What is Truth – Sunday, September 26, 1954
These words will not be new to some—but it is always timely to talk about truth. “What is Truth?” Of course, a word means only what we allow it to mean within ourselves or by common consent. And by some, “truth” has been defined as a relative term, as something that is subject to shifting.
If a person proclaims what is generally believed to be true—what is accepted as truth by common consent at any particular time—and if he sincerely believes what he says, it is said by some that he is telling the truth.1 This may sound acceptable until we reduce it to specific cases. But the classic contradiction frequently referred to is that people once believed and proclaimed that the world was flat.
They sincerely believed so, and when they said it, they thought they were telling the truth—but that didn’t make the world flat, and the truth was and is that the world was not and is not flat. And so, we could multiply examples of what people have believed and have not believed, and inevitably come only to the conclusion that no matter what men at a given time happen to believe, if it isn’t true, their belief doesn’t make it so, no matter how sincere. And no doubt many of today’s theories and hypotheses and dogmatic declarations will someday seem as absurd as some that have been disproved in the past.
It must be so, because some theories come in conflict with other theories (and with facts)—and truth cannot come in conflict with truth. Truth is eternal. “Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; … The Spirit of truth is of God……. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”2 A falsehood or an error couldn’t make a man free. And so, we must conclude that truth must basically be the same yesterday, today—and forever. It can be discovered. It can be lost.
Our knowledge of it can be increased. Popular conceptions concerning it can change—but not truth. And it doesn’t matter where truth is found or who discovers it—it should be accepted, so long as it is truth. Likewise, it doesn’t matter where falsehood is found, it should be rejected—no matter what credentials it comes with. And always we have the obligation, earnestly, intelligently, prayerfully, to distinguish between the two.
These three are blessed qualities of character: a heart, a mind, that is open to truth; the patience to wait when there is doubt or seeming discrepancy—to wait until more evidence is in, until more pieces are put in place; and the courage to accept and use truth when it comes into our lives. “Know the truth”—seek it—live by it— “and the truth shall make you free.”
*Revised
1Doctrine & Covenants 93:24-26
2John 8:32
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September 26, 1954
Broadcast Number 1,310