Comments on: What is Truth?

By: Kevin Albert

Kevin Albert — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:15:30 +0000

The word ‘Truth’ is a loaded gun. If you start pointing it at other people, you shouldn’t be surprised that they either run for cover or come itching for a fight. But, if you keep it to yourself, and know that your beliefs are true, then you will be able to make friends outside of gun shows.

A mortal person cannot know truth. They can merely have very strong beliefs, that they take as truth. To paraphrase Men In Black, ‘In 1000BC, everyone ‘knew’ that the sun god Ra, rode his chariot over the sky from east to west. In 500AD, everyone ‘knew’ that the earth revolved around the sun. In 1491, everyone knew the world was flat. And in every year since Moses’ personal scribe hilariously inserted an extra creation story into the Book of Genesis, every devoutly religious person has ‘known’ that their religion is right.

There is a young woman somewhere in Indonesia who knows that the teachings of Mohammed are true. An elderly man will bath in the River Ganges tomorrow dawn, knowing that truth lies somewhere between Ganesh and Vishnu. A father will go to sleep in Ireland, tonight, knowing that Pope Bendict is right. They all think they know the truth. I do not know which of them is right. I only know that it takes something more than myself to know, right now.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep believing that I am the one that is right.

By: James

James — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:53:53 +0000

http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/what-is-truth-video.htm

This guy argues their is knowable truths like the sun coming up and going down. But almost everything else seems speculative!!

By: Annon.

Annon. — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:55:42 +0000

Religious folks in general and us Mormons in particular tend to talk about knowing in unusual ways. In that it seems to take the form of an epistemological assertion while having its origin in an individual subjective experience of the divine. So the nature of the experience and the status as knowledge can not be experienced by others. I think this is the actual starting place for a discussion of truth in the religious context in that truth is always allied with knowledge and given an ontological status.

Question. Why wasn’t the list of the ways truth is conceptualized in the religious context a bit longer? It seems common enough that the idea of truth we use today has to do more with understood material absolute. A description of things “as they really are” [sic.]

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:53:51 +0000

Joe, read this post: http://mormonmatters.org/2008/07/07/praise-honor-glory-be-to-god/

Great post, Justin.

My only answer right now is that each of us has to act on what we perceive in our hearts and/or in our minds – that we have to follow whatever promptings we believe we have been given in whatever way we feel they have been given. I believe there is Absolute Truth; I just don’t believe we “know” much Absolute Truth. What I “know” is what I personally believe I have experienced in a way that makes me comfortable saying I know it – as well as I can know it right now.

By: Joe P.

Joe P. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:09:57 +0000

The big question is what is the gospel?

By: Andrew S

Andrew S — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:09:05 +0000

By the time you will know, you will be in a considerably different state than you are now (either dead or translated or something like that.)

I mean, consider the veil. This is part of LDS theology…we don’t know and so we are supposed to believe on faith.