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Truth Defined |
Over 60 pages of insight into the Nature of Truth
Table of Contents Part 1- The Definition of Truth Part 2- Grammatical Analysis Part 3- A Clarification Part 4 - Select References |
Part 1 - The Definition of Truth |
Part 2 - Grammatical Analysis of the Nature of Truth |
Truth is God? What could that possibly mean?
How are we to interpret such a potent proposition?
To interpret that sentence, we must understand the several different ways
that the word
The word IS has at least Nine different known meanings or uses.1- The IS of Existence e.g. “God is”, meaning “God Exists.” The word IS can be replaced by the word Exists, and the meaning of the sentence remains unchanged. 2- The IS of Predicatione.g. “Laura is Beautiful,” meaning that Beauty is an attribute, quality or characteristic of Laura. The function of predication is to identify individuals and attribute properties to them. It is one of the primary properties of language.3- The IS of Class-Inclusion e.g. “Lisa is Married,” means that Lisa belongs to a Class of people who are Married. 4- The IS of Finding Oneself e.g. “Mariam is in Armenia,” means that Mariam finds herselfin a certain location. 5- The IS of Consequence
e.g. “Knowledge
is
Power," means that having knowledge leads one to have more power. The
Consequence
of having more knowledge than before is an increase in power. In other
words, Knowledge
Leads to Power.
6- The
IS
of a Metaphor
e.g. “
7- The
IS
of a Simile
e.g. “
8- The
IS
of an Idiom
e.g. “It
9- The
IS
of Identity
e.g. “
We must discern between the two known kinds of Identity, Identity of Proper Names and Identity of Titles.
e.g.
“Samuel Clemens”
and
“Mark Twain”
are proper names which reference one unique person. But
“Truth”
and
“God”
are Titles, and do not reference one unique person. Titles
reference one unique office or post.
*I find it necessary to create this new word to differentiate Identication from
Predication.
We can now examine our definition of the word
1- “Truth is God” cannot mean Truth Exists. Replacing the word is with the word Exists does not make sense. This meaning of IS, is not what we mean. 2- “Truth is God” is Not a Predication about Truth. God is Not an attribute, quality or characteristic of Truth. This meaning of IS, is not what we mean. 3- “Truth is God” does NOT mean that Truth belongs to a Class of things (or beings) called God. This meaning of IS, is not what we mean. 4- “Truth is God” cannot mean that Truth Finds Itself at a certain location. 5- “Truth is God” does NOT mean that the consequence of knowing truth leads one to become God. 6- “Truth is God” cannot be understood as a Metaphor. 7- “Truth is God” cannot be understood as a Simile. 8- “Truth is God” cannot be understood as an Idiom.
9- The only other choice we are left
with is that “Truth is
God” means that Truth and God are
IDENTITIES.
Truth and God are two different titles that reference the same office.
We have shown that the words
True propositions are solely about the person who occupies the office of God. |
Part 3 - A Clarification |
Part 4 - Select References |
Augustine’s exposition of Truth as given in his De Libero Book II, edited and reinterpreted; after the work of Ronald Nash in Faith & Reason, p161, and the work of Gordon Clark in A Christian View of Men and Things, p . 318.
An
Extensive Bibliography is available for download. The Extensive Bibliography is available here.
