Table of Contents
Overture – Pomposity of Truth
Consider this scene for a moment from King Lear by William Shakespeare. Any foreknowledge of the play is not a prerequisite to follow along. So, humor me and I will be much obliged.
Set in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play King Lear begins by announcing his plan to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, based on their expressions of love for him. Goneril and Regan, eager to gain their share of the kingdom, lavish Lear with extravagant declarations of love and loyalty. Consider their respective declarations of love and loyalty albeit condensed.
Goneril: “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor;
As much as child e’er loved, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.”
Regan: “Sir, I am made of the self-same metal that my sister is,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short, that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys
Which the most precious square of sense possesses,
And find I am alone felicitate
In your dear highness’ love.”
Cordelia: “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.”
Goenril and Regan may have gained your approval while your vexation towards Cordelia intensifies. And so it did in King Lear. How could one even venture to be so blunt, almost curt; able to pierce through the hardest armor of pride with precision? And King Lear without sparing another thought almost immediately passes judgment to banish her from his kingdom. Seems like an act in haste eventually exalting folly yet you may find yourself in accord with Lear delighting in your own self righteous indignation.
Pro 14:29 – He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: But he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Proverbs-Chapter-14/#29
Then Kent, a nobleman and a loyal servant to the King characterized by his resolute loyalty, integrity, and outspokenness criticizes plainly the King’s actions against Cordelia. His commitment to truth is as supreme and transcendent as his love for the King so much so that he could not allow truth to be trampled upon at the cost of the King’s own plunge into unheeded warnings of sufferings and demise.
Kent: “Royal Lear, whom I have ever honored as my king, loved as my father, as my master followed, as my great patron thought on in my prayers—
Sir, I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve him truly that will put me in trust; to love him that is honest; to converse with him that is wise and says little; to fear judgment; to fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.”
Yet, when Kent offers his critique of the King, he finds the truth pompous, disrespectful, and relegates it to insolence and perhaps even considers it to be an act of insurrection against authority.
Exposition
- Is Truth pompous? What is it about truth that makes it pompous?
- And if it is pompous then why is it so? And if one finds truth pompous, should we denigrate it without careful examination?
- Is truth pompous because it is pompous or does it become one because pomposity resides in the bosom of the one at the receiving end of it?
- Is self examination then a prerequisite sate to be in to be consorted by Truth?
Questions galore and one ought to ponder unless one wants be accompanied by noisy cymbals clanging at their own calamity without charity for what is true.
I would like to substantiate my thoughts with scriptures lest I be deemed a fool going to and fro spewing words of vanity without the word itself that outshines my own.
John 17:17 – Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-Chapter-17/#17
And if I must talk about Truth then I must appeal to that which without ambiguity, unreasonableness, or mutability confirmed the veracity of it being true bringing itself under immense scrutiny and accountability by simply stating that it is the Truth and that Truth is Jesus Christ.
We read in John 14:6 that he is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. The truth in that Jesus is not only the truth but also the way and the life indicating the beginning (THE WAY) and the end of it (THE LIFE) hinges upon the centrality of him being absolutely true (THE TRUTH). https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-Chapter-14/#6
Given that there is undeniable and insurmountable evidence of the historicity of Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection included, let us consider what atheists think of Jesus.
Richard Dawkins: “Jesus was a great moral teacher, but his claim to be the Son of God was neither unique nor true. He was a product of his time, and his teachings should be evaluated in their historical and cultural context.”
Christopher Hitchens: “There is no evidence to support the idea that Jesus was anything more than a charismatic preacher who lived in first-century Palestine. The supernatural claims surrounding his life are myths perpetuated by religious tradition.”
Sam Harris: “Jesus was a remarkable figure in history, but there is no reason to believe he possessed supernatural powers or divine authority. His teachings can be appreciated for their moral insights, but they should not be taken as literal truth.”
Bertrand Russell: “I regard Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I see no reason to believe in his divine nature or the miracles attributed to him. These claims are based on faith, not evidence, and should be treated as such.”
A.C. Grayling: “Jesus was undoubtedly an influential figure in history, but the idea of his divinity is a product of religious mythmaking. We should approach stories about Jesus with skepticism and critical inquiry.”
The Scribes and the Pharisees in this case do find themselves in the company of atheists who eagerly without careful consideration demoted Jesus to a mere moral teacher and nothing more than an influential figure. For anything more than this would be arrogant, prideful, and pompous perhaps?
Look at how they respond to Jesus’ works in Matt 13:54-57a –
54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
57a And they were offended in him.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-13/
Jesus was found to be offensive to his contemporaries of the day just as he is to the world today. And we find here like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes, atheists and various religious zealots and their followers alike who patronize him with lip service, flattery, and connivance. Just as Lear’s older daughters did – say enough to make him feel validated.
