This article is not for the purpose of instructing you
in anything, but simply submitted in the hope that you
can use some of these concepts or (especially desired)
add to them. My thought is that we all use up too much
time and effort fighting over our respective truths
and completely overlook the marvelous opportunity to use
others insights to advance the body of human knowledge
beyond where it is now.
Pontius Pilates question to Jesus, What is truth?
(John 18:38) is as apropos now as it was then. Billions
of people have pondered that question down over the
milleniums.
Ever since mankind has come into existence they have
been gaining in knowledge. It was slow at first and
gradually picked up speed until, in the past two
centuries, it has literally exploded. That knowledge has
turned much, if not most, of our ancestor's knowledge on
its head.
This steady advance in knowledge is normal, natural, and
prophesied. It was mentioned numerous times in the
Bible. 1 Corinthians 13: 9-12 is a good example, while 1
Peter 1: 11, 12 enlarges on it to the extent that even
the angels themselves were looking forward to additional
knowledge. Ezekiel's vision as recorded in Ezekiel 47:
1-6 is especially enlightening inasmuch as most
authorities understand that the "water" spoken of here
is a reference to knowledge and how it increases down
through the centuries.
Due to this factor, then, we function on the premise
that everything is subject to examination and nothing
and no one is too sacred to escape that examination.
The Three Kinds of Truth
A learned friend of mind, a professor of ethics in an
eastern university, divided truth into these three
categories:
1. Absolute Truth --- That truth which corresponds to
absolute reality, and is usually known only to our
heavenly creator and to those whom he decides to give
it. The term "absolute reality" refers to the totality
of knowledge that exists on any given subject as viewed
through His eyes.
2. Relative Truth --- The progress that we imperfect
humans make toward gaining "Absolute Truth", but never
quite reach in spite of our best efforts. There is
always more to learn.
3. Relative Truth Believed Absolutely --- A "Relative
Truth" that we have gained such confidence in that we
refuse to consider any further evidence concerning it.
I find this concept fascinating in that it is a way to
structure knowledge and emphasize to all regardless of
our education or intelligence, that there is a whole
world of truth out there that is as yet untouched. To
those who understand it, it tends to reduce conflict and
encourage the sharing of viewpoints without ego
interfering with our helping one another to advance. It
is a way to sharpen one anothers face, as the
scripture says. (Prov. 27:17) Its a whole new frontier
where everyone can explore and be thrilled by their part
in it.
It also clearly depicts a danger that we are all prone
to make.
Expanded Thinking
We might view it in this manner:
Truth is much like an artichoke. It has many leaves and
each leaf has a small amount of nutrient under it. Most
people will pull off a few leaves, be satisfied with
what theyve found, and never think that it would be
advantageous to pull off a few more to see what is under
them too.
To illustrate: Most of us know that 1+1=2. It becomes to
many a relative truth believed absolutely that they
know and wont question. However, is it always?
What if we are dealing in the binary base where the only
numbers used are 0 and 1? Then it isnt 2, its 10.
At one time, such a concept would have been considered a
silly mind game, but now that principle is the very
heart of the computer world. They wouldnt work without
it. Who would have believed a century ago that the
binary base would come to have such importance in the
world now?
Or what if we are in the world of biology? There 1+1 can
equal 2, or 200, or 2,000, or 2,000,000. It all depends
upon how long the 1 has been with the other 1. Look at
the rabbits in Australia and all of the environmental
damage theyve caused.
Please note that neither of these expanded concepts
contradicts the original. They merely add to the
standard body of Truth.
Another example of the different layers of truth would
be a riddle Ill bet youve heard. Its about a bear
hunter and goes like this:
The hunter woke up in the morning, ate breakfast,
grabbed his rifle and left camp looking for bears. After
walking one mile due south, he spotted a bear to the
east. Heading due east, he caught up to the bear and
shot and killed it at a point exactly one mile from
where he first saw it. After skinning it out, he packed
the hide exactly one mile due north, which brought him
back to his camp, only to discover that another bear had
raided the camp.
Now, what was the color of the bear that raided the
camp?
Most people will say that the problem is impossible in
the first place, as if one were to go one mile south,
one mile east, and one mile north, he wont be back at
his camp. Hell still be one mile east of camp.
Others, though, will feel good about themselves as
theyve recognized that the clues are in the directions.
They can see that if the camp was set up exactly on the
North Pole, you would end up right back where you
started. The eastern leg would be merely an arc going
around the pole. From there the answer is obvious. The
bear was white.
