truth: noun, plural truths
2.
conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement.
3.
a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” oscar wilde
what really do we mean when we say that something is true? generally speaking it's something that is considered obvious....like "the sky is blue"....we all believe that this is true because sometime, somewhere, someone used a crazy scientific theory to "prove" that the color we are looking at up in the sky is called by the name "blue". therefore it is true. it is a verified or indisputable fact. but what if it isn't? what if i decided that the sky was really green? and i told everyone i knew that i believed that blue is a relative term, dependent on one's point of view, and that really GREEN is the color most closely identifiable with the sky? and then what if i convinced enough people that i was right. and we started a movement, that included progressive thinkers that could in fact come up with proof to support the claim.....and then we challenged the common knowledge that the sky is blue. if enough people believed us, would the sky still BE blue? or would it possibly also be green? who is to say the first theory is the correct one? is it correct just because initial evidence supported it? even though more evidence that was developed later using more advanced technologies could work against it? do you still have to believe what you've always known to be true? or do you get to change your mind?? how "true" is the truth?
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true - BUDDHA
of course this is the most basic struggle with religion, in my opinion. i know that catholics believe that they are the "ONE" true religion. PERIOD. everyone else, with any other belief is somehow misinformed. "The Catholic Church is not just another denomination within Christianity, it is the universal community established by Jesus." i would say that according to catholics around the world, that this is a true statement. of course the argument can made that protestants are just misinformed....clearly they can not be "enlightened" because they in fact broke from "the truth".
of course there is also this view : "The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be His body. Thus, despite widely held popular belief outside the Orthodox cultures, there is not one bishop at the head of the Orthodox Church; references to the Patriarch of Constantinople as a leader equivalent or comparable to a pope in the Roman Catholic Church are mistaken. It is believed that authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands—a practice started by the apostles, and that this unbroken historical and physical link is an essential element of the true church (Acts 8:17, 1 Tim 4:14, Heb 6:2)"......did they just claim that the roman catholic church is mistaken??? that can't possibly be true, can it?
and let's not forget this: Judaism is predicated on the belief in one TRUE God. Jesus was a prophet, but not the son of God, and not part of the Holy Trinity. so really, isn't christianity in and of itself the first "protestant" religion? i could go on for days and do this religion by religion. my point is, that somewhere along the lines, what was accepted as "true" became a question. and certainly what was accepted as true in western culture, was never accepted as true in the east, and vice versa. again, its all in PERSPECTIVE. the church (really any of them) would have you believe that you don't get to have perspective - that's what faith is for.....you believe that they are speaking the truth because you have faith in what they are saying. it is true....WITHOUT PROOF. so i really can decide that the sky is green -and if you love me you will have faith that i know what i'm talking about. so there.
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important...c.s.lewis
just kidding - i am waaay oversimplifying an incredibly complex matter. but i happened to read a book (go figure) as a guest in a book club - it was called "heaven is for real".....it's a fairly controversial account of a small child's visit to heaven, as retold by his father. now i'm telling you that this kid made very compelling arguments for the existence of heaven. he knew things he should not have known about dead relatives and he so matter of factly accepted his experience that his father believed it to be true. after all, why would a child make up such a fantastic tale? i bring this up, because for me, if you take out the "fact" that the bible is divinely inspired - then you have an interestingly comparable situation. you have a fairly unbelievable story, told with absolute conviction, backed up by some pertinent facts.....and then RETOLD BY SOMEONE ELSE, who has the experience and knowledge to SHARE the information. it was a great read - and those of the ladies in the reading group who i would consider "faith"ful, all believed it to be true....why would they make it up? i mean of course they wouldn't make it up? kids never make anything up, and parents never exaggerate their children's brilliance. i'm not saying its not true.....but i'm not saying it is - and there is absolutely no way to prove it one way or the other -you just have to believe it. sound familiar?
True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness ...albert einstein
this is what i believe to be true: we are all capable of greatness, whether it is divinely inspired or not; we all have gifts and talents that can be shared with the world, just as we all have faults and challenges that sometimes prevent us from doing so....but its in the effort to get better, and be better that we are true to ourselves.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing...SOCRATES
i also know it's TRUE that typing with a cat sitting on your keyboard is NOT easy :)
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