Principle 1: Truth – What is Truth?

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Simply put (because truth is simple to understand), truth is the knowledge of things as they really are, as they were and as they are to come. (see Doctrine and Covenants 93:24) Anything more or less than this (the truth of things as they really are) is a stretched truth or a lie.

So, if you are telling the “truth”, you are speaking of things as they really are, or as they really were, or as they really will be in the future (if only we always had leaders in our country who told the truth, things as they really are, were and will be). If you are hearing the “truth”, you are hearing things as they really are, were, and will be. You and I can know the absolute truth of all things outside any influence of this world, as the pattern is given to us, and you will be able to both see that pattern and put it into practice as you go through these principles of truth.

To understand what truth is, we need to also understand light and intelligence (which we discuss further in following principles of Truth). Also, when speaking of truth, we need to understand how it is that you might obtain truth.

So, to start, let’s state a few facts and statements to ponder upon, about truth.

• Truth is the knowledge of things as they are, were and are to come.
• The opposite of truth is falsehood.
• Truth does not flatter. Flattery is no friend of truth (so it goes with empty political debates of flattering rhetoric). We would expect any Mormon person in any office, be it government, or religious, or in the home to come to know and avoid flattery, as truth is the only lasting option we can rely on.
• Truth is brought about by light, whereas falsehood is brought about by darkness.
• Darkness does not comprehend light, but light dispels darkness, so truth or light, dispels falsehood or darkness.
• Truth or Light cannot occupy the same space as Falsehood or Darkness.
• Anything more or less than the truth (light), is darkness or falsehood (we call it false doctrine, that which pushes you away from truth in any degree more or less than the knowledge of things as they really are, were and are to come).
• Light brings about truth. Knowledge is the light of truth.
• The word of the Lord (Jesus Christ) is truth (he speaks of things as they really are, were and are to come, his words are truth).
• If the word of the Lord is truth, then the person who keeps his commandments receives truth and light. If that person continues to keep his commandments, he or she will be glorified in truth and eventually will know all things.
• Truth is the only meaningful foundation upon which we can make wise decisions (Any good leader should understand this simple foundational principle of truth, and abide by it).
• A knowledge of truth is of little or no use unless we apply it to make correct decisions (another character greatly lacking in today’s leaders).

The beautiful thing about truth, is that it is independent, and acts for itself in the sphere where it exists (you and I don’t need government, politicians, or philosophers to tell us what is truth and what isn’t, because it is independent of anything else). Intelligence also is independent, to act for itself (you and I can act independent of other intelligences, but if we take hold of the truth, we then have an advantage of beginning to see things as they really are, as independent intelligences, giving us knowledge and light). (Doctrine and Covenants 93:30)

You are an intelligence, given the freedom to act for yourself. You can find out for your own intelligence, if Christ is really the source of all truth. He has given you a test, so that you can know for yourself if his words, or the words of any man or woman are true. He promises you and I, if we test his words, in sincerity, you will know the truth of them by the power of the Holy Spirit (which we will address in the next principle of truth, “Feeling the Light of Truth“).

So, before we get any further, let’s recap, by restating what truth is with a bit more description.

Truth is the light and knowledge given to intelligences (you and I),  of things as they really are, really were, and really are to come.

A simple example: If you were to be blindfolded so that you could see nothing, and then taken  on a three-day road trip in silence, to then leave the car and be walked  for a few hours to a designated place you have no knowledge of, to then remove the blindfold from your eyes, to let you then discover that you were still in complete darkness, you all of the sudden have no knowledge of things as they really are around you, you lack truth.

You can then begin to guess about your surroundings with the knowledge you had prior to being in this unknown place of pitch blackness, using your senses of smell, touch, taste, etc.,  but, because you have a sense of safety (a conscience) and you have no idea if you take a step forward there may be a ledge you would fall straight down from, or you may bump into something dangerous, you are left to just stand there having no knowledge of your surroundings or a knowledge of where you are.

