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5 Truths about Truth
From a devotional address, “What Is Truth?,” given to students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA, on January 13, 2013. Read the full text at speeches.byu.edu.
Your loving Father in Heaven would never leave you alone in this mortality to wander in the dark. You can discover divine truth.
During the closing hours of His life, the Savior was brought before Pontius Pilate.
When Pilate came face to face with the Man of Galilee, he asked, “Are you a king?”
Jesus replied, “For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37).
I sense a certain weary cynicism in Pilate’s reply. I don’t believe Pilate was encouraging a dialogue when he responded with three simple words: “What is truth?” (See John 18:33–38.)
To amplify, I wonder if what he really was asking was, “How can anyone possibly know the truth?”
1. Truth Is Different from Belief
Some of the greatest minds that have ever lived on this earth have attempted to answer that question. Never in the history of the world have we had easier access to more information—some of it true, some of it false, and much of it partially true.
Consequently, never in the history of the world has it been more important to learn how to correctly discern between truth and error. Part of our problem in the quest for truth is that human wisdom has disappointed us so often. We have so many examples of things that mankind once “knew” were true but have since been proven false. For example, in spite of one-time overwhelming consensus, the earth isn’t flat. The stars don’t revolve around the earth. Eating a tomato will not cause instant death. And, of course, man actually can fly—even break the sound barrier.
The scriptures are filled with stories of men and women who misinterpreted “truth.” In the Book of Mormon, both the Nephites as well as the Lamanites created their own “truths” about each other. The Nephites’ “truth” about the Lamanites was that they “were a wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people” (Mosiah 10:12), never able to accept the gospel. The Lamanites’ “truth” about the Nephites was that Nephi had stolen his brother’s birthright and that Nephi’s descendants were liars who continued to rob the Lamanites of what was rightfully theirs (see Mosiah 10:12; Alma 20:13). These “truths” fed their hatred for one another until it finally consumed them all.
Needless to say, there are many examples in the Book of Mormon that contradict both of these stereotypes. Nevertheless, the Nephites and Lamanites believed these “truths” that shaped the destiny of this once mighty and beautiful people.
Part of the reason for poor judgment comes from the tendency of mankind to blur the line between belief and truth. We too often confuse belief with truth, thinking that because something makes sense or is convenient, it must be true. Conversely, we sometimes don’t believe truth or reject it—because it would require us to change or admit that we were wrong. Often, truth is rejected because it doesn’t appear to be consistent with previous experiences.
When the opinions or “truths” of others contradict our own, we often jump to conclusions or make assumptions that the other person is misinformed, mentally challenged, or even intentionally trying to deceive.
2. The Adversary Tries to Keep Us from Truth
The thing about truth is that it exists beyond belief. It is true even if nobody believes it.
So how can we find truth? I believe that our Father in Heaven is pleased with His children when they use their talents and mental faculties to earnestly discover truth. Over the centuries, many wise men and women—through logic, reason, scientific inquiry, and, yes, through inspiration—have discovered truth. These discoveries have enriched mankind, improved our lives, and inspired joy, wonder, and awe.
Even so, the things we once thought we knew are continually being enhanced, modified, or even contradicted by enterprising scholars who seek to understand truth. It is difficult enough to sort out the truth from our own experiences. To make matters worse, we have an adversary, “the devil, [who] as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is the great deceiver, “the accuser of [the] brethren” (Revelation 12:10), the father of all lies (see John 8:44), who continually seeks to deceive that he might overthrow us (see Doctrine and Covenants 50:3).
The adversary has many cunning strategies for keeping mortals from the truth. He offers the belief that truth is relative; appealing to our sense of tolerance and fairness, he keeps the real truth hidden by claiming that one person’s “truth” is as valid as any other. For those who already embrace the truth, his primary strategy is to spread the seeds of doubt.
