The Evangelical Universalist Forum

''what is truth''

This is also something I struggle with. It is a very good question, stuartd. I hope many chime in and we can find an answer together.

I’d say we arrive by patiently studying the truth. Study of the Word.

I still think you look beautiful sister.

Thank you so much, ManticorE.

What is reality? If we can answer that question accurately, then we know the answer to “What is truth?”

Haha, Paidion! Like I said, Jesus. But you knew that.

:slight_smile: not that I’m having a go at you on this lovely comment but isn’t the heart deceitful !

perhaps some reality is deceptive ?

I also wish to say that I believe there is diversity in truth ! by that I mean there is a true position on any given topic but for a variety of reasons we may never this side of death be able to discern it ! but I still believe we can all arrive at what I term a reasonable approximation of what is true on a given topic , never fully agreeing but not being too far apart either :sunglasses:

very true :smiley:

Interestingly enough we have this amazing thing called the enteric nervous system thats completely separate from our central nervous system. Some people call it the second brain. Those gut feelings we get, well there may be something to it. When you get butterflies in your stomach, same thing. You have more seratonin receptors in your gut than in your brain!

“out of your bellies will flow living water” makes me wonder if there is some sort of connection there?

As to hearing that voice on the inside, I was praying a couple months ago (when I had the realization about this) and I heard/felt the “voice” and it brought me back to my childhood (thats what confirmed it for me), when I remember God telling me, although its not really words but an understanding, “I have a plan for you, you’re special to me” when I would worry if I was really saved or would I go to hell. The other times I heard/felt this was in my crazy highschool/college years, there were a few events that there was His hand on when I was “lucky” to come through unscathed.

Ah yes, but He has given us a brand new tender heart inscribed with His law of love. I’ve noticed that many times when “mind” is used in scripture, the original language word so translated is some form of “heart.” As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The heart is, I’m told, exceedingly rich in neurological tissue and it may in fact, be true that it is part of the human thinking apparatus. Personally, I think that would be way cool!

The way I see it, the spirit and the heart are close if not the same, and the mind (brain) is intended to be the servant of the heart/spirit, and the body, the servant of the mind. Of course, there’s all sorts of ambiguity here and I’m probably as likely to be wrong as right, but it’s a revelation for me. We often think of the heart as the center of emotion, but it isn’t. The brain is the center of intellectual thought and emotion both (although other parts of the body, particularly the endocrine system, have great influence). Intellect and emotion are both servants of the spirit (heart?), or should be. So it’s not whether you’re too emotional or too intellectual; rather, it’s whether you’re being ruled by that central part of you – the “heart,” where your spirit is inhabited by God’s Spirit.

Wow! Beautifully said, Cindy! As I read your post I thought of the passage that says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Seems like it embraces what you have said.

I certainly believe the heart and brain are intrinsically linked, just how of course is anyone’s guess :unamused: but I think the connection is far stronger than even most of us believe !
‘‘I’ve noticed that many times…’’ here here !

I agree about God being truth. But what exactly does that say about our obedience to the truth? When asked ‘if in Nazi Germany, you were hiding jews, would you lie or tell the truth to the German soldiers?’ - I believe protecting the Jews (by deceiving the soldiers) is not really a lie. Rather the lie is at the door holding a machine gun looking to kill, steal and destroy.

For me the truth is synonomous with justice - to be true (straight) like a piece of lumber used in building a house, is to be straight and right. So righteousness and justice are parts of truth - which I believe extends from love. I’m a propoenent that everything good extends from love - for example to do justice to someone is to love them - you’re treating them right.
So when we practice justice we’re being obedient to God.

So to be unloving is to do injustice and practice evil (crookedness, lies).

I agree with you, Auggy!

The commandment is “Do not bear false witness” against your neighbor. My opinion is, by turning a Jew over to a Nazi, one would be bearing false witness against the Jew.

The Bible says we should speak truth to one another but, I can’t remember an instance where it says we are obligated to propagate evil if an evildoer interrogates us.

I completely agree with your summation.

If so, then it’s not reality. It’s deception.

Notice Jesus did not answer Pilate’s question, “What is truth?”
Yes, on another occasion Jesus said, “I am the truth” (or "I am reality). What did He mean by that? This is worth investigating. I will not answer this right now. I suggest that you try to discover the answer.

George MacDonald made as interesting observation.

— The Hope of the Gospel Ch 1 “Salvation From Sin” by George MacDonald

That evil dream that the man is in, and in which he wishes to remain, is unreality. Coming out of that evil dream into the glory of God, is to experience reality (or “truth”, if you will).

thank-you for joining in, the only question I would ask in response is , is that the only criterion ? for you can have 100 different Christians who have only ever studied the scriptures all their lives ,yet all arrive at different conclusions !

ALL claiming to being lead by the spirit !!!

I agree with .r.h.m. response below your original post ! but I have never been overly fond of gauging truth by experience !

Kelly, when God speaks to me I’m usually ready, expecting, and have pen and journal in hand. I’ve never had any physical sensations except for a feeling of peacefulness and love (usually). Sometimes if He’s giving me a warning I’ll feel uneasy until I heed it, but that’s usually not during my quiet time. I’ve never experienced anything like vibrating. He will give me a picture in my mind or a dream sometimes, but usually words. I write them down and sometimes I don’t understand them right away, but usually I do understand within a few days. Sometimes I’m sure I miss Him and sometimes I’ve blacked out whole sections of my journal later on because on re-reading I realized it was me and not Him.

I don’t see this as an accurate way to gauge truth in and of itself. If it doesn’t agree with scripture, or if it doesn’t turn out to be accurate, then it’s obviously not truth. That said, God has given me some way cool revelations in this way, for which I’m always very grateful and excited.

In a more unusual (for me) experience, a month or so ago I was sitting down to do some reading and suddenly I “HAD” to find out what the UR people would say about a certain parable. I was seized with a sudden realization that I may have been wrong about annihilation and a great hope came into my heart and almost took my breath away. Was it possible they were right? I wasn’t even thinking about eschatology. It just popped right into my head and I had to follow it. God is so good, and I never even realized how very, very, amazingly good He is!