What is The Truth?

JakeH · 12-21-2011, 01:12 PM

“There is no religion higher than Truth”

The Apostle Peter declared to his disciple Clement: “Hence, O beloved Clement, if you would know the things pertaining to God, you have to learn them from Him alone, because He alone knows The Truth. For if any one else knows anything, he has received it from Him or from His disciples”.
- The Clementine Homilies

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught by God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
- John 6:45

The Truth is referred to in the Holy Bible over 250 times and the first thing one must know is that it is not meant in general terms, it is something very specific. The Truth could be called the Eternal Truth or God’s Truth or His Truth or simply, The Truth. The Truth is composed of two familiar components which cannot be separated – the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If either component is corrupted in the slightest way, it is simply not The Truth.
The reality of The Truth can best be described as an unfiltered, unaltered beam of light. This beam then passes through a multi faceted crystal and the beam becomes splintered into many small beams. As mankind sees these individual splintered beams, they perceive what they see as The Truth but, unfortunately, it is not whole. This is why we have such a diversity of cultures, political viewpoints, religious denominations, etc. Each sees a different ‘splinter’ of the beam and believes, with all their heart & soul that only they know The Truth - and everyone else is wrong. Only when one sees the entire beam will they know The Truth, become ‘free’ of this world and follow in The Way to salvation.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
- John 8:31-32

And finally....You learn The Truth through True Gnosis.

Etu Malku · 12-21-2011, 02:22 PM

I would amend this to "There is no god higher than Truth"
but that's just me!

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 02:31 PM

True Gnosis is to directly encounter...

There is a truth which you can directly encounter - in Christianity it is called divinisation or theosis. It is to realize God is an objectification of that, and to realize you are a subjectification of this. Truth is neither this nor that, go deeply into this and you will realize truth.

Recall that 1 John 4:8 says God is love, are you something different? If two lovers meet, is there two loves or is there one whole love?

NiceCupOfTea · 12-21-2011, 03:00 PM

in the Christianity that I have been involved in "Jesus Christ" is considered "The Truth"

so we come into relationship with "The Truth" "Jesus" and we are set free.

radarmark · 12-21-2011, 05:31 PM

[QUOTE=JakeH;259723]The reality of The Truth can best be described as an unfiltered, unaltered beam of light. This beam then passes through a multi faceted crystal and the beam becomes splintered into many small beams. As mankind sees these individual splintered beams, they perceive what they see as The Truth but, unfortunately, it is not whole. This is why we have such a diversity of cultures, political viewpoints, religious denominations, etc. Each sees a different ‘splinter’ of the beam and believes, with all their heart & soul that only they know The Truth - and everyone else is wrong. Only when one sees the entire beam will they know The Truth, become ‘free’ of this world and follow in The Way to salvation. [QUOTE]

You are pointing out that our too human perception of truth is fragmented, causing some to say "only I know the truth and everyone else is wrong". How is your "entire beam" thesis any different?

IowaGuy · 12-21-2011, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JakeH

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
- John 8:31-32

And finally....You learn The Truth through True Gnosis.

Well, how can you ever know if YOU know the truth? If you admit that there are many splinters of the beam, how can you ever be sure you know the "whole truth" as you say? Look at all the wackos (doomsday predictors, etc) that thought they knew the "whole truth"...

i.e. can the "whole truth" ever be truly known? And how would you know when you actually discovered this "whole truth"?

Can the "whole truth" be discovered from just reading the bible? Or does god somehow interact with you and show you the whole truth?

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiceCupOfTea

in the Christianity that I have been involved in "Jesus Christ" is considered "The Truth"

so we come into relationship with "The Truth" "Jesus" and we are set free.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 describes becoming one with Christ.

Christ is part of the trinity, thus it is in essence becoming one with God.

This is the whole purpose of religion, everything else is to develop love and trust that you will allow yourself to merge. That oneness is salvation, there is nothing else which saves.

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IowaGuy

Well, how can you ever know if YOU know the truth? If you admit that there are many splinters of the beam, how can you ever be sure you know the "whole truth" as you say? Look at all the wackos (doomsday predictors, etc) that thought they knew the "whole truth"...

i.e. can the "whole truth" ever be truly known? And how would you know when you actually discovered this "whole truth"?

Can the "whole truth" be discovered from just reading the bible? Or does god somehow interact with you and show you the whole truth?

It cannot be known through any logic, but it can be encountered.

IowaGuy · 12-21-2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lunitik

It cannot be known through any logic, but it can be encountered.

And how exactly do you know it is the "whole truth" that you're encountering and not something else? i.e. ego, hallucination, etc.

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IowaGuy

And how exactly do you know it is the "whole truth" that you're encountering and not something else? i.e. ego, hallucination, etc.

I was not there to hallucinate.

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 06:08 PM

What happened, I could never have even considered conceiving of, and at the same time it cannot be ego because all that ego identifies with was not there, mind still asserted "what is this? what happened?" but it was so faint and irrelevant. I was gone for 6+ hours, almost like a blackout, and when I returned I remember having so much new knowledge... everything made sense. I felt fresh and renewed, it was just awesome.

I almost want it to be a hallucination, I almost want it to have never happened because the old me died that day. I have all these memories, but they are not of the same entity. It would be so much easier to pretend I am that, but this gift, I have to share. My old interests are so petty now, only helping others really matters to me.

Yet, most are so non-receptive, I am wondering if it was right to give this to me.

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 06:17 PM

I only share in relation to what might be helpful, it is not good to throw more knowledge into your head. What has been shared with me is far more though, but existence is ready to share its ways with everyone, you just have to be willing to accept.

NiceCupOfTea · 12-21-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lunitik

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 describes becoming one with Christ.

Christ is part of the trinity, thus it is in essence becoming one with God.

Quote:

This is the whole purpose of religion, everything else is to develop love and trust that you will allow yourself to merge. That oneness is salvation, there is nothing else which saves.

in my tradition the spirit of religion is demonic and you are welcome to it.

people do not need poisonous religion, they need relationship.

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiceCupOfTea

in my tradition the spirit of religion is demonic and you are welcome to it.

people do not need poisonous religion, they need relationship.

Why do they need relationships?

They can relate, but relationships mean a kind of dependence and obligation, they do not provide freedom.

I don't even understand why this is related to religion in your mind, it is just natural mammal behavior to live in packs, and this type of living gives us the urge to relate and share with one another... this is not related to religion at all.

Perhaps it is because you don't know how to make friends outside the Church?

Lunitik · 12-21-2011, 07:35 PM

Also, what is your tradition?