Author: JD Rockel

Does the picture make your mouth water? It looks wonderful. Have you ordered a burger based on its picture on the menu?

So, you order it. You open the bag and can smell the gigantic goodness of this new burger. You unwrap the burger with great anticipation.

But where’s the beef? You look at the burger from the side and find it might be an inch thick. Angered by the discovery of getting the wrong burger, you pull back the bun. There’s the sauce, two thin slices of bacon, and a square of cheese. Beneath the cheese is a burger, but it is a dwarf cousin of what you saw in the picture. Another square of cheese, two more minuscule slices of bacon, and another burger. The one leaf of lettuce and a slightly green slice of tomato complete the stack.

What happened? Why doesn’t the burger you bought look like the picture-perfect burger you saw? The answer is probably obvious to you. You saw a picture fabricated by the marketing department to entice your purchase. The picture and the product both have the same ingredients. So, which one is the true burger?

Advertisers know that what they show you is more important than what they sell you. In my opinion, it is deceptive. The old Latin phrase proves true, caveat emptor. Buyer beware.

So, what is truth? Modern culture states, “There is no absolute truth.” If something is true for you, I can’t argue against it. This seems to be true in religion these days. Isn’t religious teaching just the result of someone’s ideas or philosophy? It is very hard to argue against such a statement. Indeed, this argument goes back to the beginning of civilization.

I will not argue that absolute truth exists. Many fine books, podcasts, and websites do that. I simply want to share my belief so that when you encounter more of my writing, you will understand my perspective. While I have shared some religious concepts in Mirror Mirror, I have not presented any doctrine. Doctrine is just a religious word meaning teaching or belief. It implies the belief in a particular teaching. But as you have likely gathered from my characters, I believe in the teachings of the Bible.

As for absolute truth, I believe it exists and its source is the God-man, Jesus, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” I believe the universe was created out of nothing by an all-powerful God and humans are the pinnacle of His creation. I believe this for two reasons: 1) The Bible, Old, and New Testaments, is God’s way of revealing Himself to us. 2) My life experience reinforces what I read in the Bible.

The truth of the Bible and its authority is the subject of the apologetics. This is that branch of theology devoted to the defense of the religious faith. One example is the study of ancient texts to determine if our current day translations agree with them.

As you continue to read Mirror Mirror, you will see my beliefs reflected in the dialog. What I write about God, Jesus, and eternal life reflects what I believe to be absolute truth. But, I want to also emphasize that the story is fictional. Don’t build a theology solely on what you read in my novel. I try to express any uncertainty I have through my characters.

Without going into great detail, I would like to present a couple examples. Ella’s friend Emily claims to be able to see a person’s emotions through a color aura surrounding them. Emily believes this to be a spiritual gift from God. This gift is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Can God empower someone with this gift? I say, yes. But, I have not seen any evidence of this gift in the world. For me, this is fiction.

There is an event coming up where angels interact with the characters. What I write about the angels is based on what I have read in the Bible. There is a related experience that follows that I don’t have hard evidence to support, but I believe it could happen.

Again, I want to be clear that what I write about God’s nature, Jesus, and eternal life comes straight out of the Bible. For me, it is the absolute truth. But as for the story itself… I hope you enjoy it.

For more information about the Christian faith I believe to be true, please see World Religions – Christianity.