John 8:32
Bible verses · Also called: Jn 8:32, The truth shall make you free, The truth will set you free, Ye shall know the truth, If ye continue in my word
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And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" is a saying of Jesus. The phrase is widely used outside the church as a symbol of academic freedom and freedom of the press, but commentators often point out that it originally means that disciples who abide in Jesus' word are released from bondage to sin.
Context
Around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus teaches in the temple at Jerusalem, and many believe on him (v. 30). Jesus then says to the Jews who had believed him, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth" (vv. 31–32). His hearers object that they are Abraham's seed and have never been in bondage to any man. Jesus replies that whoever commits sin is the servant of sin, and adds, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (v. 36).
Interpretation
- Reading it as truth in Christ: On this reading, "truth" here is not knowledge in general but the truth of God revealed by Jesus, and ultimately Jesus himself, who is the truth (14:6). The freedom in view is not political freedom but deliverance from the dominion of sin, which is the sense indicated by the context (vv. 34–36).
- A conditional promise: Freedom rests on the condition "If ye continue in my word." Many interpreters hold that the emphasis falls less on the fact of having once believed than on the life of a disciple who continues to abide in the word. They also note that in this exchange the very people who at first believed eventually try to stone Jesus (v. 59).
- Reading it broadly as general truth: Another tradition, holding that all genuine truth comes from God, extends the verse to the academic pursuit of truth and to freedom of conscience.
Questions Concerning Application
The verse is frequently used as a motto by universities, libraries, and news organizations. In Korea, Yonsei University, which grew out of a school founded by Horace Underwood, has adopted the verse as its school motto. Some observe that using it as a motto about truth in general departs from its original meaning, while others maintain that a Christian university may legitimately use it to express a commitment to pursuing both academic truth and the truth of faith. Interpreters are also divided between those who read "freedom" in John's Gospel in terms of social liberation and those who limit it to spiritual liberation.
Related Passages
- John 8:31
- John 8:34–36
- John 14:6
- Galatians 5:1
- 2 Corinthians 3:17
See also 5
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