Terminology Tuesday: Coherence Theory of Truth

Coherence theory of truth: A theory of knowledge that asserts that a given proposition or statement is true when it is consistent within a larger set of propositions also taken to be true. If propositions come into conflict (are contradictory), it is assumed that either one or both of the propositions is false. The weakness of the coherence theory of truth is that there can be no proof of the “starting point” of the “first proposition” of a belief system; instead, such a system of beliefs is usually accepted on the basis that it is self-evidently true.1

1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 27.