One thing I assume of age, is weariness. Damned if I don't get more tired every day. Tired of what I do. Following arcs like lobbed rocks, the inevitability of truth. But the complexity and the gray lie not in the truth. But what you do with the truth once you have it. I think you have something you wanna tell me.
Bill Moyers: Why the pursuit of truth? Mortimer Adler: It's the deepest human aspiration. It's the thing that distinguishes mankind from all other animals. In fact in his pursuit of truth, and contemplation of truth, man is most like God.
Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good. Only if you are unafraid of truth can you find it. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:21)
Bill Moyers: One of the oldest of all questions...What is truth? Mortimer Adler: Truth consists in the agreement between what we think and what is in the world, what is real.
(Louise "Barnstormer" Nash): Well, as I live and breathe. If it ain't Lightning McQueen. (Lightning McQueen): Ms. Nash, it's a pleasure to meet you. (Louise "Barnstormer" Nash): You've had a tough year, haven't you? (Lightning McQueen): Oooh! Uhhh. Well... River Scott: Shouldn't you be running practice laps in Florida by now? (Lightning McQueen): Yeah, sure, but... Junior "Midnight" Moon: They're here to steal our secrets. River Scott: Looking for your lost mojo? (Lightning McQueen): Wow! You don't mince words around here, do you? (Smokey): Truth is always quicker, kid.
The Great quest of life is not to discover our own truth it is to embrace Divine truth.
Reasoning requires you to understand the difference between true and false. And reasoning requires coherence and logic. Most of you have been taught to embrace incoherence and illogic. You have learned to associate truth with your subjective feelings, which are neither true nor false but only yours, and which are constantly changeful.
In fact, “isms” prevent you from learning. You have been taught to slap an “ism” on things that you do not understand, or that make you feel uncomfortable, or that make you uncomfortable because you do not understand them. But slapping a label on the box without first opening the box and examining its contents is a form of cheating. Worse, it prevents you from discovering the treasures hidden inside the box.
One of the falsehoods that has been stuffed into your brain and pounded into place is that moral knowledge progresses inevitably, such that later generations are morally and intellectually superior to earlier generations, and that the older the source the more morally suspect that source is. There is a term for that. It is called chronological snobbery. Or, to use a term that you might understand more easily, “ageism.”
Second, you have been taught to resort to two moral values above all others, diversity and equality. These are important values if properly understood. But the way most of you have been taught to understand them makes you irrational, unreasoning. For you have been taught that we must have as much diversity as possible and that equality means that everyone must be made equal. But equal simply means the same. To say that 2+2 equals 4 is to say that 2+2 is numerically the same as four. And diversity simply means difference. So when you say that we should have diversity and equality you are saying we should have difference and sameness. That is incoherent, by itself. Two things cannot be different and the same at the same time in the same way.
Furthermore, diversity and equality are not the most important values. In fact, neither diversity nor equality is valuable at all in its own right. Some diversity is bad. For example, if slavery is inherently wrong, as I suspect we all think it is, then a diversity of views about the morality of slavery is worse than complete agreement that slavery is wrong. Similarly, equality is not to be desired for its own sake. Nobody is equal in all respects. We are all different, which is to say that we are all not the same, which is to say that we are unequal in many ways. And that is generally a good thing. But it is not always a good thing (see the previous remarks about diversity).
Third, you should not bother to tell us how you feel about a topic. Tell us what you think about it. If you can’t think yet, that’s O.K.. Tell us what Aristotle thinks, or Hammurabi thinks, or H.L.A. Hart thinks. Borrow opinions from those whose opinions are worth considering. As Aristotle teaches us in the reading for today, men and women who are enslaved to the passions, who never rise above their animal natures by practicing the virtues, do not have worthwhile opinions. Only the person who exercises practical reason and attains practical wisdom knows how first to live his life, then to order his household, and finally, when he is sufficiently wise and mature, to venture opinions on how to bring order to the political community.
Disagreement is not expressing one’s disapproval of something or expressing that something makes you feel bad or icky. To really disagree with someone’s idea or opinion, you must first understand that idea or opinion. When Socrates tells you that a good life is better than a life in exile you can neither agree nor disagree with that claim without first understanding what he means by “good life” and why he thinks running away from Athens would be unjust. Similarly, if someone expresses a view about abortion, and you do not first take the time to understand what the view is and why the person thinks the view is true, then you cannot disagree with the view, much less reason with that person. You might take offense. You might feel bad that someone holds that view. But you are not reasoning unless you are engaging the merits of the argument, just as Socrates engaged with Crito’s argument that he should flee from Athens.
So, here are three ground rules for the rest of the semester. 1. The only “ism” I ever want to come out your mouth is a syllogism. If I catch you using an “ism” or its analogous “ist” — racist, classist, etc. — then you will not be permitted to continue speaking until you have first identified which “ism” you are guilty of at that very moment. You are not allowed to fault others for being biased or privileged until you have first identified and examined your own biases and privileges. 2. If I catch you this semester using the words “fair,” “diversity,” or “equality,” or a variation on those terms, and you do not stop immediately to explain what you mean, you will lose your privilege to express any further opinions in class until you first demonstrate that you understand three things about the view that you are criticizing. 3. If you ever begin a statement with the words “I feel,” before continuing you must cluck like a chicken or make some other suitable animal sound.
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however they may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way to open the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all of the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility or the meaning of such a comparison. But he certainly believes that, as his knowledge increases, his picture of reality will become simpler and simpler and will explain a wider and wider range of his sensuous impressions. He may also believe in the existence of the ideal limit of knowledge and that it is approached by the human mind. He may call this ideal limit the objective truth.
