There is an old saying: “Never discuss religion or politics.” My brother-in-law, however, seems to only discuss both. Worse, he portrays himself as an expert in both fields.

Knowing I adhere to Torah Law, he recently asked me if I knew that the Talmud states Jesus is burning in hell in human excrement. I asked him where he heard such a thing.

“Ben Shapiro said it,” he replied confidently.

I assured him it did not. Unconvinced, he whipped out his phone and Googled it. Sure enough, the search result—likely an AI overview or a snippet from a biased site—responded: “Yes, certain passages in the Babylonian Talmud describe a figure… often depicted as being boiled in excrement… (Gittin 57a).”

Not wanting to turn a family gathering into a debate, I shrugged it off while he went on to attack Catholics, gays, and a host of others. But it bothered me. When I got home, I did my own Google search and got the exact same result.

So, I went to my office and pulled the actual Gittin volume from my own printed set of the Talmud (the Neusner Edition). Right there on pages 244 and 245 is the quote, and it clearly does not state “Jesus the Nazarene.” That is a much later insertion or interpretation. The Talmud was codified long before the early church truly took root; references to anyone appearing to be a “Yeshua” are likely not the same figure identified in the Christian New Testament.

But AI cannot turn around from its desk and pull the printed copy of the Talmud from a bookshelf. It only knows what the internet feeds it.

Pilate’s Question

This incident reminded me of the Trial of Jesus. When Jesus claims that those who know the truth hear His voice, Pontius Pilate responds with a question that echoes through the ages: “What is Truth?” (John 18:38).

That is the question we face today. We live in a world that confuses “facts” or “truisms” with capital-T Truth.

I recently had a parent complain about the curriculum in their religious school. A second-grade social studies textbook contained the following passage:

“Some families have one parent, a mom and a dad, two moms, or two dads. Some children have parents who live in different homes.”

The parents were flabbergasted. They felt this clearly undermined what the Bible teaches as Truth. When the headmaster was confronted about the text, his defense was simple: “Well, it is a true statement!”

Ah, there is the problem. Just because something is true (meaning it exists or happens in the world), does not make it Truth (meaning it is accepted or ordained by a holy God).

To the headmaster, I would point to the Biblical definition of the family unit, as stated in Matthew 19:4-5: “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

The existence of other arrangements in society is a “true statement”—it is an observation of reality. But the Biblical pattern is the Truth.

The Truism Trap

We see this confusion everywhere. Take addiction, for example.

“Getting high is fun. It feels good.”

That is a true statement. I know this because I struggled with drug addiction for the first half of my life. The sensory experience was real; the feeling was pleasurable in the moment. But just because the statement “it feels good” is factually accurate to the user, it does not sanction, endorse, or make the activity acceptable.

The Truth regarding this is found in Ephesians 5:18: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”

What the Bible outlines as Truth is eternal. Just because something is a “truism”—an observable fact of life—does not automatically validate it as moral Truth.

Seeking Harmony Over Headlines

Herein lies the danger. Many people take statements at face value, especially if they are stated by someone they deem an authority—whether that is a content creator, a political commentator, or a search engine. In the age of influencers, the drive is to get views and likes, not to be accurate.

There are certainly modern translations of the Talmud that have inserted the name Jesus the Nazarene into Gittin 57a to prove a point or incite anger. But when we rely on second-hand digital information rather than primary sources, we risk believing lies. Instead of propagating mistruths and ideas that insult, hurt, divide, and bring derision, men and women of faith should be committed to something higher. We should not be using “facts” as weapons to attack others, as we see too often. We must be discerning enough to know the difference between the broken facts of a fallen world and the eternal Truth of God. And ultimately, our goal should be to promote joy, peace, love, and harmony.