A previous post entitled Assertions contains the following “Motivating Example”:
According to the Gospels, there was an inscription above Christ on the cross which said (in English translation):
Matthew (27.37): “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. ” (ABD)
Mark (15.27): “The King of the Jews.” (D)
Luke (23.38): “This is the King of the Jews.” (AD)
John (19.19): “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. ” (BCD)
Note that the versions are composed of these phrases which appear in this order: (A) “This is”, (B) “Jesus”, (C) “of Nazareth, (D) “the King of the Jews.” Hence the capital letters in parentheses above.
What did the inscription say? If we insist that every true statement must tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” then at most one of these versions is true. If we expect every true statement to be consistent with the others though perhaps incomplete, then we would conclude that their union is the complete (or more complete) truth: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (ABCD). If we expect every true statement to contain the truth but may be partially inconsistent with others, then we would conclude that their intersection is the whole truth: “The King of the Jews,” (D) the version Mark has.
This illustrates the different kinds of truth: (1) a minimal, consistent truth; (2) a maximal, complete truth; and (3) a personal, partial truth. One can affirm all of them by adopting a pluralist position on truth.
What is pluralism? Also known as alethic pluralism, it is the position that propositions can be true in different ways. “‘Pluralism about truth’ names the thesis that there is more than one way of being true.” (Pluralist Theories of Truth) Alethic pluralism is different from a pluralism that is only personal or social or political, that is, is the existence of a plurality of beliefs or group identities within a society.
Pluralism is not relativism, though the two are often confused. For relativism, “everything is relative.” For pluralism some truths are absolute, that is, true in the eyes of everyone, and some truths are relative, that is, true in the eyes of some but not necessarily everyone. The existence of absolute truths enables people to have common ground. The existence of relative truths allows fruitful discussion and mutual respect.
Christians are pluralists by accepting the four gospels as canonical, rather than combining them into one unified account. Other parts of the Bible also have multiple accounts of the same events, for example: Gen 1 and 2; Exodus-Numbers and Deuteronomy; 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. While a harmony of these texts is instructive, it is the plural accounts that are canonical, not any harmony.