Remember that in this age of information, there are many who create doubt about anything and everything, at any time and every place. And it is always good to keep in mind that just because something is printed on paper, appears on the internet, is frequently repeated, or has a powerful group of followers doesn’t make it true.
What may seem contradictory now may be perfectly understandable as we search for and receive more trustworthy information. Because we see through a glass darkly (see 1 Corinthians 13:12), we have to trust the Lord, who sees all things clearly.
3. Heavenly Father Is the Source of Truth
There is one source of truth that is complete, correct, and incorruptible. That source is our infinitely wise and all-knowing Heavenly Father. He knows truth as it was, as it is, and as it yet will be (see Doctrine and Covenants 93:24). “He comprehendeth all things, … and all things are by him, and of him” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:41).
Our loving Heavenly Father offers His truth to us, His mortal children. Now, what is this truth?
It is His gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
If we will only have enough courage and faith to walk in His path, it will lead us to peace of heart and mind, to lasting meaning in life, to happiness in this world, and to joy in the world to come. The Savior is “not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:27). We have His promise that if we seek Him diligently, we will find Him (see Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17; Acts 17:27; Doctrine and Covenants 88:63).
4. We Must Seek After Truth
But how can we know that this “truth” is different from any other? How can we trust this “truth”?
The invitation to trust the Lord does not relieve us from the responsibility to know for ourselves. This is more than an opportunity; it is an obligation—and it is one of the reasons we were sent to this earth. Latter-day Saints are not asked to blindly accept everything they hear. We are encouraged to think and discover truth for ourselves. We are expected to ponder, to search, to evaluate, and thereby to come to a personal knowledge of the truth.
We seek for truth wherever we may find it. Yes, we do have the fulness of the everlasting gospel, but that does not mean that we know everything. In fact, one principle of the restored gospel is our belief that God “will yet reveal many great and important things” (Articles of Faith 1:9).
The Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ came about because of a young man with a humble heart and a keen mind seeking for truth. Joseph studied and then acted accordingly. He discovered that if a man lacks wisdom, he can ask of God and the truth really will be given unto him (see James 1:5).
The great miracle of the Restoration was not just that it corrected false ideas and corrupt doctrines—though it certainly did that—but that it flung open the curtains of heaven and initiated a steady downpour of new light and knowledge that has continued to this day.
So we continually seek truth from all good books and other wholesome sources. “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (Articles of Faith 1:13). In this manner we learn the truth “precept upon precept; line upon line” (Isaiah 28:10).
As you accept the responsibility to seek after truth with an open mind and a humble heart, you will become more tolerant of others, more open to listen, more prepared to understand, more inclined to build up instead of tearing down, and more willing to go where the Lord wants you to go.
5. The Spirit Witnesses of Truth
The Holy Ghost is a revelator. He is the Comforter, who teaches us “the truth of all things; [who] knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment” (Moses 6:61). The Holy Ghost is a certain and safe guide to assist all mortals who seek God as they navigate the often troubling waters of confusion and contradiction.
The witness of truth from the Holy Ghost is available to all, everywhere, all around the globe. All who seek to know the truth, who study it out in their minds (see Doctrine and Covenants 9:8), and who “ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, [will know] the truth … by the power of the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 10:4).
If you follow the Spirit, your personal search for the truth inevitably leads you to the Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ, for He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). This may not be the most convenient way; it will probably also be the road less traveled, and it will be the path with mountains to climb, swift rivers to cross, but it will be His way—the Savior’s redeeming way.
I add my witness as an Apostle of the Lord that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I know this with all my heart and mind. I know this by the witness and power of the Holy Ghost.
I ask you to spare no efforts in your search to know this truth for yourself—because this truth will make you free (see John 8:32).
It is my prayer that you will seek the truth earnestly and unceasingly, that you will yearn to drink from the fount of all truth, whose waters are pure and sweet, “a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
I bless you with confidence in the Lord and a deep-rooted desire to rightfully discern truth from error—now and throughout your life.