And thus, overcoming our timidity, let each man choose: Will he remain a witting servant of the lies (needless to say, not due to natural predisposition, but in order to provide a living for the family, to rear the children in the spirit of lies!), or has the time come for him to stand straight as an honest man, worthy of the respect of his children and contemporaries? And from that day onward he: * Will not write, sign, nor publish in any way, a single line distorting, so far as he can see, the truth; * Will not utter such a line in private or in public conversation, nor read it from a crib sheet, nor speak it in the role of educator, canvasser, teacher, actor; * Will not in painting, sculpture, photograph, technology, or music depict, support, or broadcast a single false thought, a single distortion of the truth as he discerns it; * Will not cite in writing or in speech a single “guiding” quote for gratification, insurance, for his success at work, unless he fully shares the cited thought and believes that it fits the context precisely; * Will not be forced to a demonstration or a rally if it runs counter to his desire and his will; will not take up and raise a banner or slogan in which he does not fully believe; * Will not raise a hand in vote for a proposal which he does not sincerely support; will not vote openly or in secret ballot for a candidate whom he deems dubious or unworthy; * Will not be impelled to a meeting where a forced and distorted discussion is expected to take place; * Will at once walk out from a session, meeting, lecture, play, or film as soon as he hears the speaker utter a lie, ideological drivel, or shameless propaganda; * Will not subscribe to, nor buy in retail, a newspaper or journal that distorts or hides the underlying facts. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the possible and necessary ways of evading lies. But he who begins to cleanse himself will, with a cleansed eye, easily discern yet other opportunities.
No one can bar the road to truth, and to advance its cause I am prepared to accept even death.
But may it be that repeated lessons will finally teach us not to stop the writer’s pen during his lifetime? At no time has this ennobled our history.
It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes. It may even lie on the surface; but we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions — especially selfish ones.
Many of you have already found out and others will find out in the course of their lives that truth eludes us if we do not concentrate with total attention on its pursuit. And even while it eludes us, the illusion still lingers of knowing it and leads to many misunderstandings. Also, truth is seldom pleasant; it is almost invariably bitter. There is some bitterness in my speech today, too. But I want to stress that it comes not from an adversary but from a friend.
Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.
To be known, the truth must be stated and the clearer and more complete the statement is, the better the opportunity will the Holy Spirit have for testifying to the souls of men that the work is true.
…God raises up wise men and prophets among all the children of men of their own tongue and nationality, speaking to them through means that they can all comprehend, not always giving a fulness of truth, such as is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, but always such measure of truth as the people are ready to receive.
But even with the possession of this Spirit to guide us into all truth, I pray you, nevertheless, not to look for finality in things, for you will look in vain. Intelligence, purity, truth, will always remain with us relative terms and also relative qualities. Ascend to what heights you may, ever beyond you will see other heights in respect of these thing,?; and ever as you ascend, more heights will appear, and it is doubtful if we shall ever attain the absolute in respect of these qualities. Our joy will be the joy of approximating them, of attaining unto ever-increasing excellence, without attaining the absolute. It will be the joy of eternal progress.
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
“Hold on, think for a moment. Surely you can’t believe that in the great confusing variety of religious beliefs, not one of them is true, is right.”
“God must have a huge sense of humor So righteously to resist The temptation of turning the tables On your pretending he does not exist.”
Yes, if there is a truth among the ungodly and wicked it belongs to us, and if there is a truth in hell it is ours.
‘How much of [‘Mormonism’] is true?’ All of it. ‘How much does it embrace?’ All the truth that there is in the heavens, on the earth, under the earth, and if there is any truth in hell, this doctrine claims it…
President Brigham Young: “The idea that the religion of Christ is one thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science without true religion.
If you love the truth you can remember it.
'Mormonism' embraces all truth that is revealed and that is unrevealed, whether religious, political, scientific, or philosophical.
It is better to be a partial Christian than a non-Christian. It is better to believe some of the doctrines of Christ rather than none at all. One truth paves the way for another, and we all need to advance in knowledge and understanding.
The greatest truth known to man is that there is a God in heaven who is infinite and eternal; that he is the creator, upholder, and preserver of all things; that he created us and the sidereal heavens and ordained and established a plan of salvation whereby we might advance and progress and become like him. The truth pertaining to him is that he is our Father in heaven, that he has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, that he is a literal person, and that if we believe and obey his laws we can gain the exaltation that he possesses. Now that is the greatest truth and the most glorious concept known to the human mind, and the reverse of it is the greatest heresy in all Christendom.
But when you let the different opinions debate, when any skeptic can perform his or her own experiment to check some contention out, then the truth tends to emerge.
They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.
Satan is the great deceiver, the father of lies. This is not because Satan tells only lies. His most effective lies are half-truths or lies accompanied by the truth. A lie is most effective when it can travel incognito in good company or when it can be so intermarried with the truth that we cannot determine its lineage.
The fact that something is true is not always a justification for communicating it.
By the same token, some things that are true are not edifying or appropriate to communicate.
Absolute truth exists in a world that increasingly disdains and dismisses absolutes.
And the veneration of feelings over truth, not to mention wisdom, is a cornerstone of leftism.
Here’s one way to test my thesis: Ask left-wing friends what they have done to pass on wisdom to their children. Most will answer with a question: “What do you mean?” Then ask religious Jewish or Christian friends the same question. They won’t answer with a question.
