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Truth

Man's search to know who he is and where he is going has led him to try and discover the truth of the universe. The search leads him to many places, people and ideals, each one claiming to have a level of truth that can further enlighten the searcher, but is it real? Can any one person, group or culture really have the truth of life and the afterlife?

"One of the world's greatest problems is the impossibility of any person searching for the truth on any subject when they believe they already have it."
--Dave Wilbur

Truth

Well, being a Christian I believe that Jesus Christ knew the truth. If we assume that Jesus was God-incarnate (part of the belief of the trinity) and that God is all knowing then Jesus would have known what the truth was and still is. I am not claiming to know the whole truth but I do believe that parts of the truth were revealed in the ministry and teachings of Jesus. I am also not supporting Christians that try to force others to believe what they believe because they think it is the truth. Coming to Christ is a willing action that one is suppose to take and not an action that is forced upon people as some Christians believe.

Truth Beliefs Religious General

Good questions, but I think Pontius Pilate had the better question when he asked, "What is Truth?". I think the Mormons have given the best answer I"m aware of in their Doctrines and Covenants when the claim that a knowledge of Truth is the knowledge of all things that have ever been, are now, or shall ever be. Anything less than this might be a better or worse collection of fact, but it can not be called a knowledge of Truth.

Finally, I"d like to offer these verses from the 90th Lection of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve where these words are attributed to Jesus on the subject of Truth.
What Is Truth?
1. 1. AGAIN the twelve were gathered together in the Circle of palm trees, and one of them even Thomas said to the other, What is Truth? for the same things appear different to different minds, and even to the same mind at different times.What, then, is Truth?
2. And as they were speaking Jesus appeared in their midst and said, Truth, one and absolute, is in God alone, for no man, neither any body of men, knoweth that which God alone knoweth, who is the All in All.. To men is Truth revealed, according to their capacity to understand and receive.
3. The One Truth hath many sides, and one seeth one side only, another seeth another, and some see more than others, according as it is given to them.
4. Behold this crystal: how the one light its manifest in twelve faces, yea four times twelve, and each face reflecteth one ray of light, and one regardeth one face, and another another, but it is the one crystal and the one light that shineth in all.
5. Behold again, When one climbeth a mountain and attaining one height, he saith, This is the top of the mountain, let us reach it, and when they have reached that height, lo, they see another beyond it until they come to that height from which no other height is to be seen, if so be they can attain it.
6. So it is with Truth. I am the Truth and the Way and the Life, and have given to you the Truth I have received from above. And that which is seen and received by one, is not seen and received by another. That which appeareth true to some, seemeth not true to others. They who are in the valley see not as they who are on the hill top.
7. But to each, it is the Truth as the one mind seeth it, and for that time, till a higher Truth shall be revealed unto the same: and to the soul which receiveth higher light, shall be given more light. Wherefore condemn not others, that ye be not condemned.
8. As ye keep the holy Law of Love, which I have given unto you, so shall the Truth be revealed more and more unto you, and the Spirit of Truth which cometh from above shall guide you, albeit through many wanderings, into all Truth, even as the fiery cloud guided the children of Israel through the wilderness.
9. Be faithful to the light ye have, till a higher light is given to you. Seek more light, and ye shall have abundantly; rest not, till ye find.
10. God giveth you all Truth, as a ladder with many steps, for the salvation and perfection of the soul, and the truth which seemeth to day, ye will abandon for the higher truth of the morrow. Press ye unto Perfection.
11. Whoso keepeth the holy Law which I have given, the same shall save their souls, however differently they may see the truths which I have given.
12. Many shall say unto me, Lord, Lord, we have been zealous for thy Truth. But I shall say unto them, Nay, but, that others may see as ye see, and none other truth beside. Faith without charity is dead. Love is the fulfilling of the Law.
13. How shall faith in what they receive profit them that hold it in unrighteousness? They who have love have all things, and without love there is nothing worth. Let each hold what they see to be the truth in love, knowing that where love is not, truth is a dead letter and profiteth nothing.
14. There abide Goodness, and Truth, and Beauty, but the greatest of these is Goodness. If any have hatred to their fellows, and harden their hearts to the creatures of God's hands, how can they see Truth unto salvation, seeing their eyes are blinded and their hearts are hardened to God's creation?
15. As I have reveived the Truth, so have I given it to you. Let each receive it according to their light and ability to understand, and persecute not those who receive it after a different interpretation.
16. For Truth is the Might of God, and it shall prevail in the end over all errors. But the holy Law which I have given is plain for all, and just and good. Let all observe it for the salvation of their souls.

