{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Dialog","title":"1.5 / Is there truth in other religions?","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1772,"description":"When Paul stood up in Athens, he didn't open with a Bible verse. He quoted their own poets back to them (Acts 17:28). So is there truth outside the Bible, and if there is, where does it point?\nMy co-host Nick Surface and I start with an old line: all truth is God's truth, even when it's found in pagan literature. That isn't syncretism, the idea that everything is true. It's the conviction that whatever is actually true reflects what's true in the word of God.\nCan a Christian learn from Plato?\nYes. Plato taught that we carry a form of justice we've never actually seen, which is why injustice makes us angry. Plotinus talked about the One, and Augustine was one of the first to bridge philosophy and theology. The true parts of anything point to a greater truth.\nWhy did Paul quote pagan poets?\nBecause he knew them. In Athens he told them God put each person in their time and place so they would seek Him, though He is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:26-28).\nWhy doesn't anything satisfy?\nWe have physical appetites, soul appetites and a spiritual hunger most people never get to. We think more fun, more followers or more money will do it, and we wake up hungry again the next day.\nWhat is the living water Jesus promised?\nHe offered it to the woman at the well (John 4). At the Feast of Tabernacles He said rivers of living water would flow from anyone who believes, and John tells us He meant the Spirit (John 7:37-39).\nWhy does every search for \"the way\" end at Jesus?\nBuddhism talks about a path. Tao means the way. The Old Testament speaks of דֶּרֶךְ יְהוָה (derek Yahweh), the way of the Lord. The first Christians called themselves followers of the Way, because Jesus said, \"I am the way, the truth, and the life\" (John 14:6).\nScriptures\nColossians 2:8 · Acts 17:26-28 · Acts 19:9 · 2 Peter 1:16 · John 4 · John 7:37-39 · Isaiah 30:21 · John 14:6 · John 14:16\nWords and thinkers\nPlato: the forms and the cave\nPlotinus: the One\nAugustine: bridging philosophy and theology\nAratus...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/7YsfA4gq5VzjhvmKvDET1pQqT0OM6yxv1laklKclR7g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83ZWZh/MTRmZDEzOWRjZGQz/Y2M2NThkNzYwOTJj/ODA4MC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}