“Well, that should be clear,” Prager said. “If ‘men give birth’ is offered as fact, then the word ‘fact’ means nothing.”
Sometimes, the truth may just seem too straightforward, too plain, and too simple for us to fully appreciate its great value. So we set aside what we have experienced and know to be true in pursuit of more mysterious or complicated information.
The people of the Book of Mormon lived on the other side of the globe—their histories, cultures, and political climates were vastly different from the people Jesus taught during His mortal ministry. And yet He taught them many of the same things He taught in the Holy Land. Why would He do that? The Savior always teaches timeless truths. They apply to people of every age and in any circumstance.
And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.
When we enter the temple, we leave the world of make-believe.
To those who believe anything or everything could be true, the declaration of objective, fixed, and universal truth feels like coercion—“I shouldn’t be forced to believe something is true that I don’t like.” But that does not change reality.
Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from falling if he steps off a cliff. The same is true for eternal law and justice. Freedom comes not from resisting it but from applying it. That is fundamental to God’s own power. If it were not for the reality of fixed and immutable truths, the gift of agency would be meaningless since we would never be able to foresee and intend the consequences of our actions.
If enough of us and enough of our neighbors strive to make our decisions and guide our lives by the truth of God, the moral virtues needed in every society will abound.
In the future we'll be wise to avoid relying on observation alone and should seek corroborating evidence from other reliable sources
First, He loved with “all [of His] heart, might, mind and strength,” giving Him the ability to heal the deepest pain and declare the hardest reality. In short, He is one who could administer grace and insist on truth at the same time.
Great minds discuss ideas,average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people.
As the prophet reveals the truth, it divides the people. The honest in heart heed his words, but the unrighteous either ignore the prophet or fight him. When the prophet points out the sins of the world, the worldly either want to close the mouth of the prophet, or else act as if the prophet didn’t exist, rather than repent of their sins. Popularity is never a test of truth. Many a prophet has been killed or cast out. As we come closer to the Lord’s second coming, you can expect that as the people of the world become more wicked, the prophet will be less popular with them
Facts which at first seem improbable will even on scant explanation drop the cloak which has hidden them, and stand forth in naked and simple beauty.
We may say, the works of God and the word of God both constitute the avenues of human information, and that whoever ignores the one deprives himself of much of the benefits which flow from accepting the other; that there are two doors which open to the temple of truth, and they are both indispensably necessary to engage man’s full capacity and to endow him with the principles of knowledge, and with the purposes of his being here upon the earth, together with his origin and final destiny.
As a Church, we encourage gospel scholarship and the search to understand all truth. Fundamental to our theology is belief in individual freedom of inquiry, thought, and expression.
The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding.
And it has been wisely said that the man who knows only half of any question is worse off than the man who knows nothing of it. He is not only one sided, but his partisanship soon turns him into an intolerant and a fanatic. In general it is true that nothing which cannot stand up under discussion and criticism is worth defending.
Within the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is room and place for every truth thus far learned by man, or yet to be made known.
One ought not to reject the data merely because one does not like what the data implies.
There has been endless speaking and writing about ultimate or final truth. It may as well be admitted at once, and without reservation, that mortal man, gathering knowledge through imperfect senses—his only avenues to truth—must remain content, in many fields of endeavor, with partial truth … Nevertheless, the knowledge gained by the bare eye, or by the aid of instruments, reveals truth—partial but glorious truth, fit to stand by the side of all other truth.
To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues.
It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of the truth.
The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
He that would seriously set upon the search of truth, ought in the first place to prepare his mind with a love of it. For he that loves it not, will not take much pains to get it; nor be much concerned when he misses it.
One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.
Lying... is so ill a quality, and the mother of so many ill ones that spawn from it, and take shelter under it, that a child should be brought up in the greatest abhorrence of it imaginable.
I am sure, zeal or love for truth can never permit falsehood to be used in the defence of it.
Whatever happens as a consequence of telling the truth is the best thing that can happen. It doesn't really matter how it looks to you at the moment, or maybe even across the years.
We take it as an article of faith that “there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12). So it is that we have, or yet will send missionaries to those of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
Joseph Smith told his story at the peril of his life. We tell it at the peril of social acceptance; surely we can stand that tall. We are not insensitive to the fact that the declaration of the one true church doctrine can generate resistance and that it may be accompanied by observations to the effect that we are unchristian, narrow and bigoted.
We are required to teach the doctrines, even the unpopular ones.
Suppose schools were operated on that philosophy, with each discipline a separate path leading to the same diploma. No matter whether you study or not, pass the tests or not, all would be given the same diploma — the one of their choice. Without qualifying, one could choose the diploma of an attorney, an engineer, a medical doctor. Surely you would not submit yourself to surgery under the hands of a graduate of that kind of school! But it does not work that way. It cannot work that way — not in education, not in spiritual matters. There are essential ordinances just as there are required courses. There are prescribed standards of worthiness. If we resist them, avoid them, or fail them, we will not enter in with those who complete the course.
Knowing that laws govern all that we do in this temporal world, can we not suppose that laws in like manner govern all that happens in the eternal world? Can there be existence of any kind if there are no laws? And if such laws exist, can we suppose that we may lay claim to the blessings of heaven while we disregard the laws of heaven?
Let us consider why the “one true church” doctrine is so offensive to some. If we start with the premise, as the traditional Christian world does, that God is incomprehensible — that no one can know anything about him with certainty — then you can be tolerant with all manner of views about God irrespective of how ridiculous they may be. The only view that you could not tolerate would be one of certainty.