You then begin to wave your hands slowly around you to search for anything you can grasp, only to find nothing around you. You are still in complete blackness so you dare not step forward, but instead you notice your footing is secure, so you stoop down slowly and begin to feel the ground around you. The ground feels moist, wet, and uneven. You don’t dare crawl around in it, for fear of the unknown. You are stuck. You need light, to give you knowledge of things as they really are, the truth of things as they are, were and are to come for you.

You then remember, after having been blindfolded you were given a gift, which you placed in your front pocket. You reach in your pocket, pull out the gift, and begin to rotate it carefully in your hand to realize it is a lighter. You find what feels like a button, you hold up the lighter in your hand away from you, and you push the button.

In an instant, darkness is dispelled all around the light now emanating from the tiny flicker of the lighter in your hand. Instantly, knowledge begins to flood into your mind by the light reflecting off things as they really are, which light reflects back into your eyes, giving your intelligence comprehension (knowledge) of things as they are, were and are about to be for you. The light, when comprehended by your intelligence, shows you the truth, in that you are in a cave, and your guide is sitting on a chair close by with a flashlight in hand. Upon seeing the guide, he or she congratulates you on now understanding what truth is. You then say, “truth, is the light and knowledge of things as they really are, were and are to come.” You both agree that it was light which gave you knowledge of things as they were and are and will soon be, the truth. You also both agree that darkness gave you no truth, no knowledge of things as they really were and are and will be.

You then use your tiny flicker of light to continue your acquisition of the knowledge of things as they are around you, as you move through the cave towards what begins to look like a door (thanks to the light that is dispelling the darkness in front of us). You open the door, and the light of the day, coming from the sun, floods into the cave, darkness flees giving way to the light giving you a greater knowledge of things as they were when you came into the cave, as they are presently, and you can now see, because of the light of the day, the things that are to come in your future.

Application:
What have we learned about truth? If we haven’t stated it enough, truth is just what we have said, nothing more nothing less, “the knowledge of things as they really are, really were in the past, and really will be in the future“. Go ahead and apply this now before moving onto principle 2. Apply the truth principle to anything and ponder upon it, and see how you feel about it when done. In the next principle, we will talk about the test God has given all men and women, whereby one can feel the truth of anything, whether it be true or false, just as we can can say things are black or white, without having to guess the hints of gray in between. You should understand before going onto the next principle that truth is brought about by light, which light gives you knowledge of things as they really are, as they really were and as they really will be. If you understand that, and accept it, great, move onto principle two. If it doesn’t make sense to you, ponder upon it until it does, or feel free to comment or ask us a question.

Examples of Application:
Some examples of how to apply the principle 1. Think of any person who has ever lived on this earth. Where did that person get their knowledge from? Pondering on this question, you come back to light. Without light, darkness reigns, and knowledge does not flow. One may argue, “Well, what about a blind person? They have knowledge and can’t see light?” Ok, let’s take a blind person. Go to the source of that blind person’s knowledge and you find another person who can see light, who has shared the knowledge of things as they really are, were and will be with that blind person so that even the blind can have knowledge. Yes, we have brains and senses that help with knowledge, but without the light itself, and the warmth and energy of light, we would have no knowledge.

When we were in that cave in the scenario discussed in this principle, you and I, although in pitch black, felt the affects of the energy of the light of the sun. The warmth of light (which is the next principle we will discuss) is also part of gaining knowledge of things as they really are, or stated in another way, you can feel light, and feeling light brings one to finding the absolute truth, whereas darkness takes away the light of truth. We will also learn, in another principle, that darkness is cold and where darkness reigns, things get really slow and without form or function. Where light is absent, energy and knowledge gets really slow, confusing, and without order or progression (kind of sounds like our current governmental administrations doesn’t it?). Whereas when light is present, darkness gives way to light, order, knowledge, life, and existence itself.

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