part of the most coherent system of propositions, and the pragmatic theory, which defines true propositions in terms of their usefulness in making predictions and dealing with reality. Ordinary language and the Bible use the term truth more broadly. Thus we speak of true friendship and truth in a relationship.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 118.