The 1TP theory of Truth should not be confused with the Identity Theory of Truth. These resources have been the most helpful in formulating my definition of Truth. Aalen, S. – “Truth”, a Key Word in St. John’s Gospel; Studia Evangelica; 1961 Acton, Herbert B. – Man-made Truth; Mind; 1938 Anonymous – The Gods of the Nations When Christ Came; The Dublin Review; 1867 Aquinas, Thomas – Truth, Vol. 1: Qs I - IX; 1954, 1994 Augustine, Aurelius – An Analysis of the Treatise On Free Will; Basic Writings of St Augustine; Oates, Whitney; ed.; 1948 Augustine, Aurelius – On Free Choice of the Will; 1964 Augustine, Aurelius – On Free Choice of the Will; Thomas Williams; tr.; 1993 Augustine, Aurelius – On Free Will- Augustine: Earlier Writings; John Burleigh; tr.; 1953 Augustine, Aurelius – On the Free Choice of the Will, On Grace & Free Choice, & Other Writings; Peter King; tr.; 2010 Augustine, Aurelius – On the Free Will: Book II only; Selections from Medieval Philosophers; McKeon, R.; ed.; 1929 Augustine, Aurelius – St. Augustine on Free Will; Carroll Sparrow; tr. 1947 Augustine, Aurelius – The Free Choice of the Will; Francis Tourscher; tr. 1937 Augustine, Aurelius – The Free Choice of the Will; The Fathers of the Church: Saint Augustine; Vol. 59; Russell, 1968 Augustine, Aurelius – The Problem of Free Choice Pontifex; Dom Mark; Tr. 1955 Benacerraf, Paul – Mathematical Truth; Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings; Benacerraf, Paul; 2004 Benacerraf, Paul – What Mathematical Truth Could Not Be - I - Benacerraf and his Critics; Morton, A. & Stich, S. P.; 1996 Benacerraf, Paul – What Numbers Could Not Be; Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings; Benacerraf, Paul; 2004 Benacerraf, Paul; Putnam, Hilary – Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings- 1st ed.; 1964; 2nd ed.; 2004 Brennan, Joseph Gerard – A Handbook of Logic; 1961 Brouwer, L. E. J. – Intuitionism and Formalism; Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings; Benacerraf, Paul; 2004 Bultmann, Rudolf – The Gospel of John; 1971, 1975 Clark, Gordon H. – Science and Truth; Trinity Review; 1981 Corazzon, Raul – Gottlob Frege on Being, Existence and Truth; formalontology.it; 2008 Corazzon, Raul – Truth, From the Greek Aletheia to the Latin Veritas; formalontology.it/aletheia.htm; 2008 Cox, Paul – What is Mathematics? Part 2; members.cox.net; [2008] Creath, Richard – Benacerraf and Mathematical Truth; Philosophical Studies; 1980 Crump, D. M. – Truth; Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels; 1992 Dales, H. G.; Oliveri, G.; eds. – Truth in Mathematics; 1998 Davidson, Donald – The Structure and Content of Truth; Jrnl of Philosophy; 1990 Davies, David Richard – What is Truth?; London Quarterly & Holborn Review; 1948 Denton, William – Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem; 2009 Devlin, Keith – Kurt Gödel: Separating Truth from Proof in Mathematics; Science; 2002 Dickinson, Richard – How do we know God? A Conversation Between Barth & Aquinas; Jrnl of Bible & Religion; 1958 Doriani, Daniel – The Deity of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels; Jrnl of the Evangelical Theological Society; 1994 Efros, Israel – Review: Rosenzweig’s Star of Redemption; Jewish Quarterly Review; 1936 Erdman, Jonathan – Truth in the Gospel of John; www.theosproject.blogspot.com; jul2006 Fallon, J. E. – Truth in the Bible; New Catholic Encyclopedia; [2004] Feigl, Herbert; Brodbeck, M.; eds. – Readings in the Philosophy of Science; 1953 Feigl, Herbert; Sellars, W.; eds. – Readings in Philosophical Analysis; 1949 Godet, Frederic – Commentary on the Gospel of John- Vol