Opus 2025-494: The Attributes of Truth

This morning, as I was following another trail a side path opened up which pointed out to me something which I knew, but I had not focused on.  One of the attributes of God is “truth”.

One simple statement about this is where Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Truth comes in different forms.  That may seem strange, but there are many times where it’s very difficult to cut through all the layers of frosting and bloviation and get to the substance, but it still is true.

Some truth is absolute but must be expressed correctly.  Take the statement that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.  We were taught this as children, or at least we think we were.  The correct statement would be that pure water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level.  There might be further details I am missing but the actual truth does not vary.  Also keep in mind that truth does not require your approval or agreement.

Some truth is variable in the sense that it’s best presented in principles rather than simple yes/no statements.  Often there are situations which modify the basic statement.  Take, “Honesty is the best policy.”  Not when you are hiding Jews from the Nazis.

Some truth needs to be broken down in smaller truth so that it can be worked with and applied

Some truth is not meant to be understood by we humans in our mortal bodies with mortal minds.  It would be easy to illustrate this by the fact that children are not ready to understand everything that adults understand.  A child will pick a shiny nickle over a corroded dime.  That doesn’t mean that the facts are any less true, just beyond you.  Some of this may be temporary.  Some of it may be permanent.  I’m not sure we will ever understand the Trinity.

Some truth might even be inaccurate.  I’m sitting on the porch looking toward the eastern horizon.  The black has turned into gray, which is morphing into orange and pink and as you go higher up, it’s blue.  I would say the sun is rising.  In one sense that is true.  In another sense it is a false statement because we know the sun is not rising, but the Earth is turning under the sun.  Does that make the statement any less true?

Some truths are only true in our own eyes.  That doesn’t make them any less true to us, but others might question it.  For instance, my grandchildren are the most wonderful and awesome grandchildren in the world.  That is true for me.  You might disagree.  On other matters disagreement is just confusion on one person’s part.  If I say there is one God and you disagree that doesn’t mean it’s just a matter of opinion.  It means that one of us is woefully wrong.

homo unius libri