...it is philosophically impossible to reject truth without accepting error, to shut out the light without being immersed in darkness, to reject true teachers without cleaving to false ones, to reject the true Christ and his prophets without giving allegiance to those who follow another Master.
“Do you realize that the notion that all churches are equal presupposes that the true church of Jesus Christ actually does not exist anywhere?”
Would the people who claim all churches (save ours) to be true be willing when sick to take any randomly selected combination of drugs to cure what ails them or administer the same to their children? Would they substitute sand for flour when baking bread arguing that as long as they were sincere, it could not possibly make any difference? Would they fill their gas tank with water, arguing that it too was a true liquid and was also a creation of God and that God loved all liquids the same?
You can say what you want by way of criticism about the Book of Mormon. Give it whatever grade you think it deserves, but what you cannot say is that it lacks for plainness or that you cannot quite figure out where it stands relative to Christ and his gospel. On such matters it is plain, clear, and bold; its writers had no intention of being misunderstood. It is a theological Everest; you can try to cover it with flowers but you are not going to be able to hide it. Simply stated, it is a public relations nightmare.
As to why the Lord made it this way we may not know — but this much we do know, it is philosophically impossible to reject truth without accepting error, to shut out the light without being immersed in darkness, to reject true teachers without cleaving to false ones, to reject the true Christ and his prophets without giving allegiance to those who follow another Master.
The Restoration began with Joseph Smith on his knees in the Sacred Grove and that is where the testimony of every Latter-day Saint must begin, on their knees in a sacred moment asking of God. Everything that we believe as Latter-day Saints rests on the reality of what God said that spring morning to Joseph Smith and the great irony of it all is that the harder the saying, the more offensive it seems to the world, the more peace it brings, it is the very light that chases away the darkness of contention with all that are honest in heart.
That such texts will give offense to some is true. Truth, however, is more important than harmony. Were that not the case, there would have been no war in heaven, no gospel of Jesus Christ, and no reason for the Father and the Son to appear to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. If we are to be a Christ-like people, we must value truth above life itself.
If the gospel message is true, it must by its very nature have things in it that require faith to accept. If we are going to get serious about it we can hardly expect to find gospel truths getting along compatibly with worldly fashions, nor can we expect them to get an approving nod from those who worship at the shrine of their own intellect.
The plain fact of the matter is that you cannot build strong testimonies out of weak doctrine. As there is no courage without a struggle, so there can be no spiritual strength without a challenge. We have claim to neither peace nor safety save we build on a strong foundation.
Any time we declare something to be true, we have picked a fight with that which is untrue. We cannot, as Marion G. Romney assured us, do the Lord’s work without offending the devil. [12] It is as certain as the night following the day that we will never be able to declare our message without opposition or without giving offense to some.
They say that ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant.’ Moral compromises can’t stand the light of day.
Direct and honest feedback are the immune system of any community. Mischief begins when feedback ends.
The health of any relationship, team or organization is a function of the lag time between when people see problems and when they discuss them.
Don't envy sinners---have mercy on them. God will destroy them.
...that they were depending on the prophet hence were darkened in their minds from neglect of themselves...
...Melancholy and awful that so many are under the condemnation of the devil and going to perdition.... they should be cast out from this Society, yet we should woo them to return to God lest they escape not the damnation of hell!
...tis the doctrine of the devil to retard the human mind and retard our progress, by filling us with selfrighteousness---The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more are we dispos'd to look with compassion on perishing souls
...The devil flatters us that we are very righteous, while we are feeding on the faults of others---We can only live by worshipping our God--all must do it for themselves--none can do it for another
According to the testimony of the Scriptures in all ages of the world, whenever God was about to bring a judgment upon the world or accomplish any great work, the first things he did was to raise up a Prophet, and reveal unto him the secret, and send him to warn the people, so that they may be left without excuseProphetswarned the people[even when] theygave no heed[and] rejected their testimony;[then] the judgments came upon the people
Generally, a falsehood is when somebody says something that they believe to be true but it later turns out to be false. A lie is when somebody intentionally presents something that is false as the truth.
The true is identified by reference to a body of evidence; it is pronounced "true" because it can be integrated without contradiction into a total context. The false is identified by the same means; it is pronounced "false" because it contradicts the evidence and/or some aspect of the wider context.
When a definition is contextually revised, the new definition does not contradict the old one. The facts identified in the old definition remain facts; the knowledge earlier gained remains knowledge. What changes is that, as one's field of knowledge expands, these facts no longer serve to differentiate the units. The new definition does not invalidate the content of the old; it merely refines a distinction in accordance with the demands of a growing cognitive context.
Our knowledge grows in stages, and we organize at each stage only the facts that are available.
Conceptual knowledge is not acquired in a state of total ignorance or from a vantage point of omniscience. At any stage of development, from child to sage and from savage to scientist, man can make conceptual differentiations and integrations only on the basis of prior knowledge, the specific limited knowledge available to him at that stage. Man's mind functions on the basis of a certain context. The context, states Miss Rand, "is the entire field of a mind's awareness or knowledge at any level of its cognitive development.
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.
Truth only seems old fashioned nowadays because we’ve grown so accustomed to deceit and manipulation.
For all who think reality exists independently of the mind and that reality is what it is regardless of how we think about it, the definition of truth is the agreement of thought with reality. What makes descriptive judgments true is that it corresponds to the way things are.
