‘Your Truth’ or God’s Truth?

May 17, 2025
The Jezreel Valley (Shutterstock.com)
The Jezreel Valley (Shutterstock.com)

In September 2021, a concerned student confronted then-Vice President Kamala Harris at George Mason University with a troubling accusation: “…just a few days ago there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel, which hurts my heart because Israel is guilty of ethnic genocide and displacement of people, the same that happened in America, and I’m sure you’re aware of this.”

Rather than correcting this inflammatory lie, Harris nodded approvingly and responded: “This is about the fact that your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth, should not be suppressed and it must be heard, right? And one of the things we’re fighting for in a democracy, right?” With these words, the Vice President elevated a dangerous falsehood to the status of “truth” simply because someone sincerely believed it.

When did truth become possessive? When did it transform from “the truth” to “your truth” and “my truth”? Can different people really have different truths? Why can’t they see that “their truth” is actually a lie?

The Hebrew text makes a crucial distinction between two types of wrongdoers: the reshaim (wicked) and the chataim (sinners). This distinction reveals everything about the Bible’s view of truth.

The chataim (sinners) acknowledge God’s standard of right and wrong but fail to live up to it. They struggle with temptation and sometimes give in to their desires. Their actions contradict what they know to be true, but they never reject the standard itself. When confronted with their sin, they can repent because they still recognize the objective moral law they’ve violated.

The reshaim (wicked), however, take a far more dangerous path. They reject the very standard of right and wrong. They invert God’s value system, calling good evil and evil good. The rasha doesn’t merely struggle with sin—he redefines sin altogether. He constructs an alternative moral universe where his actions are justified and righteous despite contradicting God’s law.

In the hierarchy of spiritual corruption, the Bible recognizes that the chataim maintain hope of redemption because they still acknowledge the standard against which they’ve fallen short. But the reshaim have embraced a complete spiritual inversion, rejecting the very foundation upon which repentance can be built.

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for heretic is apikores  – which is not actually a Hebrew word at all. The word apikores is derived from the Greek philosopher Epicurus. Why did our sages choose this particular philosopher to represent heresy? Why not Aristotle or Plato?

Epicurus taught that the highest good was intellectual pleasure—believing whatever makes you happy. While he advocated ethical behavior, his philosophy contained a fatal flaw: truth was subordinate to pleasure. Epicurus taught that you should believe whatever brings you intellectual satisfaction and happiness, regardless of whether it’s objectively true.

The sages recognized this as the ultimate heresy. Human intellect is our primary tool for discovering truth. Using that intellect not to pursue truth for its own sake, but to manufacture beliefs that bring personal satisfaction, represents the complete perversion of our God-given faculties. The apikores doesn’t seek truth; he creates “his truth”—whatever narrative makes him feel righteous and justified.

Postmodernism—the dominant intellectual movement of our time—resurrects and amplifies this ancient heresy with devastating consequences. It doesn’t merely question objective truth; it actively dismantles it. The postmodern thinker declares that all truth claims are merely power plays disguised as objectivity. There is no truth, only interpretations—narratives constructed by individuals and communities to serve their interests. In this warped worldview, facts become optional and feelings become supreme. The result is a society increasingly unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy, ruled by emotional manipulation rather than reasoned argument.

The real-world consequences of this intellectual corruption are both immediate and devastating. When millions worldwide champion Hamas over Israel despite overwhelming evidence of October 7th’s atrocities, they demonstrate this postmodern approach to reality. These protesters aren’t concerned with documented facts—only with adopting the narrative that positions them as virtuous defenders of the oppressed. This is precisely what we witnessed in Harris’s encounter with the university student. By validating the false characterization of Israel’s self-defense as “ethnic genocide” under the banner of “your truth,” Harris revealed herself as a perfect embodiment of this Epicurean worldview—one where truth is whatever makes you feel righteous, regardless of reality. The ancient heresy has found its modern priestess.

Bible believers must reject this approach entirely. We affirm that truth exists independent of our feelings, preferences, or desires. God alone determines good and evil—these are not subjective categories we can redefine at will. The Bible doesn’t present “God’s truth” alongside other equally valid truths; it presents THE truth against which all claims must be measured.

Moses didn’t come down from Sinai with “his truth.” The prophets didn’t proclaim “their truth.” They declared “Thus says the LORD”—the unchanging, objective reality established by the Creator Himself. When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal, he didn’t suggest they each had valid spiritual experiences; instead, he demonstrated which God actually existed in objective reality.

At Israel365, we’ve committed ourselves to this biblical understanding of truth in everything we do. Through our news reporting at Israel365 News, our Bible essays at TheIsraelBible.com, and our advocacy work at Israel365 Action, we stand firmly for objective truth in a world that increasingly rejects its very existence. We fight for the truth that most of the media refuses to see.

When you support Israel365, you don’t merely fund an organization—you join a movement that rejects intellectual corruption and stands for absolute truth in an age that mocks its very existence. In a world where millions believe whatever makes them feel good about themselves, your support enables us to proclaim the unchanging truth that transcends personal preferences.

Be the Light. Find the Blessing. Join Israel365’s annual campaign and help us continue standing for Biblical truth in all that we do.

Rabbi Elie Mischel

Rabbi Elie Mischel is the Director of Education at Israel365. Before making Aliyah in 2021, he served as the Rabbi of Congregation Suburban Torah in Livingston, NJ. He also worked for several years as a corporate attorney at Day Pitney, LLP. Rabbi Mischel received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Mischel also holds a J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law and an M.A. in Modern Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He is also the editor of HaMizrachi Magazine.

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