True

True: being in accordance with the actual state or conditions; conforming to reality or fact; not false; real; genuine; authentic; sincere, not deceitful (Random House Dictionary)

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life'." (John 14:6, NKJV)

"Jesus answered, 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me'." (John 18:37)

"God is not a man, that He should lie,

      Nor a son of man, that He should repent. 
      Has He said, and will He not do? 
      Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19, NKJV)

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (John 17:17, NKJV)

"Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
      But those who deal truthfully are His delight." (Proverbs 12:22, NKJV)

"Therefore, putting away lying, 'Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,' for we are members of one another." (Ephesians 4:25, NKJV)

We live in a postmodern culture that denies the existence of absolute truth. Everything is relative and subjective, they say. The problem with holding to relative truth is that it acts as a license for anything, regardless of values. In fact, a value system cannot exist without a definition of truth, for there can be no values without a true standard to compare it to.

Truth is the accordance with an actual state. It is what is not false or deceitful. Truth is honest and sincere. Truth is required for trustworthiness; if something is not true, it cannot be relied on. To the Christian, Jesus Christ is truth itself, as he said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." God is also truth, and the Word of God is truth. If something is true, it aligns with the truth of God, Jesus Christ, and the Word of God.

To evaluate media based on the value of truth, one must ask "Is this true or is it false? Is it sincere or is it deceitful? Is it trustworthy or is it unreliable?" If it attempts to convince people of untrue things, or for untrustworthy reasons, it is deceitful and not true. Knowledge of what is true is needed to evaluate media based on the value of truth.

Since fiction is a form of media imagined by its author, it by definition cannot be evaluated by the same standard of truth as nonfiction. However, rather than classifying it as untrue by default, it has its own standard by which it can be evaluated for truth. It is not the content of a work of fiction that must be evaluated for truth, but the themes. When evaluating fiction, one must not ask "Is this factual?" but rather "Is the message of this work true, or does it try to deceive me?"