The entirety of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve may be found here: https://members.tripod.com/jbrooks2/Holy_12_Index.html

Truth

First, excellent references of other ancient writings in your opinions. These sayings and writings where mostly from the Gnostics and Essenes that also followed what they believed Jesus taught.

I believe that the truth is found within ones self. I believe that only one thing is certain, if God exists (and I believe he does), then truly love is his/her ultimate law of living. It is one of the only things that all religions have in common including paganism. Love is the root of all that is good and therefore the ultimate law to follow. Love, therefore, is truth. But since all things cannot be proven, including what is ultimate truth, who is right, and who is wrong, then this entire theory could be wrong. This would leave all of you open to find the truth for yourselves, which each of us strives to do till the day we die until we find what we believe to be the truth.

Truth

I will confine my post to deal with truth that has consequence. My pants are green, but there is no real significance to that truth. All things would be essentially the same if I were wearing my tan corduroy pants today.

Truth is eternal. Like the laws that govern matter and energy, eternal truths cannot be created, nor destroyed. Therefore, our impetus should be to discover the truth, accept it, and change our lives to harmonize with it. To be politically correct and say that truth is variable is also to say that there is no absolute right and no absolute wrong, and therefore no absolute God. If we believe the words of scripture, then we must also believe that God has definite standards, and that his expectations for personal righteousness are not changeable, although his individual instructions to different groups vary to meet their needs.

Faith in falsehood will yield only the fruits of falsehood. I may choose to worship an elderberry bush, and thus I will receive only the blessings that come from the worship of an elderberry bush - some berries, some shade, some sense of companionship, perhaps. No matter how much I believe that the elderberry bush will lead to eternal life and salvation, I cannot make it true. Similarly, I cannot destroy the truth of the existence of a true and living God, even if I curse him and expend all my energy in persecution of those who believe in him. We choose our own actions, but eternal truth governs the ultimate consequences of those actions. We can only choose the consequences by changing our actions. There is no sneaky way to subvert the truth.

The world today would tell us that conformity is mindless. However, when it comes to aligning one's life with eternal truth, conformity is the most logical and well-reasoned process in life. It shows maturity beyond faddish, selfish intellectualism.

One more attribute of truth is that one must accept and live basic truths before full understanding of higher truths can be achieved. Therefore, those who lack a basic understanding often mock those with a higher understanding, because without the context of lesser truths, greater truths seem foolish or bizarre. Intelligence and analytical thinking are good attributes, but without a foundation of truth, they are not completely effective or satisfying.

Truth

How can it be said that anything that is true or exists is without consequence or as Boyd K. Packer has said, "unuseful"? The color pants you are wearing could be of vital consequence were police officers searching for a suspect wearing pants similar to yours. Truths or facts that Boyd K. Packer thinks are "unuseful" may in fact be quite consequential. One thing I learned as a police officer is that legal determinations of guilt or liability often hinge on facts that may otherwise seem inconsequential or "unuseful" in isolation.

If there is an "absolute" Deity, it would seem there could be only one Deity. Were there multiple deities, none could be said to be "absolute". Where Divinity is truly absolute it is singular. Where it is singular, there is nothing outside itself with which to compare. In singular, absolute Divinity, therefore, there would be no use for terms such as good or evil, they would be useless as terms of comparison.