And all who deny Jesus his divinity allege that anything more than this would be sheer pomposity and therefore they incite their sense of humility against his and denigrate him to a mere man, a mortal no more different than you and I. They are however, ready to welcome him into their hearts as a mortal man, a teacher, a man with good ethics, and not as whom Jesus claimed to be.
In retort Jesus says, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt 15:8-9) https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-15/#8
Accusing Jesus and his proclamation of being the only way, the only truth, and the only life there is and none other to be pompous to the exclusion of everything else, those that deny him stake yet another claim at their pretense for humility and humbleness. The irony is rather rich.
Now let me speak to the foolishness of those that are theists yet deny Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6b – no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And in John 8:19b – if ye had known me, ye should have known my father also.
And in John 10:30 – I and my Father are one.
No soon after did Jesus finish saying that He and the Father are one do the Jews pick up stones to stone him.
Wonder why? Jesus by simply stating what he did, claimed to be GOD himself and how could he? To the Jews, Jesus made himself to be more than what they thought him to be and to proclaim to be one with God he makes himself God and this is nothing short of blasphemy.
The Jews considered Jesus to have thought too much of himself of some importance. In other words pompous. Likewise, the atheists, and the religious zealots alike must keep him where they think he belongs – in their bosom of malfeasance and contempt and not where Christ actually belongs – in the bosom of his Father (John 1:18). https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-Chapter-1/#18
Jesus offering adoption to become sons of God was accused of having the devil itself. If that would not suffice, the Jews also shoved him to a different ethnic group by declaring him to be a Samaritan and not a Jew. Jesus was now with devil indicating pride and also an outcast of the deplorable kind (John 8:48). But Jesus denies both charges and also says that they do dishonor him while he on the other hand honors the Father, the God the Jews claim to worship, by asserting repeatedly of his true identity!
He further asserts himself above their beloved patriarch Abraham by saying, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). Now, the Jews soon after attesting that Jesus surely has the devil, took up stones to stone for the highest treason – supposed blasphemy.
To put it all together, pride which is of the devil exclusive to those outside of Jewish authority must be put to death; Pride – Outcast – Death. One wonders if Jesus would have been spared if he simply acquiesced to their authority and said, Abraham first and then I. Then what becomes of the truth? How could the truth deny itself even at the helm of its persecution?
But to deny Jesus Christ is to deny God himself. If those that say they believe in God and have heard the voice of God yet deny Jesus Christ as God, know neither Jesus nor God (John 8:19 c.f. Matt 11:27)
To deny the Son is to deny the Father; to deny Christ is to deny God. Then to deny God is to deny his very existence. Therefore, the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, the scribes, and all religious leaders of world religions and its followers are in essence atheists.
In denying THE TRUTH, they have also denied THE WAY and THE LIFE. Lost and in peril, they together with atheists looking inward fall into the same ditch invoking the same judgment as they – death.
Matt 15:14 – Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-15/#14
Development
Is it not now obvious then if Jesus is true then God is true? And if Jesus is God and none can deny his existence or his death, burial, and resurrection then God exists? Let us then now see how the atheists consider God, shall we? And how in ascribing certain attributes to God implicitly confessing that He does in fact exist, yet because they think him to be pompous and a megalomaniac, therefore they conclude that God does not exist?
Here are some statements from atheists on God.
Richard Dawkins: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
Sam Harris: “The God of Abraham is not only unworthy of the immensity of creation; he is unworthy even of man.”
Bertrand Russell: “There is something feeble and contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths.”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “The god of the Bible is a mortal, like the gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and not omnipotent or omniscient, let alone good and just.”
Do you see where I am going with this? The same people who are more than ready to accept Jesus as a mere moral teacher are the ones that deny God because He is pompous and all the choice words? For Jesus to be who he claimed to be is just as pompous as the God of the Old Testament, the God of Abraham?
Yet wisdom is justified of her children (Matt 11:19, Psa 92:5-6)
We are living in times where those that do communicate truth and state facts as they are without compromise are accused of discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, malice, arrogance, pride, and in fact declared to be pompous.
To say that God exists or Christianity is the only true religion even if we were to call it religion, and Jesus is the only true living God and all others such as Muhammad, Buddha, and the millions of Hindu deities, and the rest are simply false and if they are false then they are of the devil is spiteful and presumptuous and worthy of excommunication, banishment, and exile.
To state the truth is in current times to commit insurrection against humanity itself.
I have watched enough and more debates between atheists and Christian apologists over the last 7 years to observe this trend of accusation. They say that to think that God had his image bearers in mind when he created the heaven and earth is narcissistic whereas to deny God and to put humanity and humanism on the pinnacle of the temple of glorified apes is simply the humblest thing, one that is an epitome of humility.
Yet though the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat upon the house built upon a rock, it still stands to their chagrin and annoyance. The question is does it stand because it is pompous or simply because it stands on the foundation of truth and truth upholds against a belligerent barrage of insults?
