What is revealed truth?
It is ideas implanted in the mind of a man which are a representation of actual states of the universe, past, present, future and distant given in a scope and detail adequate to the needs he has for discharging a responsibility.
How does one obtain revealed truth?
By obedience to the requirements God has set, namely faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.
How does one know revealed ideas are true?
By the tests of rational self-consistency of revealed ideas with each other, by agreement with the empirical universe, by success when acting according to ideas given, and by witness of divine personages. This kind of truth has been known among men from the time of Adam.
Why did other claimants to “truth” come into being?
Because men have with regularity rejected revealed knowledge, various substitutes have appeared to fill the void.
- Apostate religious “truth” is hypocritical propaganda. It enables men to salve their consciences and to enjoy promises of salvation, but lacks consistency, power and agreement with divine revelation.
- Poetic truth is an irresponsible sentimentalism which affords an escape from reality. Sometimes quite moral and in no way necessarily bad, it nevertheless it often diverts the attention of men from more important and more efficacious nourishment.
- Scientific truth is spiritually blind ad hoc rationalization which enables mankind to agree on descriptions and theoretical explanations of the physically observable universe, One of its great strengths is that it enables technical achievement and manufacturing efficiently (that is to learn to deal effectively with recurrent problems having controllable variables). It is limited to extrapolation of the here and now to everything else.
Why is revealed truth superior to these rivals?
Revealed ideas give men
- an understanding of states of the universe anywhere, anytime, which are pertinent to the problems of their present situation.
- an understanding of what should be states of the universe here, now, and elsewhere in order for men to obtain a maxim of happiness.
- an understanding of what to do to turn what “is” into what “could be.”
This is a bald claim to the availability of omniscience, but unfortunately claimed by but few persons and actually possessed by even fewer.
What about the supposed limitations of revealed truth?
- Authoritarian: it is authoritarian only for those who don’t have it. Every man is supposed to be and can be his own priest and prophet.
- Private: Everything mental is private, but people with similar experience can communicate about their experiences.
- Variable: No two persons have exactly the same situations or problems. Revealed truth is given by degrees in tailor-made portions to suit the capabilities and diligence of the recipients, thus giving the appearance of variability. But each person eventually comes to the same understanding as others if he goes far enough.
- Subjectivity: Revealed ideas are the most stern task-master men know of; but only he who has struggled in the Spirit knows this.
Conclusion
Any person who could compare revealed ideas with other claimants to “truth” would see that as to power, dependability, and availability, revealed ideas have no peer. But men shy away from revealed ideas because one cannot gain nor benefit from them without restructuring his moral life. The burden of repentance causes most men to shrink from the divine light and to heap calumny on those who possess it.