Module 21: WHAT IS TRUTH? & the Role of Evidence 1

WHAT IS TRUTH? 1: Dual Meaning of Truth 2: Definition of Truth 3: Doors to Truth 4: Informal Fallacies (False Standards) 5: Scale of Evidence (Burden of Proof) 6: Tests of Truth (Validation) 7: Zeroing In On the Truth 8: Holy Ghost Revelator of Truth 2

Elder George G. Bywater: “We may say, the works of God and the word of God both constitute the avenues of human information, and that whoever ignores the one deprives himself of much of the benefits which flow from accepting the other; that there are two doors which open to the temple of truth, and they are both indispensably necessary to engage man’s full capacity and to endow him with the principles of knowledge, and with the purposes of his being here upon the earth, together with his origin and final destiny.” (JD 23:146) Science and Religion Two Doors to the Temple of Truth 3

Works of God OBSERVATION Creation Word of God REVELATION Scriptures Science and Religion Two Doors to the Temple of Truth Brigham Young: “The idea that the religion of Christ is one thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science without true religion” (JD 17:52) 4

(Asceticism and Transcendence) GET OUT OF THE BOX GOD OUTSIDE THE BOX Christian, Judaic, Islamic (Abide and Abound) GET ALONG WITH THE BOX GOD INSIDE THE BOX LDS / Eternalism GOD MAN Faith Reason Heart Reason Faith Mind Science Religion A WAR BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION Two Realities NO WAR BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION One Reality Life Love Happiness Good Duty Right Duty Good Right Self Others Practical Moral 5

Observation (Rational Faculty) Revelation (Rational Faith) Observation (Rational Faculty) Revelation Requires A Rational Being (Mind / Heart) Observation Requires A Revelatory Being (Divine Truths) Primacy of Observation Over Revelation D&C 8:2: “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.” 6

Revelation (Mystic Experience) Observation (Irrelevant) Primacy of Revelation Over Observation St. Augustine: “I do not know in order to believe. I believe in order to know.” St. Thomas Aquinas: “To those who have faith, no explanation is necessary; to those who do not, no explanation is possible.” (Saint Augustine, “Tractate 27 on the Gospel of John,” Chapter 6: 60–72) 7

“God is incomprehensible. It is not possible to understand the inexplicable and mysterious ways of God. It is not possible to probe the depths of God’s mind and completely know and understand all of His wisdom and knowledge.” (“Redeemed by God”, Douglas D. Reynolds, p14) D&C 88:49 The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him and by him. How great is the divide? 8

Truth of Speech (Telling the Truth) Truth of Thought (Knowing the Truth) CORRESPONDENCE THEORY “Truth Is Knowledge of Reality” Reality (Standard of Truth) 2 … Definition of Truth EPISTEMOLOGY (Knowing … x is true) TWO DOORS TO THE TEMPLE OF TRUTH (Science and Religion) Observation (Works of God / Creation) Revelation (Word of God / Scripture) 3 … Doors to Truth God (Standard Bearer) 1 … Dual Meaning of Truth 9

Questions? 10