When a heart surgeon diagnoses your problem requiring a major surgery to sustain your life, does one question his credentials, his ability, authority, and then accuse him of being pompous no less? Or do we take him at his word and place our lives in his hands and trust him to do what he needs to correct the wrongs in your heart so that you may live? Or, do we say, “The doctor is a good doctor as long as he is a mere diagnostic doctor telling us what is right and what is wrong.”
Or, do we like the Jews say that he has a devil (John 10:20) and that he is no doctor but a charlatan who says that we need a heart transplant when all along you claim to have done everything according to the law?
Is the doctor pompous? And is his diagnosis of your condition mere pomposity? Therefore, your conscience shall be your judge.
Recapitulation
I am going to use the questions under “Exposition” to recapitulate all that is said so far. The word pompous is an adjective which is used in the context of disapproval and it means, “too serious or full importance”.
Truth then is indeed pompous because it is too serious and it is in fact full of importance. And it is so in derogatory ways to those that find themselves in a state of pomposity. Or what do you suppose you make of King Lear? Was he in humility seeking words of flattery? And were those who deferred to him offering it in sincerity and humility? Or were they merely catering to the vice of the King while they themselves are caught in the snare of their own vice?
The rest of the story unfolds with the King’s abdication of his throne. His decision to divide his kingdom based on his daughters’ flattery backfires. They eventually plot against him and throw him mercilessly into the storm.
His dignity, honor, retinue stripped away from him, he finds himself spiraling hastily into madness spurned on by isolation leaving him completely disjointed from reality and the world around him.
His disregard for truth that he considered pompous caused the demise of all his faithful ones that truly loved him including Cordelia. Betrayed by his own words and people, having suffered tragedies and the chaos of his disregard for truth now finds himself at death’s end.
The irony here is that insincerity and flamboyance was considered honest, kind, true, and honorable while truth though short, precise, and concise was deemed pompous, arrogant, and even prideful. And it was dismissed with vehement hate.
I suppose then Truth is pompous not because it is inherently so but because those who come under its scrutiny find themselves disapproved. And in so being disapproved disapprove the very thing that can elevate them.
In the play, King Lear, Kent, and Cordelia were not the only ones who reaped consequences whether deserved or undeserved, but so did the sisters that conspired against him. And both suffered and died a brutal death for their future misgivings.
Goneril’s lust for power with her sister Regan becomes embroiled in a love triangle with Edmund and eventually becomes a victim of her own malady and is poisoned to death.
Regan caught in the same struggle for power and flattery is poisoned by her own sister with whom she formed a coalition to conspire against their father now finds herself the victim of flattery. She too is poisoned to death.
What an irony! Being poisoned themselves they poisoned everything and everyone, and in poisoning they were poisoned to the pomposity of truth. Everybody died save truth.
The atheists, the Jews, the religious zealots, and all the theists that deny Christ I find are in the same league as of Goneril and Regan.
In the end Cordelia though she is condemned to die is vindicated when Lear remorseful acknowledging his guilt wishes for her forgiveness – “…When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down And ask of thee forgiveness…”
Coda
How then do we approach truth when it is presented to us? I can offer the following verses.
Eccl 7:9 – Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
Pro 14:12 –
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Pro 19:3 The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.
The clarion call is to exercise discretion and to consider THE TRUTH with prudence and humility of heart.
Though the atheists and the religious zealots thought Jesus to be pompous, yet he endured the greatest pomposity of all in his trial, persecution, beating, mockery, nakedness, spitting, and dying on the cross that is reserved for the scum and the most deplorable and depraved of the society.
When Jesus stood before the Pilate beaten, mocked, ridiculed, laughed to scorn, spat on, and disrobed of his modesty, with a crown of thorns on his head to his shame and said, “Thou sayest I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
Was he being pompous? One wonders!
Was he being pompous when he was scourged almost to the brink of death? Or, when he hung on the cross disrobed completely enduring further ridicule and mockery?
If this is pompous then may I submit to you to say that the same pompous Christ through His sacrifice said in John 8:36 – If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
What the world considers pompous came in perfect humility to raise the status of humanity rid of its malady – sin.
Lastly, Lear may have had a chance to be remorseful and seek forgiveness, restitution, reconciliation, and restoration, but there is none of that in life beyond the grave.
A great many will be shocked to see the one that they exiled from their hearts considering him to pompous as He thought himself to be equal with God now vindicated and glorified having the last say where those indeed pompous should spend. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. They ascribed themselves glory by denying Christ his to their own utter peril in the end while they witness Jesus Christ in the glory of his Father with angels rewarding every man according to his works.
Jesus Christ then is the greatest pomposity of truth for He alone who is full of grace and truth has the power to bring ultimate virtue and righteousness through disapproval, ridicule, mockery, and rejection.
My hope and prayer for you if you do not know Him is for you to repent toward God, place your faith in Christ (Acts 20:21) and believe in the death, burial, and resurrection so that you too can be raised unto life eternal (1 Cor 15:1-4, Rom 8:11, 1 Pet 1:3).
God bless you!
