eChurch Blog

Steve over at Undeception has a very thoughtful and incisive blog post on seeking truth. Steve rightly highlights the danger posed by those who believe they have a monopoly on truth and says:

The greatest threat to Truth comes from those whose confidence that they have it lead them to root out everyone making a counter-claim. This conviction puts me on a collision course with heresy hunters, who in the name of defending the Truth of God have crammed it so tightly into a cage that I can scarcely imagine their having any real affection for it.

One of my greatest fears is to become the person that imagines they have laid hold of all truth and have nothing further to learn. This to me, is death itself. I heartily suspect that in the face of God, we will all be found wanting.

Steve also notes ‘affection’ for truth and this is a salient observation in my mind, as there has to be a love of truth; in fact, 1 Corinthians 13:6 informs us that love itself rejoices with truth.

Steve moves on to look at the interaction between behaviour and truth:

By far the best and most important way to serve Truth is by acting like we believe it, viz. through obedience to what we believe. I believe that the highest, most elusive truth of the universe is Love — so if my life is not characterized by Love-seeking, how can I pretend to be a Truth-seeker?

It’s interesting to note here that Steve alludes to the truth-seeker being a love-seeker. In other words truth should impact on our behaviour towards others. Of course this is echoed in 1 Peter 1:22:

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.

Steve articulates this thusly:

If I can’t act in love during my tousles for Truth, treating the other person as a child of God no matter how obviously, infuriatingly ignorant they are, then what I am upholding and defending is not Truth but my own pet truths, factoids that I cognitively assent to, at the expense of the greatest truth I know. There is nothing more false than conflating my truth with the Truth.

For me personally the following paragraph is the very crux of Steve’s post:

You see, fighting for Truth so often treats it as a trophy to be won, a public reward for our diligent Truth-seeking. I want to get out of this closed circuit of seeking Truth for seeking Truth’s sake. If we don’t live up to the light we do have – and I hope we can all agree that living a life characterized by loving humility qualifies – no matter how accurately and convincingly we argue for truths, we are not lovers of Truth.

How true.

It would seem to me that far too often, even within the Christian world, the search for truth can become dry, over-intellectualised and argumentative. Of course, for Christians, truth has been exemplified and personified in the person of Jesus: “I am the way and the truth and the life” and in the person of the Holy Spirit: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth”.

This truth is to have a profound impact on us:

John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

And

John 17:17
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

I’ve always found it intriguing that the Bible does not necessarily equate the accumulation of facts with truth:

2 Timothy 3:7
always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

I equate wisdom with truth and I delight in the personification of wisdom in the feminine form in Proverbs:

Proverbs 4:6
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

Proverbs 7:4
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.”

Proverbs 8:1
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?

Proverbs 8:11
for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

And humility is intimately tied with wisdom:

Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

The irony would seem to be that the more wisdom and truth we have, the more humble and loving we will become. Or could it be that the more humble and loving we are; the more open to wisdom and truth we become? Either way, based on this, it would seem that I have some way to go.

Here’s a lovely Scripture to end with:

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

So to the question; what is truth to you?

By the way, don’t feel you have to be Christian to contribute on this one

Advent is not about our activity and our own doings, it is simply a time of our God’s all powerful actions, His doings, and our not doing anything, except to wait.  As we continue in our passivity, cultivating patience as we wait on the Lord.  Let’s take a few moments to dwell on His actions, perhaps using the Jesuit method of prayerful reading.

First Reading Isaiah 29:17-24

The Lord says this:

Gospel Acclamation  cf Is 45:8

Gospel Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David.’ And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do.’ Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you.’ And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this.’ But when they had gone, they talked about him all over the countryside.

A few links I personally found interesting for one reason or another:

Society for Christian Psychology: Mediation: Moving from Unforgiveness to Forgiveness

Naming His Grace: Critiquing the theologies and connections of some pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel leaders: a series # 2

Melanie Phillips: From Red Toryism to Blue Labour, social renewal depends on Christian principles

Countercultural Father: Mindfulness…

Get Religion: Evolution and Islam

Vatican Insider: Year 2011: Less atheists, more believers

Assyrian International News Agency: Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched

Significant Truths: When we walk in darkness – I’ve had plenty of opportunities to be depressed – I just haven’t taken them!

(3)  If the enemy uses quotations or historical reference points, ask him where he got them from.  Be careful, because he might have got them from somewhere.  If he responds, say “Like you know everything, right?” Or, “Who agrees with you?”  Remember: the point is to fluster, disorient and win.

(4)  Multipurpose Global Utility (Straw-Man) Argument: If  you think he and or she does have an argument but you can’t quite understand it, go to page 33: “How to Use a Straw Man.”  The Straw Man defense is a sure fire destroy-all toxin that will paralyze the enemy. Basically, it is the same as a six year old saying “You made it all up,” but sounds much better.  Plus, you don’t have to explain anything about where he uses it.

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(6)  If you find that a website is “moderated” say that it violates the fundamental right of Free Speech guaranteed to atheism in the Constitution. It is what our atheist forefathers like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and probably also Abraham Lincoln and Shakespeare fought and died for, or would have died for if they’d had to. Not publishing our comments is a form of defamation (p. 67) and discrimation, which is forbidden by all relevant anti-discrimination laws: see p. 80, “All Relevant Anti-Discrimination Laws).

Accuse the enemy of running his blog site like a Gulag.  Badger the enemy repeatedly saying “Where is my comment?”  ”You don’t believe in free speech, do you, you arrogant stuffed pork pie, ” or “No wonder your pitiful little site gets so few hits; you run it like North Korea.”  If he shoots back some irrelevant comment about all your exampes coming from atheist states like North Korea say “That’s just what a pompous, boring, pork pie would say.”

(7)  The art of the quibble:  Throw the enemy off balance. Coordination is everything.  Nothing is too small for a quibble (rhymes with nibble).  And almost anything counts as a quibble: For example asking for page numbers, correcting grammar, and wondering if the enemy is jealous of Richard Dawkins’s unparalleled success as an atheist writer are good starts. But if he gets scrappy,  move on to statistics, as in “You say that atheism is in decline; I’d like to know how you know this?”  ”You say that religion is responsible for the preservation of learning traditions and the rise of universities; can you give me an example?”  Be ready to say “I didn’t think so,” or “Gotcha” while he’s thinking.

Read all

Come ponder with the Jesuit method of prayerful reading, listening to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  

Pax Christi+

First Reading  Isaiah 26:1-6

Gospel Acclamation  Isaiah 55:6

Gospel Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. ‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’

Prayer

Show forth your power, O Lord, and come.

Be merciful and forgiving,

and hasten the salvation which only our sins delay.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end

Amen+