There is an attitudinal and behavioral bridge that we need to build in order for us to draw closer to Him, and thus be ready to return Home—cum laude or summa cum laude—to receive of His loving fullness. We must want to do this more than we want to do anything else. Otherwise, even if we void wickedness, our journey will end in the suburbs, somewhere short of the City of God.
The central doctrines can quicken in us this desire for a full reunion. The hard sayings can help us in hard times, so that we do not lose the way. These sublime truths will enliven our consciences and stir our dimmed memories of promises made and vows taken—and at those very moments when we would otherwise be pulled from the path. These key truths, when kept before us, will lift our hopes and our eyes when we are downcast or in despair, and will lift our minds and thoughts from lower inclinations that are unworthy of who we are.
Extraordinary truths can move us to extraordinary accomplishments
Few doctrines, save those pertaining to the reality of the existence of God, are more basic than the truth that God is omniscient. "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it." (2 Nephi. 9:20.) Unfortunately, this truth is sometimes only passively assented to by individuals who avoid exploring it and coming to understand its implications. Later on, such believers sometimes have difficulty with the implications of this core doctrine—which connects with other powerful doctrines such as the foreknowledge of God,foreordination, and foreassignment. The all-loving God who shapes our individual growing and sanctifying experiences—and then sees us through them—could not do so if He were not omniscient.
Since we cannot fully comprehend any one of God's perfected attributes, we surely cannot comprehend them in the aggregate. But we can have faith in Him and in His attributes as He has described these to us. This is what He asks of us. We may say that this is a lot to ask, but anything less will not do.
There is a vast difference, therefore, between an omniscient God and the false notion that God is on some sort of post-doctoral fellowship, still searching for additional key truths and vital data. Were the latter so, God might, at any moment, discover some new truth not previously known to Him that would restructure, diminish, or undercut certain truths previously known by Him. Prophecy would be mere prediction. Planning assumptions pertaining to our redemption would need to be revised. Fortunately for us, however, His plan of salvation is constantly underway—not constantly under revision.
Some find the doctrines of the omniscience and foreknowledge of God troubling because these seem, in some way, to constrict their individual agency. This concern springs out of a failure to distinguish between how it is that God knows with perfection what is to come butthat we do not know, thus letting a very clear and simple doctrine get obscured by our own finite view of things. Personality patterns, habits, strengths, and weaknesses observed by God over a long period in the premortal world would give God a perfect understanding of what we would do under a given set of circumstances—especially when He knows the circumstances to come. Just because we cannot compute all the variables, just because we cannot extrapolate does not mean that He cannot do so. Omniscience is, of course, one of the essences of Godhood; it sets Him apart in such an awesome way from all of us even though, on a smaller scale, we manage to do a little foreseeing ourselves at times with our own children even with our rather finite and imperfect minds.
Ever to be emphasized, however, is the reality that God's "seeing" is not the samething as His "causing" something to happen.
We must not approach God as if He were somehow constrained by finite knowledge and by time. A useful and illustrative episode is the one involving the prophet Elisha and his young manservant. The prophet could see that a surrounded Israel need not fear. (2 Kings 6:15-17.) The alarmed younger man had to have his eyes opened, however, so he too could see that while the mountain was hostilely compassed about with horses and chariots of the enemy, it was also filled with horses and chariots of fire. Thus, even though the prophet said to the young man, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them," he was still puzzled and doubting. Only when his eyes were opened could he see the reassuring reality. Often, so it is with us. We see dimly, or, as Paul said, "through a glass, darkly." (1 Corinthians Such is the relevance of seers. Such is the role of faith. In a very real sense, all we need to know is that God knows all!
Indeed, if God were omniscient and omnipotent and not also omniloving, where would we be? Therefore, our childish concerns over being owned and over being too dependent upon Him would merely be amusing if such attitudes did not carry within them the possibility of tragedy.
Thus one of the biggest blocks to Christian communication is that we are so afraid of being misunderstood. So, when in doubt, we withhold. Yet Paul said to speak the truth in love; we can then take the chance. We worry (and understandably so) that some communications will only produce more distance. But silence is very risky, too.
Jesus' tutoring but disapproving response was: "Ye know not what ye ask." (Matthew 20:22.) Clearly, when our prayers are uninspired, we petition for things we should not ask for, even though we do so innocently. This is, in effect, what we do when we pray and "ask amiss." (James 4:3.) When we ask amiss, God, being perfect, must reject our petitions: "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you." (3 Nephi 18:20. Italics added.) The task is to draw close enough to the Lord that we progress to the point where we petition Him according to His will, not ours. "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." (1 John 5:14.) In modern revelations the Lord has declared His willingness to grant us the requests contained in our petitions if what we ask for is expedient for us. (D&C 88:64-65.) When we become sufficiently purified and cleansed from sin, we can ask what we will in the name of Jesus "and it shall be done." (D&C 50:29.) The Lord even promises us that when one reaches a certain spiritual condition, "it shall be given you what you shall ask." (D&C 50:30.)
When we pray, we are not conveying any information to God that He does not already have. Nor, when we confess our sins before Him, is it news to Him that we have misbehaved. It is vital, therefore, that we open our souls to Him and tell Him what our concerns are now, as well as acknowledge what we now are, for this is a part of the process of aligning ourselves with His will. We cannot, for the purposes of real prayer, hurriedly dress our words and attitudes in tuxedos when our shabby life is in rags. More than we realize, being honest with God in our prayers helps us to be more honest with ourselves. Furthermore, some of us actually feel we are too good for a petitionary prayer, especially when life is going reasonably well. It is part of our childish resentment of our dependency on God. We are also sometimes too proud to pray over small things, and thus we get out of practice. Then the moment of agony comes.
