Seek TRUTH - Choose LIFE
TRUTH
Truth is a word used to describe and define reality. Truth is something that is represented in language and communicated from one conscious being to another. A conscious being is a mind that can perceive and understand language. Truth is useful to conscious beings such as mankind to use for communication to achieve a desired goal. A conscious being such as mankind can only grasp truth that it can perceive with the limited five senses processed by limited reason and expressed by a limited language. The more conscious a being is, the more aware it is of the surrounding reality. There is a sixth sense called intuition. It is not something well understood by mankind but something we all relate to from time to time. A gut feeling that we cannot rationalize with our mind. Mankind has various degrees of: intellect, perception and intuition. With these we attempt to define the reality that we live in: time, space and matter.
Science is the pursuit of knowledge to define the physical world around us and use that knowledge for our progress. We progress through science from the data recorded and laws derived by other scientists. We use mathematics derived by others to apply scientific knowledge and understanding to benefit society in one way or another. We trust that these are true and prove them through the scientific method and mathematics to be true. Scientific truth that defines physical reality is expressed in language and formulas. Therefore truth is a critical part of language that our very existence relies upon. We can measure absolute values that are based on certain calibrated and very finely defined physical, spatial or time parameters. Without this work in science and mathematics our lifestyles would be very different and less comfortable.
Truth is the expression of words that define reality with coherence and correspondence stated by a mind with awareness and perception of the surrounding reality.
Just as we can express absolute values measuring physical reality there must also be absolute measures of moral truths in: government, education, science, healthcare and religion; to define truth concerning life, law, wisdom, respect, love, peace, compassion and justice. There needs to be a philosophical approach which tests very abstract ideas one against another for coherence and correspondence to moral, social or spiritual reality. When a statement is defined to be true it will be true across time and for all people. Mankind cannot time travel or question every human on such matters to come to some sort of consensus but rather use reason and logic to do so. But to do so with absolute accuracy one would have to have absolute perception and absolute reason. Just as in science - we rely on definitions of truth defined by: scholars, philosophers, theologians and written documents. Because not all theories and definitions of moral truths cohere and correspond to one another means that not all of them are true.
There are lots of religions that over thousands of years tried to define truth across cultures and time. Some of these are documented more than others and some may have been erased by time. If God really is all powerful and all loving who is the source of creation then He would reveal himself to His own creation. He would also enable that creation’s mind to understand His mind through the words expressed in a language of every culture. The truth He reveals would have to be coherent and correspond with certainty for all people and for all time. This truth is best defined in the Holy Bible. This is a collection of books from thousands of manuscripts across thousands of years from over 40 authors - some of who never met - yet all inspired by God. From the account of creation to the future eternal destiny of that creation - this cannot be better explained rather than divine insight.
Mankind is made in God’s image and posses a mind capable of reason to express that reason in language to pass from one mind to another. In order to define absolute moral values there must be an absolute mind and mankind does not qualify. For a moral truth to be absolute it would have to be stated by an absolute consciousness with absolute perception of all reality processed by absolute reason. Such a being would be defined as GOD. A being beyond our own perception and not bound by - time, space or matter. If absolute measures in physical realty exist then the same is demanded to exist in spiritual reality and such truths demand for God to exist - as a being able to define them.
Our perception of reality brings us to conclude that a God must exist. This God would not be bound by the physical reality we perceive by the five senses. This God must exist in something defined as spiritual reality and He himself would be a Spirit who is boundless, eternal, self-sufficient, transcendent, omnipresent, omnibenevolent, unaffected, immutable, omniscient and omnipotent.
The God of the Bible is the only God that can with coherence and correspondence explain the four pillars of written moral truth : origin, meaning, morality and destiny. The origin of all reality that is defined by truth found in the word of God is written in the Bible.
The purpose of all that there is to glorify God. The morality of mankind is found in God given laws. The destiny of this reality is foretold in the bible through prophetic truths that have manifested through history. Without God: origin is subject to hypothesis and not truth, meaning is debatable by limited conscience, morality is relative to each their own and destiny arrives at entropy and death of all reality.
Our own expressions of reality and reason are limited to our conscious reason and only represent a shadow of the absolute truth. What if an absolute being such as God could pass this truth to a less than absolute being such as mankind with limited reason and consciousness? We would be able to check truth through correspondence and coherence by our own reason with limited perception of reality. Anything that we cannot check due to lack of perception and reason would be accepted by faith until ultimately perceived and understood. We exercise faith to accept truths that we cannot fully fathom ourselves.
So when God makes one statement that we can ensure to be true and another we could not - due to our lack of perception or reason - it would be reasonable to conclude that the other statement is also true. Seeing this truth proven in our reality should draw us closer to this God to enrich ourselves with this truth and the purpose it may serve.
By faith we know that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that out of the invisible came the visible. - Hebrews 11:3
“I am the way the TRUTH and the life”
John 14:6
Truth is more than something we define through language but a divine expression of reality. Jesus said that His “word is truth” (John 17:17) and that He Himself was a manifestation of that truth in the flesh (John 14:6).
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14
He was not just a man but rather God clothed in flesh to deliver His divine truth to His creation. Some may debate whether Jesus Christ was Son of God or just a very wise teacher. If we are to examine everything He said and test it objectively we will see that this was no ordinary man. The truth spoken by Jesus Christ has had an impact on the world for the last two thousand years and will continue to do so indefinitely. He had spoken things that a man could not have witnessed or predicted - yet all those things were true and came true. He presented truth that brought forth knowledge of God - Who is the source of all: reality, life, truth, understanding, wisdom, power, light, creation, government, goodness, love, holiness, grace, joy and peace.
As we journey through life we encounter truths and lies and it takes great effort to discern truth from lies. Whether it be in school, work, news, social life or other areas of life it can be very traumatic discovering that something you believed to be true revealed to be a lie. If someone or something seeks to conceal truth - it will bring devastating consequences. Lies create problems anywhere we may encounter them and can bring destructive results. A lie cannot exist without truth because truth is it’s reference point of reality. Even if truth is hidden it cannot be destroyed.
A lie is an intentional perversion of truth to any degree that is purposed to gain selfish goals rooted in pride.
A lie is like poisoned bait where only a small percentage of the composition is poison. It is therefore not the entire bait that brings death to a creature but that small part of it that was poison. When a truth is intentionally hidden there is always a purpose rooted in pride. There have always been beings that suppressed truth in order to gain some form of power rooted in selfish covet means. Lies bring forth chaos and the only way to hinder it is to shine the light of truth into that darkness. Truth exposes the things in the dark and offers solutions to problems that seemed hopeless.