I- Chs 1-5; 1886; Vol II- Chs 6-21; 1886 Goetz, Billy E. – The Usefulness of the Impossible; Our Mathematical Heritage; Schaaf, William L.; ed.; 1963,66 Grese, William C. – Corpus Hermeticum XIII and Early Christian Literature; 1979 Hahn, Hans – Empiricism, Logic, and Mathematics; 1980 Hahn, Hans – Logic, Mathematics and Knowledge of Nature (Kaal, tr.) Unified Science- Vienna Circle Monograph; 1987 Hahn, Hans – Logic, Mathematics and Knowledge of Nature (Pap, tr.) 20th C. Philos.: The Analytic Tradition; Morris; 1966 Hayes, Zachary; ed. – Works of St. Bonaventure; 2005 Hempel, Carl G. – Geometry and Empirical Science; Our Mathematical Heritage; Schaaf, William L.; ed.; 1963,66 Hempel, Carl G. – On The Nature of Mathematical Truth: Readings in Philos. Analysis; Feigl, H. & Sellars, W.; eds.; 1949 Hermes Trismegistus – The Corpus Hermetica; www.blackmask.com; 2001 Hersh, Reuben – What is Mathematics, Really?; 1999 Hunt, Dave – The Need for a Thorough Purging; berean call; nov1998 Jaki, Stanley L. – A Late Awakening to Gödel in Physics; A Late Awakening and Other Essays; {2002} Joad, C. E. M. – Modern Science and Religion; Proc. of the Aristotelian Society; 1930-31 Joad, C. E. M. – Physical Objects and Scientific Objects; Mind; 1931 Kline, Morris – Mathematics, The Loss of Certainty; 1980, 1982 Lactantius – The Divine Institutes; Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VII Lakatos, Imre – Falsification & the Methodology of Scientific Res. Programmes; Criticism & the Growth of Knowledge; Lakatos, Imre; 2004 Lolli, Gabriele – Logical Completeness, Truth and Proofs; Truth in Mathematics; Dales H. G. & Oliveri, G.; eds.; 1998 McGuire, Anne – Conversion and Gnosis in the “Gospel of Truth”; Novum Testamentum; 1986 McKeon, Richard; ed. – Selections from Medieval Philosophers, v1; 1929; v2; 1930 Meltzer, B. – The Third Possibility; Mind; 1964 Morris, Leon – The New International Commentary on the NT- St. John; 1979 Nagel, Ernest; Newman, James – Gödel’s Proof; 2001 Nash, Ronald H. – Faith and Reason; 1988 Newman, B. M.; Nida, E. A. – A Translator’s Handbook on The Gospel of John; 1980 O’Connor, D. J.; Carr, Brian – Introduction to The Theory of Knowledge; 1982 Packer, James I. – Knowing God; 1973 Pap, Arthur – Mathematics, Abstract Entities, and Modern Semantics; Scientific Monthly; 1957 Putnam, Hilary – A Comparison of Something with Something Else; New Literary History; 1985 Robbins, John W. – Review: Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge; Lakatos & Musgrave; eds.; Jrnl of Christian Reconstruction; 1976 Russell, Bertrand – The Philosophy of Logical Atomism; Logic and Knowledge; Bertrand Russell; 1988 Schaaf, William L.; ed. – Our Mathematical Heritage; 1963,66 Thorson, Walter R. – Legitimacy and Scope of “Naturalism” in Science (I) Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith; 2002 Vaihinger, Hans – The Philosophy of “As If”; 1968 Weitz, Morris; ed. – Twentieth Century Philosophy: The Analytic Tradition; 1966 Westcott, Brooke Foss – The Gospel According to St. John- Vol I- Chs 1-7; 1908; Vol II- Chs 8-21; 1908 White, Leslie – The Locus of Mathematical Reality: An Anthropological Footnote The World of Math; Newman, J. R.; ed.; 1956 Wiebe, Richard – Gödel’s Theorem (Part II); Math Jrnl; 1975 Williams, Daniel D. – Brunner and Barth on Philosophy; Jrnl of Religion; 1947 Williams, Daniel D. – Truth in the Theological Perspective; Jrnl of Religion; 1948 Willimon, William H. – Jesus’ Peculiar Truth; christianitytoday.com; 4mar1996 Zwicky, F. – On the Principle of Flexibility of Scientific Truth; Philosophy of Science; 1943 |
Truth is Salvific Knowledge of God