It is through true prayer that we can refine and adjust our desires to those of the Lord's so that we do not "ask amiss." In prayer we can actually learn more than we imagine about His will for us. In prayer we can learn more how to seek the Spirit, so that even our very prayers will be inspired.
In those moments our desires of the day may have to be sacrificed to our needs in our endless tomorrows. A mortal life may need to be "shortened" by twenty years as we might view it—but if so, it may be done in order for special services to be rendered by that individual in the spirit world, services that will benefit thousands of new neighbors with whom that individual will live in all of eternity. Perhaps this reality is yet another reason and reminder why we are urged to pray only for "our daily bread," for disciples must be portable. Our omniloving and omniscient Father will release us when it is best for us to be released. But each such release of a righteous person is also a call to new labors!
It is exceedingly important for members of the Church to get experience following the prophets in little things, so that they can follow in large matters. By following the prophets in fair weather we become familiar with their cadence, so that we can follow them in stormy times too, for then both our reflexes and our experience will need to combine to help us; the stresses will be so very real.
Any Church member not obedient to the leaders of this Church will not have the opportunity to be obedient to the promptings of the Lord." (Munich Area Conference Report, August 1973, p. 24.) A lack of obedience to the leaders will, therefore, mean that we will not have the precious promptings of the Spirit, which we need personally—so much and so often. This potential loss would be reason enough for us to be obedient to the prophets, for apparently we cannot have one without the other. Vital as the words of the prophets are, these come to us only periodically. We need the directions of the Spirit daily, even hourly.
To use the supposed errors of others, including those of the Brethren, as an excuse for our lessened devotion is a most grave error! All of us are in the process of becoming—including prophets and General Authorities.
There are even those who refuse to follow the Brethren because these individuals have overidentified with a single doctrine, principle, or practice; sadly, they exclude all other counsel, which leads to a dangerous spiritual imbalance. The difficulty with such individuals is that they have a strange sense of justification about that which they are doing. In their intensity they lack, of course, the spiritual symmetry that comes from pursuing, in a balanced way, all the commandments of God. These individuals are so hardened in their devotion to one thing that they are unable to follow the Brethren in all things. It is as if the adversary, upon seeing someone get religious, skillfully deflects their devotion so that it becomes a damaging and not a developing thing. We are responsible for our reactions when we see imperfections in others.
We may, therefore, see the imperfections in leaders in the Church. How we react to these manifestations of mortality is the key to our salvation—not theirs!
It is strange that when one is remodeling a portion of his house, he expects visitors to be tolerant of improvements that are so obviously underway. Yet while one is remodeling his character, we often feel obligated to call attention to the messy signs of remodeling, or feel called upon to remember aloud things as they were. Forgetting is such a necessary part of forgiving.
Prophets have a way of seeing more deeply and more distantly than the rest of us. They can, under the direction of the Spirit (to refer to an episode in the Old Testament), see a thundercloud when it is no larger than a man's hand. (1 Kings 18:44.) Their mortal sense of anticipation is sharpened by the divine, fully developed and perfected anticipation of God Himself—of which much is written in an earlier chapter.
It even helps us to be pressed thusly by prophets to choose. John the Beloved, in writing to the Church at Laodicea, said, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." (Revelation 3:15.) Many naively assume that it is always better to be lukewarm than to be cold. But lukewarmness can reflect a stubborn spirit of self-sufficiency that keeps some people from following God's leaders. Worse, lukewarmness keeps some from feeling cold chills, which chills can induce a few to a search for warmth and truth!
We live in an age that is flooded with facts and issues, big and small. But, ironically, in some respects men are, as never before, ". . . ever learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth," or of the real issues. The poet, e. e. cummings, described one view of learning when he wrote: "All ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again," a process which would be a reflection of futility as much as humility. Much of the flood flowing from the frontiers of knowledge is very valuable, but in the deluge of data there are also many insignificant truths. There are also isolate truths which are, in many respects, like the isolate individual-- both wander in perpetual search of companionship and meaning. Some research is actually undertaken in reaction to the human condition-- not to alleviate it. President John R. Silber of Boston University has observed: "One can forget the meaninglessness of his own existence by occupying himself with scientific experiments of dubious import. Countless scientists and scholars spend their lives in the search of truths that are irrelevant to them." Something can be both true and unimportant. Therefore, just as there are, in Jesus' words, "the weightier matters of the law," there are "weightier" truths! We must not only distinguish between fact and fancy, but know which facts are worthy of fealty. The gospel of Jesus calls our attention to the reality that there is an aristocracy among truths; some truths are simply and everlastingly more significant than others! In this hierarchy of truths are some which illuminate both history and the future and which give to men a realistic view of themselves-- a view that makes all the difference in the world. In this context, one can see how being "learned" (by simply indiscriminately stockpiling a silo of truths) is not necessarily the same thing as being wise, for wisdom is the distillation of data-- not merely its collection and storage. So far as is known, the question Pilate put to Jesus, apparently without expecting the Savior to answer "What is truth?" has been answered only once: the Lord later said, ". . . truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." Truth is a knowledge of reality of "things." Some realities are transitory and inconsequential; some realities maintain themselves everlastingly, or longitudinally, over vast spans of time. In the hierarchy of truth, therefore, some truths describe those realities which persist from age to age which are more significant than fleeting facts. A knowledge of such central realities as the existence of God and his presiding and purposeful role in the universe, the great rescue mission of his Son Jesus Christ, and of man's co-eternality with our Heavenly Father is sovereign sense! Other gradations of truth reflect knowledge of those things which are often important, but passing and proximate. In point of value, longitudinal truth, when compared to truth which reflects reality as it exists in only a portion of one of the three great time zones past, present, and future is like the Bible when it is compared with the single issue of a newspaper. Telephone directories are useful, but inevitably obsolescent reflections of reality. Many of us still store in our memories old phone numbers, and veterans usually know their military service serial number. These are once useful but now useless facts. Knowing how, through the process of irrigation, land can be made more productive is actually very useful'proximately'but in terms of ultimate utility, man's need to know about soils does not compare in importance with that knowledge which concerns souls!
