(How) Does Truth Set Free?

by Narkissos 44 Replies latest jw friends

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  Narkissos

  "The truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32) is the kind of sentence that potentially transcends any contextual setting. As we know only too well, it has been used over and over again in religious propaganda and is very easy to return against it (i.e. "the truth about the 'truth' shall set you free" -- from it).

  But when you think of it, it is a rather problematic assertion. In principle, "truth" of any kind (including true and false!) first demands recognition,submission and conformity. It is, as we use to say, compelling. In a sense, that is the very opposite of freedom. Of course a "truth" can make you free from a previously held "truth" by disproving it, i.e. by moving it from the status of "truth" to that of "lie" or "error". But if you get free from that so-called "truth" because it is not the truth, you logically remain subject to truth in general -- and, in particular, to the new religious, scientific or philosophical doctrine which you now consider to be "truth" -- no matter how broad and practically unconsequential it may be.

  In the Prologue of Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche likens the three "ages" of man to that of the camel, the lion and the child. First the camel kneels down to be loaded with as much burden it can carry -- especially truths of every kind, including the most disagreeable and painful ones; then, the lion rejects every burden and roars alone in the wilderness; against any compelling truth, its motto is "I will"; last, the child comes up and plays, both with "truth" and "will". This at last looks like freedom, neither obedience to truth nor sheer revolt against it.

  So there may be a relationship between "truth" and "freedom" but it is probably not as simple and immediate as we can think. Truth may contribute to freedom, depending on how we relate to it.

  Any thoughts?
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  Satanus

  Good point. Perhaps, total ignorance w total nonbelief is total freedom. However, it may be a precarious position.
  
  S
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  jwblog

  "The truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32) is the kind of sentence that potentially transcends any contextual setting. As we know only too well, it has been used over and over again in religious propaganda and is very easy to return against it (i.e. "the truth about the 'truth' shall set you free" -- from it).

  Love God with your whole soul, might, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. That is the truth.

  Worship in spirit and in truth. You owe it to no man to go into their building in order to worship your Creator. You owe it to no man to give of your belongings in order to support them and their worldly possessions. You recieved freely, therefore you should give freely is the law. What posseses a man to ask of your earnings in order to support their way of life? This is not from God, as the holy priesthood does not exist in this day. Spread love and kindness to your neighbor and those on the street. Help one in need with an offering of loving kindness. It is better to pass your earnings onto a family that cannot afford to eat, or to feed their household. You are fully aware of where your offering ends up to be. Help your neighbor repair their fence, plant their vineyard, and keep an eye on his household when they are away.

  If you are in a market place without money to buy what you need in order to live, take it when no one is looking. It belongs to you as your Heavenly Father knows what you need. It is against Gods law to sell in the market place. It is Gods law that His creation should eat. The truth allows a man to excercise wisdom if He knows how Gods law overcomes mans law upon the earth.

  Learn the truth and allow it to set you free from the slavery of men, this is the true meaning of the scripture.

  the faithful slave
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  hamilcarr

  I was thinking of another work by Nietzsche, namely " On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense ". He brings up the assumption that "the will to truth" is in fact the philospher's version of "the will to power". Maybe "truth" or "cognitive power" can set someone free as long as it promotes survival. In those cases, believing in the truth is no possibility, but a necessity:

  it is high time to replace the Kantian question ‘how are synthetic judgements a priori possible?’ with another question: ‘why is belief in such judgements necessary?’ -- that is to say, it is time to grasp that, for the purpose of preserving beings such as ourselves, such judgements must be believed to be true; although they might of course still be false judgements! (Beyond good and evil)
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  White Dove

  When they said at meetings and assemblies that the truth shall set you free and the freedom lovers district convention emphasized it, I couldn't understand how it sets us free when we have so many rules to follow so as not to get df'd. I never felt free at all. I think they put it this way: you are free to worship Jehovah. Oh goody. I'm free to worship the way I hate worshipping and that worship toward a god that never talked to us. I hated it. It was confusing.
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  Awakened07

  Depends on what 'truth' is. It's pretty obvious that 'truth' is what is. What truly is objectively real, and correct. The problem is that all kinds of ideas and interpretations are said to be 'the truth' (we know all about that...).