If we exist, and a singular, absolute Deity that is the summation of all existence, exists, we must be a part of that Deity by the mere fact of our existence along with all else that exists. Nothing that exists would be inconsequential or "unuseful" for it would, by its very existence, be an essential part of the singular, absolute Deity. Were there a singular, absolute Deity, nothing that exists could be contrary to the will if that Deity. Nothing would be "better" or "worse", "righteous" or 'sinful" but that we subjectively label it such. Distinctions such as conformity or nonconformity would be meaningless where all that has ever existed, exists now, or will ever exist, is an essential part of unchangeable, absolute Truth or Divinity.

There seems to be an assumption in the above statement that one may know "partial" or "basic" truth apart from absolute Truth. In my opinion, "basic" or "partial" truth is to Truth, as "basic" or "partial" virginity is to celibacy, it is not the same thing at all. What might appear as true given only part of the story, may in fact be quite untrue. That, in my opinion, is why the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants require a knowledge of ALL that has been, is now or shall ever be, before one can claim to have a knowledge of Truth.

Message Edited! Post edited for formatting and implementation of "quote" tags. Please read the FAQ and the topic on good posting to see how to use the quote and offtopic tags. Also, it is much easier to read posts when you put an extra return between paragraphs. NightHawk.

Edited: Nighthawk on 18th Feb, 2005 - 5:40pm

Truth

You make a good point. However, you miss the fact that what you are saying is based on a belief. Belief is something you accept with out absolute proof. You accept the validity of something else and accept it as truth. You cannot prove that the Bible is the ultimate truth. Therefore, you can only operate on the assumption of truth based on what you have chosen to believe. If you did not believe the Bible was absolute truth, then your beliefs stated would be different.

You cannot destroy the truth of a living God because you cant prove the existence of a Living God. Again, your opinion is based on belief, not on absolute truth. It is based on what you accept as absolute truth. There are plenty of other religions that make the same claim to absolute truth. Simply claiming a belief as absolute truth does not make it so, it makes it your belief. You can subvert truth until you know the truth. If you believe one thing, and I believe another, that doesn't mean that I subverted truth, it means my perception of truth is different than yours. Since you cant prove yours, I cant prove mine, then we are left with two people claiming to know the truth. Neither of us can know truth beyond a shadow of a doubt in the depths of your soul until we die, then we find out for sure.

Truth General Religious Beliefs

The Bible and science have disagreed for generations about where we came from and the only thing that tells us where we are going is faith. Truth has changed tremendously in three generations of my family. If you had tried to explain cell phones, MRI, or travel in space to my Grandfather he would have called you a liar.

Today we have traveled to the moon, use hand held cell phones everywhere, and watch color pictures of events as they happen anywhere in the world. The machines of modern medicine look inside our bodies while doctors perform miracles unknown thirty years ago. Microbiology looks at living cells to find cures for disease. Yet in this day, with modern marvels too numerous to mention, many religious people of the Christian faith choose to ignore a science called carbon dating. They ignore this science because it proves the earth to be millions of years older than their Bible leads them to believe. I choose to believe in carbon dating and question the Bible version of creation because of many undisputable signs on the earth. Both petrified trees and many fossils are older than Bible history. When an exploratory well was drilled in the south end of California's great San Joaquin Valley several years ago, pieces of a redwood log were brought up from two thousand feet down. At one time this valley was an underwater canyon thousands of feet deep. It took millions of years of weather eroding the Sierra Nevada mountains to move enough earth to fill it in. It could not possibly have filled in to make a fertile valley since the days of creation in Genesis 4000 years ago.

What is the truth? Many facts in this world are elusive and ever changing. The truth today may not be true tomorrow. The only thing that is constant and true in this world is faith.



Edited: mousetrails on 28th May, 2006 - 7:15pm