Truth includes, but is not limited to, knowledge that corresponds to reality—things as they were, things as they are, and things as they will be (Jacob 4:13; D&C 93:24). Gospel truth is “morally richer,” therefore, than the world’s definition of truth, as Terry Warner has written (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 4 [New York: Macmillan Co., 1992], p. 1490). Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He has “received a fulness of truth” (D&C 93:26). Hence, we are to seek to have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Furthermore, as to the “manner” of people we are to become, it is clear we are to strive to become “even as” Jesus is (3 Nephi 27:27; see also 2 Peter 3:11). If we keep the commandments, the promise is that we will receive “truth and light” until we are “glorified in truth and knoweth all things” (D&C 93:28).
This process is part of being “valiant” in our testimony of Jesus. Thus, while we are saved no faster than we gain a certain type of knowledge, it is also the case, as Richard Bushman has observed, that we will gain knowledge no faster than we are saved (Teachings, p. 217). So we have a fundamentally different understanding of knowledge and truth—behaving and knowing are inseparably linked.
Ultimate orthodoxy—and orthodoxy isn’t a popular word nowadays—is expressed in the Christlike life that involves both mind and behavior. Christ’s manner of life is truly “the way, the truth, and the life,” and he has directed us to pursue his example (John 14:6; see also Matthew 5:48; 3 Nephi 12:48; 3 Nephi 27:27).
Another important implication of what we have been discussing is that all knowledge is not of equal significance. There is no democracy of facts! They are not of equal importance. Something might be factual but unimportant, as Elder Spencer Condie has observed. For instance, today I wear a dark blue suit. That is true, but it is unimportant. The world does not quite understand this. As we brush against truth, we sense that it has a hierarchy of importance. We are dealing with some things of transcending importance. Some truths are salvationally significant, and others are not.
Such are not Jesus’ ways, for he asks that perception and implementation be part of the same spiritual process. In Alma’s words, we are to “give place” in our lives for the good seed of the gospel to grow—which involves a form of knowing that combines cognition as well as implementation (see Alma 32).
Given these foregoing views of restoration theology as they pertain to knowledge, truth, education, and wisdom, there is, finally, no comfort zone for vanity or hypocrisy. There is no sanctuary for them.
As far as salvational truths are concerned, therefore, the secular knowledge explosion in recent years—with all of its many and unarguable benefits to mankind—has not been a bang at all. It has been merely a whimper. It was the Restoration that provided the explosion of salvational knowledge.
Our different frame of reference should never cause us to preen or to be insensitive to the uncertainty or despair some feel in the world precisely because they believe sincerely that man exists in “godless, geometric space.”
As if speaking to this very point, the Prophet Joseph Smith observed, Knowledge does away with darkness, suspense and doubt; for these cannot exist where knowledge is. There is no pain so awful as that of suspense. [Teachings, pp. 287–88] Joseph, of course, was speaking about a particular kind of knowledge.
For mortals, therefore, the gospel is inexhaustible, because “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). Jacob’s words are strikingly similar to Paul’s: “For the Spirit speaketh the truth . . . of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be” (Jacob 4:13). Unsurprisingly, the scriptural definition of truth matches. It is the “knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come” (D&C 93:24). What vastness!
Ironically, many refuse to examine gospel truths simply because of how God reveals them. These very methods swell skepticism among many. Furthermore, these divine disclosures are not democratically dispensed because such things are “made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works” (Alma 12:30; see also 2 Nephi 1:10).
The world in its search for physical security, for instance, tends to build Maginot Lines while naively neglecting its northern flank. It seeks to control the diseases flowing from sexual immorality but without honoring the principles of fidelity and chastity. The world in its wisdom constantly seeks to accommodate the natural man while gospel wisdom constantly urges us to put off the natural man (Mosiah 3:19). This is a pivotal point, and it makes all the difference!
"Truth is truth, wher'er 'tis found, On Christian or on heathen ground
it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for it.
I'll quote the truth wherever I find it...
In the Church, we embrace all truth, whether it comes from the scientific laboratory or from the revealed word of the Lord. We accept all truth as being part of the gospel.
Stand up and speak up for truth — especially when it is not popular.
Even though one’s understanding of the truth may be fragmentary, truth itself does not change.
The truths of the Book of Mormon have the power to heal, comfort, restore, succor, strengthen, console, and cheer our souls.
