In the world of the university, “the truth” is an abstraction. But this isn’t what Jesus’s words mean at all. Here is what he says: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (8:31–32), and “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (8:36). Pilate is just like us when we want to read the Bible as if it were science or philosophy.
