I QUE ES LA VERITAT?

Taken by me at La Sagrada Familia


Finally! Media of my own! I took this photo at the Passion facade of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. An amazing church designed by Antoni Gaudi, this place left me awestruck and will most certainly be mentioned in future posts.

"I que es la veritat?" Catalan for "And what is the truth?" refers to a conversation between Pontius Pilate and Jesus in John 18:37-38:

New American Standard Bible
Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him."

Good News Bible
So Pilate asked him, "Are you a king, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me." "And what is truth?" Pilate asked. Then Pilate went back outside to the people and said to them, "I cannot find any reason to condemn him."

I am no religious scholar, but to me, in the New American Standard Bible, Jesus says "Yes, I am a king! I'm here to testify the truth." and in the Good News version, "You're the one who says that I am a king. I'm just here to testify the truth." Much the same, I interpret the subtle difference between "What is the truth?" and "What is truth?" to be very different statements. "Is your charge true, should I send you to be crucified?" versus "What is this construct we call truth?" One is questioning and one is cynical.

In researching this phrase, I also stumbled upon a "highly credible" Yahoo! Answers post referencing the Da Vinci Code and another describing the secret tradition that Jesus was not crucified on the cross, but packed up his things and escaped Jerusalem.

Curiously enough, I knew none of this when I took this photo, and had my own unique interpretation of the phrase. I've taken my share of required religion classes, and found most of them to be interesting, but I'm by no means a zealot. My beliefs have been shaken and shaped by my experiences, and have left me with a lot of uncertainty with what I consider to be "the truth." My inchoate faith maybe be disconcerting to some, but I am quite pleased to be in a constant state of questioning and learning. In fact, I feel the most dangerous forms of faith are the most unquestioning. "I que es la veritat?" is the million-dollar question, and the beauty is that I don't need a clear answer. For the time being, I'll keep learning, asking, and listening.