Our particular challenge today is that we live in era of “fake news,” “alternative facts,” “disinformation,” and conspiracy theories—an era that is called “post-truth”—and yet we fight each other with facts, or what we believe are facts. This is like firing cannonballs at each other in a gravitational vacuum: the weapon has no weight. Those who watch “fake news” don’t consider their news fake, and those who believe in so-called conspiracy theories don’t think they believe in “theories.” We will not reach each other with facts unless and until we reach out to each other.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to love ourselves—not to become prideful or self-centered, but to see ourselves as He sees us: we are His cherished children. When this truth sinks deep into our hearts, our love for God grows. When we view ourselves with sincere respect, our hearts are open to treat others that way too. The more we recognize our divine worth, the better we understand this divine truth: that God has sent us right here, right now, at this momentous time in history, so that we can do the greatest possible good with the talents and gifts we have. This is our time!
And though we typically use *receive* to mean "to acquire" something, the dictionary says that receive also means "to believe" or "to accept as true."
Priesthood keys are real. They unlock the power of God to all who serve under their direction. Priesthood power is real. It is not some theological theory. It is the power of God Himself.
In any case, the things I don't yet understand do not negate what I do know: that Joseph Smith was a prophet, foreordained by the Lord to restore His gospel, and that we have a living prophet today; that the priesthood has been restored to the earth; and that priesthood keys literally unlock God's power in behalf of all of us.
For all the many times I've been to the temple, the depth and breadth of all the Lord has for us in His house---the covenants, privileges, promises, knowledge, and power--far exceed what my puny mind at present comprehends. But going there regularly puts me in the best possible position to grow, learn, and step completely outside the world into a place where I can be reminded abou things as they really are and really will be.
Our sisters do not wish to be indulged or to be treated condescendingly; they desire to be respected and revered as our sisters and our equals. I mention [this], my brethren, not because the doctrines or teachings of the Church regarding women are in any doubt, but because in some situations our behavior is of doubtful quality.
Greater laws can overcome lesser ones, but that does not change their undeniable truth.
If men are really humble, they will realize that they discover, but do not create, truth.
Our service is to save souls. May I suggest five helpful guidelines: 1. Take time to think 2. Make room for faith. The prophet Isaiah declared that man's ways are not God's ways. (Isaiah 55:8.) 3. Stand firm for truth. Our leaders of youth become the stable force, the port of safety in the storm-tossed seas, the watchman on the tower, even the guide at the crossroads. Youth looks to us. How do we stand? May we answer: 4. Reach out to help 5. Provide place for prayer. Our task is larger than ourselves. We need God's divine help.
Knowledge through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the grand key that unlocks the glories and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven." (History of the Church 5:389.)
The road back to God is not nearly so steep nor is it so difficult as some would have us believe.
Decision is of little account unless it is followed by action.
In a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith at Kirtland, Ohio, in May of 1833, the Lord declared: "Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come. . . . The Spirit of truth is of God. . . . He [Jesus] received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth; And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things." (D&C 93:24, 26-28.) There is no need for you or me in this enlightened age, when the fulness of the gospel has been restored, to sail uncharted seas or travel unmarked roads in search of a "fountain of truth." For a living Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing map—obedience
Such was the burden of our Savior's message, when He declared: "For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world." (D&C 132:5.)
Some things that are true are not very useful.
Not every day is a good day, live anyway. Not all you love will love back, love anyway. Not everyone will tell the truth, be honest anyway. Not all deals are fair, play fair anyway.
We should be considerate to the living; to the dead we owe only the truth.
There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.
It hurts to find out your ideas are dumb, so you have to really want to know the truth more than you want to feel comfortable.
In living through this "great epoch," it is difficult to reconcile oneself to the fact that one belongs to that mad, degenerate species that boasts of its free will. How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will! In such a place even I should be an ardent patriot!
Concepts that have proven useful in ordering things easily achieve such authority over us that we forget their earthly origins and accept them as unalterable givens.
I believe in Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
It depends upon what the meaning of the word “is” is.
There is only one thing which the people lack on this point, in order that their traditions and former education may do them good, and that is to know how to sever the good from the bad, how to assimilate to themselves every good trait of character they have seen in their fathers and mothers, teachers and neighbors, and every good thing that has been taught them from their youth, and how to gather to themselves every good principle they have been traditionated in, and store that up as their individual property, and then dispense with every erroneous idea and every inconsistency. Many things which have been taught us in our childhood, or in our early lives, are truly inconsistent; lay them aside and cleave to the traditions which actually tend to virtue, holiness, chastity, loveliness, kindness, honesty, and truthfulness in every respect, and gather all the good into our own storehouse, and let each one say, that belongs to me.Some imagine that they must begin and unlearn the whole of their former education, but I say, cling to all the good that you have learned, and discard the bad.
Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.
If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.
Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth.
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
When a man after long years of searching chances on a thought which discloses something of the beauty of this mysterious universe, he should not therefore be personally celebrated. He is already sufficiently paid by his experience of seeking and finding. In science, moreover, the work of the individual is so bound up with that of his scientific predecessors and contemporaries that it appears almost as an impersonal product of his generation.
The value of education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.
Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.
everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler" is normally taken to be a warning against too much simplicity and emphasizes that one cannot simplify things to a point where the hypothesis is no more compatible with all observations. The aphorism does not contradict or extend Occam's razor, but rather stresses that both elements of the razor, simplicity and compatibility with the observations, are essential.
All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.
Popularity is never a test of truth.
Truth, like a torch, the more it's shook it shines.
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
One thing I assume of age, is weariness. Damned if I don't get more tired every day. Tired of what I do. Following arcs like lobbed rocks, the inevitability of truth. But the complexity and the gray lie not in the truth. But what you do with the truth once you have it. I think you have something you wanna tell me.
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