Truth Be Told is excellent for those grappling with anxiety about our culture’s loss of objectivity, refocusing our energy towards the real goal of living with integrity as people of truth. This is a welcome move away from handwringing about our generation’s “feelings over facts” tendencies and gives us something we can work on: our trust in God and growth in holiness. In an age of relativity, people will treasure their “truths”, just as we should treasure our own.
Truth be told, I’m terrible at reading Christian books. I read and listen to all sorts of things. But I have always struggled to get into Christian books.
I was particularly sceptical when I first researched Lionel Windsor’s Truth Be Told. Exploring truth in a post-truth world requires robust engagement with theology and culture, and seemed to me in great danger of being simplistic. A Christian book about “post-truth” could fall into merely critiquing our culture, without actually helping Christians learn to engage with it.
Truth be told? I was wrong.
Dog Whistles to Culture Warriors
Windsor is acutely aware his readers will disagree with him on various points (8). In our postmodern and post-truth world, words can act as dog whistles[1] and trigger people to action in unhelpful ways. Words such as “misinformation” and “cancel culture” seem to act as identity markers—revealing a person’s view on social issues like gender identity, climate change, medical science, and politics. I find myself wary (and weary) of these words as they can fail to convey complexity, compassion and grace whilst affirming the eternal truth of our holy and loving God. Windsor writes as one conscious of cultural minefields and carefully engages with the issues of our secular world.
A Biblical Treatment of Challenging Cultural Issues
Part 1 approaches many important issues with an accessible systematic theology, tackling fake news, digital technology, institutional corruption, relativism, and the cultural shift from post-modernism to post-truth. It concludes by pastorally addressing our propensity to falsehood, reminding us that we are not above it just because we are Christians.
It’s not just the besetting challenge of the postmodern zeitgeist. It’s all of those things but more. The problem is here, on the ground. It’s you and me. Truth is in trouble in our hearts. (66)
Instead of grinding out a token theology chapter to anchor his topical explorations, Windsor dedicates Part 2 of his book to a comprehensive exploration of what Scripture says about truth. This fresh way of tackling the “Bible bit” manages to slice the issue from different angles. He moves through the Old Testament, the Gospel of John, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and 2 Corinthians, each chapter exploring themes with direct application for Christians living in a broken, complicated, post-truth world.