What is truth?
Pontius Pilate asked this question of Jesus on the day of his crucifixion (see John 18:38). Too bad the governor did not wait around for the answer.Truth is more than a philosophical question. A simple but circular definition of truth is freedom from error. There is moral truth, which is what we believe, and there is physical truth, which is tangible reality. Most philosophers agree that independent, physical truth exists, but they generally disagree as to how and where we find truth, or even if it is knowable at all.
The question of truth is at the heart of Christian religion. We look to the scriptures to find truth. The Bible provides explanations of truth for most of the Christian world:
- "The truth of the Lord endureth for ever." (Psalms 117:2)
- "Praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth." (Daniel 4:37)
- "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates" (Zechariah 8:16)
- "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
- "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (John 16:13)
- "[God's] word is truth." (John 17:17)
- "Thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground [foundation] of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)
- "The Spirit is truth." (1 John 5:6)
And finally, the curse of the scribes, rabbis and Pharisees: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:7)
Thus, from the Bible we know that God has the truth, that he sent his truth to us through Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost will guide us to the truth, that God's word is true, that what he makes is true, and that the truth is in God's church. We also know that we can learn much and still not learn the truth.
Modern revelations give additional definitions of truth that are more direct, practical and to the point. They help explain what the Bible only hints at:
- "In the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them." (3 Nephi 16:7)
- "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:5)
- "For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever." (D&C 1:39)
- "The Book of Mormon... contains the truth and the word of God" (D&C 19:26)
- "Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come" (D&C 93:24).
The ultimate definition of the truth comes from the Savior himself. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). He repeated himself in the Book of Mormon: "I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world" (Ether 4:12). We find the ultimate truth in Christ.
An experience with truth
I once had an experience with truth. When I was in elementary school, I went to the house of a new friend one day. His name was Scott. He had four older brothers. I had only one brother and one sister. I thought his large family was cooler than my little family. So when Scott's mother asked me about my family, my urge to compensate overcame my good judgment, and I made up an elaborate story about a family with twelve children. I don't know why I picked twelve as my magic number. It just popped into my head. On the spot I made up names for my eleven siblings. I described how we ate dinner every night around a giant picnic table. I painted an impressive picture for Scott's mother. She was enthralled by my amazing family, and I was very cool.A few weeks later, our school held its annual carnival. Assigned to the ping-pong-ball-in-the-fish-bowl booth were my mother and, by lucky happenstance, Scott's mother.
Sometime about midway through the carnival, my mother and Scott's mother came looking for me. I was sitting on the edge of the sandbox counting my tickets. It had never occurred to my nine-year-old brain that these two women would ever meet, and I had long since forgotten about my made-up mammoth family. Confronted with my whopper, I tried to come up with a good reason for having misrepresented my family, but I had nothin'. I do not recall any punishment at home afterwards, but the embarrassment of my stupidity has stuck with me to this day.
How does truth make us free?
When I think of freedom, I think of agency. Knowledge is the basis of agency. We cannot choose what we do not know. The presence of truth enables us to choose correctly.Truth enlightens us in correct principles. It opens the door to do the right things. It is the pathway to light and life. Light is knowledge. It is also the source of life. Physical light is required for physical life; spiritual light is needed for spiritual life. Truth illuminates the way and enlivens and energizes us along the way.
Just as Christ is in the light of the sun that enables this earth to support life, he is our spiritual Sun, and the light that shines from him is truth (see D&C 88:7).
From what does the truth free us?
At the carnival that day, the truth, however uncool it might have been, would have freed me from an extremely uncomfortable situation and a tearful apology. It would have left me free to return to Scott's house, which I could never do again because of my mortal embarrassment. It would have freed me from the mistrust that I saw in my mother's eyes. And it would have freed me from having to try to remember all of the details that I had made up.Truth is not just the absence of error. A vacuum contains no error, but neither does it contain the truth. Truth fills the vacuum with goodness. Thus, truth not only frees us from error, it enables us to fulfill ourselves as children of God. It free us from being nothing. It frees us from emptiness. Many good people in the world are nevertheless empty. Truth fills us.
The word is truth (see John 17:17); Christ is the word (see John 1:1-5); therefore, Christ is the truth. From what does Christ free us? From sin and death, from sorrow and affliction. This is the role of the truth.
How do we learn the kind of truth that makes us free?
Truth does not change or evolve. Truth is whole, not like the proverbial six blind man who explore an elephant. When we grasp a part of the truth and miss or ignore the whole, we are wrong.There are many facets of truth only because the human mind has limitations to its understanding. But God, with his infinite mind, sees all truth as one great whole. If we are to learn God's truth, we have to go to the source. We must learn it from him, in his way.
Our perception of truth forms us and who we are. That which we believe is true directs our lives. Thus it is critical that we have access to God's truth and recognize it. Revelation is the key. The Holy Ghost is the conduit. Christ is the source. Pilate's answer was standing right in front of him. When we come unto Christ, we come unto the truth.
What are we doing every day to increase in essential, saving knowledge?
When we open the door to revelation, we open the window to the light of truth.Jesus taught, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). To ask is to pray. To seek is to study. To knock is to work. If we want truth, we must pray for it, study the scriptures, and serve in faith. These are the daily actions that bring light and truth into our lives.
"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (D&C 50:24). "Perfect" means whole and complete. We may not get the whole truth in one day. But as the truth grows in us, we grow in the truth. May we each come to have a perfect, complete, whole day, even a day of truth.
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