  Jesus' 'truth' set (some) Jews free from the strict and to-the-letter rules and laws of Judaism. So, yes - it set them free. A little strange, come to think of it, since that 'old truth' also allegedly originated with God (who is the same Jesus).

  Anyway - it's a universal truth(!) that actual truth sets you free from previous misconceptions. But, as Pilate said: "What is truth?".
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  greenhornet

  When I learned about the truth about the truth yes it set me free.
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  BluesBrother

  I think that the context of Jesus words are relevant.

  (John 8:31-41) 31 And so Jesus went on to say to the Jews that had believed him: "If YOU remain in my word, YOU are really my disciples, 32 and YOU will know the truth, and the truth will set YOU free." 33 They replied to him: "We are Abraham’s offspring and never have we been slaves to anybody. How is it you say, ‘YOU will become free’?" 34 Jesus answered them: "Most truly I say to YOU, Every doer of sin is a slave of sin. 35 Moreover, the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son remains forever. 36 Therefore if the Son sets YOU free, YOU will be actually free. 37 I know that YOU are Abraham’s offspring; but YOU are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among YOU. 38 What things I have seen with my Father I speak; and YOU, therefore, do the things YOU have heard from [YOUR] father." 39 In answer they said to him: "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them: "If YOU are Abraham’s children, do the works of Abraham. 40 But now YOU are seeking to kill me, a man that has told YOU the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 YOU do the works of YOUR father." They said to him: "We were not born from fornication; we have one Father, God."

  If you tell a man in prison "I will set you free" he knows that you are not making a philosophical point. He understands that you are going to open the cell door.

  To this layman it seems that Jesus was simply saying that the truth of of his message could free men from sin
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  Mutz

  Free from having to think for yourself ever again, just consult the wise words of the GB for all your intellectual needs.
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  Terry

  I think of TRUTH as practical.

  Truth "works' the way a key to your car actually starts the engine.

  We live an everyday existence. Truth works everyday.

  If you possess something you call "Truth" that sometimes appears to work and sometimes doesn't---you don't have the "whole truth".

  You have, maybe, part of the Truth and part of a lie.

  I think contradictions identify non-Truth.

  I look for dissonances in things representing Truth. If I spot contradictions (things that don't work, don't fit, don't follow logically) I become skeptical and wary and start circling like a jackal.

  I like this definition of Truth.

  Truth is the product of the recognition and identification of the facts of reality. (Reality is independant of our opinion of it!)

  Truth comes down to your definitions of things. There is a one to one correspondence between your definition of a thing and the thing itself.

  In the final essence you are saying This is X. It is an identification and a matching up and a correspondency...never a contradiction or disharmony.

  DOES THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE?

  I was reared by my grandparents. Behind our main house there were some old sheds that had been turned into storage areas with mostly junk.

  I once stood in a storage area behind my house when I was a child. There was a mysterious, large, white cabinet with a big padlock on it.

  I asked my parents what was in it---and--very mysteriously they dodged and weaved and evaded the direct question!

  Need I say this increased my curiousity to a fever!!? Whatever it was--it belonged to my grandfather and it was valuable enough to deserve a special place of honor. Whatever it was was secret!

  One day I found a very large ring of maybe a hundred keys of all sorts. My mind was racing!! Could one of these keys be THE key to that padlock which would reveal the contents of that cabinet?

  I began the process of trial and error. I eliminated the too-large and too-small keys right away. That left about thirty possibilities.

  Had I known exactly which key was THE key (or if any were!) I would have not wasted valuable time.

  I only had a few minutes left before my grandfather arrived home from work. He would never approve of what I was doing. I was in the darkness of that old shed, sweating and franctically trying keys first this way and that way...running out of time.....

  At last!

  The very key that opened the very lock was found!

  My hand was shaking as I felt the clasp release and the cabinet door creaked open!

  What was revealed to be in that cabinet? Something that answered my questions and knocked me for a loop!

  Inside, hanging on a peg, perfectly pressed and pristine....immaculate in its sterile whiteness......a long, silken robe with a pointed hood and bright red embroidered letters across the chest which read.....K K K....

  The truth took from me as much as it gave.