Agent of Truth

• You shall not act as we are acting here today, all of us according to our own desires, for you have not yet come into the rest and the possession that the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 12:8-9
• In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes. Judges 21:25 
• Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

As a rational animal we are agents of truth. There is a natural requirement of logic to either assimilate or reject environmental dynamics and its implications in the realm of faith and virtue. In a world chock full of error, differing opinions/perspective, and many (an increasing number) different claims on what is true and what is false, it is difficult to remain motivated to investigation. Narrative of life, temptation, and bad things in the culture all undermine one's pursuit of what is true. Yet, truth is reason's end and direction. Reason is meant to describe reality and thereby interact harmoniously with it. Therefore, if reason is used effectively, it does not willfully separate from truth. The greatest possible reality is the one that is. After all, if we let our “reality” lose conformity to the truth i.e. reality as it actually is, then what we perceive as good will shift from what is actually good too much lesser goods and we will lose sight of what is truly bad. This is the problem not only of relativism (which is the universal justification many subjective moralists use), but of sin in general. If our concept of reality is skewed so also is our deduction, self-image, image of God, and ultimately, of what it means to live rightly.

If you have every looked into someone else's glasses, you what obscured sight is. Now imagine that you decide that the vision you have while wearing those glass is the correct one, and your much clearer unimpeded vision is the wrong one and it is bad precisely because it is clear. What is going to happen every time you use their glasses? You are not able to engage with reality. If you don't believe me, go for a run. In this analogy, the information you take is obscured and these represent your new premises you took in spite of those who had better vision because this is the perspective you prefer. The resulting action is what your newfound logic produces. While you stumble around like a drunkard, not knowing precisely what direction is up and you believe this is as it should be, those that have clear vision have little sympathy for you as you chose these premises. Indeed, you are free to believe as you please, but beware what it does to you.

If you have no concrete stabling force in your beliefs, who are you? As you look into an obscured mirror, you can imagine yourself as you please. However, will sobriety not find you? Will your introspection not leave you with mental illness? If we see take our corruption for granted and have so conformed ourselves a false narrative, we will never be able to receive love, the real stuff. The kind of love our woundedness requires the understanding kind that chooses us for our soul than some other newly accepted vanity as we have. We are not willing to choose goodness for ourselves, why/how would we do it for others? Furthermore, if we find ourselves incapable of receiving real love, this is often why, because our perception is so warped whether it be from our hurt and/or rebellion, that however, someone may attempt to love us we perceive it as a hostile force. Love is properly conformed to both the reality we aspire to and the reality we are if it is truly willing the good of others. There is no possibility of willing something unknown, this is why knowledge of God and of sinners are both necessary in loving fallen creatures.

In conclusion, renouncing reason and truth will reveal its consequences with haste to us. It can be confusing that so many while being made for truth perpetually choose to live in opposition to it on an emotional and rational level. Often these folks choose a less true but more convenient premise because of illogical/emotional motivators or practical ease. Scientism, similarly, to makes a faulty jump from epistemological skepticism to ontological assumption. Truthfully, every logical fallacy is committed this way and insofar as our adherence to truth brings others closer to it, our choice of logical negligence draws them into deception. Doctors, theologians, counselors, and researchers all wield the weapons for or against truth. Genuine mistake is not condemnable per se, however, to willfully deceive (even only ourselves) is to hurtle oneself head long into sin and destruction, and others with us. As such we all have a direct obligation to understand objective and universal reality, such as what we are made for and what is best for us. The resulting harmony is what we were made for and that which sin undermines. It is no wonder then that Truth Himself is Lord alone (Deuteronomy 6:4).

CCC 2467 Man tends by nature toward the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it: "It is in accordance with their dignity that all men, because they are persons . . . are both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth."

Written by Carter Carruthers & also available soon at Missio Dei