on truth

I have been pondering the concept of Truth for a little while now. I am taking a class that surveys different interpretations of truth, and this class jogs my mind and makes my little brain turn and giggle.

"What is truth?"
"Can truth be discerned?"
"If truth can be discerned, where can we find it?"

I believe truth is that which is true. Yet this definition is not adequate, for you can never define something by using the word itself as the definition. Thus I will define truth as that which is real, that which is actual.

Some people do not believe that truth can be determined. We are merely humans, and we make mistakes all the time. Our reason and intellect are flawed. Some have gone so far as to say that truth is relative to our own wishes, wants, biases, and opinions. This degradation of truth into an experiential realm is due in part to a reaction against the failure of humanistic ideals: the pure humanist believed that Man, by his reason, could decipher the universe and discover truth. When this failed, humanistic ideals began to crumble. But I believe that truth can be discerned.

I believe that truth can be found in the Bible. I am a Christian. I believe the Bible is the Word of God. I believe that God used individuals throughout history, guided by the Holy Spirit, to write down what God wanted to be written down. The Bible doesn't tell us everything. But what it does tell us, I believe, we can accept as facts. But then another problem arises: when we read and interpret the Bible, we become prone to vastly different interpretations of what the scriptures are saying. So who is right? Who is wrong? If truth is absolute, and if A being true means that B and C and D and E are not true, how are we to discern between A and B,C,D, and E? It really is quite the conundrum.