However, we can take this one step further. There is an
infinity of other places upon the earth where we can
follow the same directions and still get back to the
same place. Can you tell me the general locale where
they exist, and what the route will look like?
It is this expanded thinking that can be extremely
valuable. It is from there that we gain new knowledge
and add to our relative truths. Just like wandering
through an unexplored wilderness, one never knows what
will be discovered.
Identifying Those Leaves
One way to discover new knowledge is to search for
commonalties or patterns in things that are seemingly
unrelated.
An excellent example of one would be the experience of
Dmitri I. Mendeleev and the way he came to formulate his
Periodic Table of Elements. He noticed that some of the
various elements had similar qualities, and that they
appeared on a predictable basis in relationship to their
atomic weight. (For further information, please check
him out in the encyclopedia.)
But lets look at an example in another subject. The
need for love, peace, kindness, honesty, integrity, and
a host of other qualities are yearned for by people of
all races, languages, and eras. The laws as set forth by
Genghis Khan reflect an astonishingly similar value
system as that of the laws given to Israel, even though
the man was neither Christian or Jewish nor familiar
with either. That these same feelings are found in all
peoples is de facto evidence that this is the way that
Jehovah designed us, as well as a witness to His
qualities.
I would say in regard to the heavenly court case that
is going on right now between Jehovah and Satan, that a
good attorney could make a beautiful closing argument
on the basis of that one commonality alone. Satan keeps
maintaining that all humans prefer his ways of doing
things, but when humans strive to get as close to
Jehovahs ways as possible even when they are unaware of
them, it makes Satan look like a fool.
It has been said that much can be told about an artist
by examining his works. If even the stones can bear a
witness (Luke 19:40), how much more can a living thing?
This is why I have always laughed at the concept of
removing all windows from Kingdom Halls, ostensibly for
the reason that the young will be less distracted from
the proceedings under way. If the truth was known, the
average tree can give a better witness to Jehovahs
qualities than the average elder. One just has to know
how to read the language.
Of course, both are valuable, each in its own unique
way. They compliment each other.
Another Valuable Resource
There are those who frown on reading or dealing with
contrary thought. Those who do, appear to have forgotten
a few things. In 1 Cor. 9:19-20, Paul speaks of how he
strove to become different things to different people in
order that . . . I may become a sharer of it (the good
news) with others. To do that means becoming familiar
with what and how they believe. At times it is necessary
to know their beliefs even better than they do.
Of course, that by no means indicates that we should
become exactly what they are, even as the passage points
out more than once. Rather, hes saying that it is
necessary to know their thought processes. In a very
real way it is like learning another language, its just
that the two languages happen to use the same words.
Then too, we might just ask ourselves these questions:
Is truth weaker than falsehood? If not, then why are we
afraid?
Here are some other advantages to knowing contrary
thought:
a. Contrary thought provides the questions that need
answered.
b. Most advances spring from unusual, independent, or
heretical thinking. Even if an idea is totally crazy, it
may trigger a good one in someone elses mind.
c. In looking over our work, we can contrast it with the
old and see the advantages for ourselves.
d. So that we will have the tools and freedom necessary
to make a decision for ourselves, and glory in that
freedom, which incidentally, is the only way to
formulate the type of answer that Jehovah requests of
us.
A Matter of Perspective
We need to keep in mind that the truth we possess
right now is miniscule in comparison to everything that
can be learned. Look at it this way:
If, in the 1600's, we would have walked across the room,
flicked a switch on the wall and a bright light suddenly
appeared in the ceiling, we would have probably been
hung for witchcraft.
Or, to use another example, picture two of the most
intelligent men of their age, Benjamin Franklin and
Thomas Jefferson, trying to understand and fix one of
today's computers when it was broken down.
When we look into the past and compare our knowledge now
with what they had then, we appear to be light years
ahead of them. That makes us feel good and flatters our
egos. But in the process we tend to forget that there is
far more yet to learn; many more leaves to discover on
our truths.
We could say that we are like a sand flea on the beach
in Alaska. Every evening at dusk they migrate down to
the water line and every dawn go right back up to the
vegetation line to sleep during the day. All we are is
like the one who decided to go a little farther, climbed
the 15 foot bank above the shore and looked out at the
magnificent view that no other sand flea in history ever
saw.
He would be quite proud of himself, wouldn't he? He may
even wish to lord it over his fellows and claim to have
all knowledge. But what he doesn't realize is that a few
miles further inland, there is a mountain that goes up
another 20,305 feet. That rather dwarfs his measly 15
feet, doesn't it? How are we any different?
How foolish we are to allow any of our "truths" to
become "relative truths believed absolutely"!