453 WHAT IS TRUTH?

YOUCAT Lesson 453

AYOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

453  What does our relationship to the truth have to do with God?

Living in respect for the truth means not only being true to oneself.  More precisely it means being truthful, being true to God, for he is the source of all truth.  We find the truth about God and about all of reality quite directly in Jesus, who is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).  [2465-2470, 2505]

Jesus, who is “the way, and the truth, and the life” by Enrique Simonet (1866-1927). ….. 453

Someone who really follows Jesus brings greater and greater truthfulness into his life.  He eliminates all lies, falsehood, pretense, and ambiguity from his accomplishments in life and becomes transparent toward the truth.  To believe means to become a witness to the truth.

“Truth in this time is so obscured and lies so widespread that one cannot recognize the truth unless one loves it.”  Blaise Pascal (1588-1651)

“Indeed, Jesus Christ is the Personified Truth who attracts the world to himself.  The truth radiating from Jesus is the splendor of truth.  Every other truth is a fragment of the Truth that he is, and refers to him.”  Pope Benedict XCVI, February 10, 2006

[2465-2470, 2505]

I. LIVING IN THE TRUTH

2465 The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His "faithfulness endures to all generations." (Psalm 119:90; Compare Proverbs 8:7; 2 Samuel 7:28; Ps 119:142; Luke 1:50.)²⁵⁵ Since God is "true," the members of his people are called to live in the truth. (Romans 3:4; Compare Ps 119:30.)²⁵⁶ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2466 In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's truth has been made manifest. "Full of grace and truth," he came as the "light of the world," he is the Truth. (John 1:14; Jn 8:12; compare Jn 14:6.)²⁵⁷ "Whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness." (John 12:46.)²⁵⁸ The disciple of Jesus continues in his word so as to know "the truth [that] will make you free" and that sanctifies. (John 8:32; Compare Jn 17:17.)²⁵⁹ To follow Jesus is to live in "the Spirit of truth," whom the Father sends in his name and who leads "into all the truth."(John 16:13.)²⁶⁰ To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes or No.'"(Matthew 5:37.)²⁶¹ – 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."( Dignitatis Humanae 2 § 2.)²⁶² – CCC

2468 Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or candor. Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy. – CCC

2469 "Men could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another."( St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II,109,3 ad 1)²⁶³ The virtue of truth gives another his just due. Truthfulness keeps to the just mean between what ought to be expressed and what ought to be kept secret: it entails honesty and discretion. In justice, "as a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest the truth."( St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,109,3, corp. art.)²⁶⁴ – CCC

2470 The disciple of Christ consents to "live in the truth," that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord's example, abiding in his truth. "If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth."( 1 John 1:6.)²⁶⁵ -- CCC