What is truth?

by mankkeli 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  THE GLADIATOR

  It seems to me that the point still thinking was expressing is that some people do not have the opportunity to search for truth. Their life is often short and predefined. This is an Interesting point because truth is what we actually live.

  What happens whether on earth or in outer space is real it is truth. Most of what happens throughout the universe is still a mystery to us. We observe as best we can and consider the observations and conclusions that others have reached.

  Pondering the whys and wherefores is possible because most people can now read and write and have the means to analyze their existence. It sometimes seems that language is not an adequate tool for understanding deeper truth. Mathematics comes closer but some things are not quantifiable.

  Truth is not a rigid set of beliefs. Once we think we posses the truth, we close our minds to other possibilities. In that moment we lose our connection with the infinite.
• 

  N.drew

  Truth is not a rigid set of beliefs. Once we think we posses the truth, we close our minds to other possibilities. In that moment we lose our connection with the infinite.

  I found the box, now to get rid of it?

  Jeekers

  Now I have a box.

  Fine

  Then once we have adopted our "truth" as our own forever, we become better than our neighbor (in our imagination) and is that good? Thus is born the class system. I vote no, it's not good.
• 

  AGuest

  we posses the truth, we close our minds to other possibilities. In that moment we lose our connection with the infinite.

  Please forgive me, but I have to disagree, dear Glad (peace to you!), based on my personal experience. I have learned that once we possess the truth (for me, the Truth)... our minds become OPENED to other possibilities... indeed, possibilities that far, far exceed what the "truth" told to us by our empirical senses can even aspire to. And in THAT moment... THROUGH that Truth... we become CONNECTED... with the infinite: God.

  Man, oh, man... if man could only "see" this truth...

  No offense, truly... and, again, peace to you!

  YOUR servant and a slave of Christ,

  SA
• 

  TimothyT

  Gods word is truth! John 17:17
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  AGuest

  Of course, I agree with you, dear TimT (peace to you!). I was going to point that out (along with John 8:32, 36 and 14:6)... but thought the discussion might be leaning in a different "direction"... and so was waiting to see if that truly was the case. Thank you, though, for bringing this up. Because this was the definition of truth... LONG before Wikipedia, Webster, Dictionary, and similar "sources" existed. If we "carbon dated" it, I would say the results would show THAT record to have existed at least 1,800-2,000 years before the others...

  Again, thank you... and peace to you!

  A slave of Christ,

  SA
• 

  TimothyT

  Thanks SA! Yes i love those scrips you quoted too! They are among my faves from the entire bible.

  About the subject... I think truth is a very interesting concept. Im certain that EVERYONE would desire to know the truth about any subject. However i know that it depends on whether or not you are interested. Also, i can imagine some die hards who wont believe the truth even if you flashed it infront of them because their version of truth is so much more true to them. This is a crazy idea though because the truth is true and is always the same, but people can believe something is the truth all their lives because that is what they have been taught and is ingrained into them.

  What a CRAZY subject. I look forward to coming back to this thread in a few days and seeing what everyone has written.

  Timmy x :)
• 

  PSacramento

  There is a universal truth and that truth is that man is capable of great and wonderous things and very capable of horrifc and terrifying things.
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  Pardon my intrusion AGuest but what I said was:

  "Once we think we posses the truth, we close our minds to other possibilities. In that moment we lose our connection with the infinite."

  That one small word changes everything.

  Peace to you.
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  still thinking

  It seems to me that the point still thinking was expressing is that some people do not have the opportunity to search for truth. Their life is often short and predefined. This is an Interesting point because truth is what we actually live.

  Gladiator...yes...that is very much what I was trying to say with that picture...and as we have discovered, there are many types of truth...that is just one example.

  How we individually perceive the world depends on who's eyes we are looking through...and our experiences.

  A person who has never had a chance at any education and lives and dies in that same position will have a very different 'truth' to someone that has been educated, travelled, and had the opportunity to enjoy the things life has to offer.

  Take politicians for example...often they enter govt. with high ideals and want to make a difference. Many are grounded in the reality of others and how they live. But given time in those positions their focus changes...their 'truth' changes. They lose touch with the truth of the people they represent...they have their own agendas...their new 'truth'.

  Truths about God I suspect are very individual too.
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  LoneWolf

  There's an excellent write-up on this exact subject here:

  http://www.howlinmad.net/basics2.html

  I think you'll like it.

  Tom