Truth Compared to Math
Math is the horror of many students in the world. This is probably because they have such a hard time swimming through the drudgery of perplexities, searching for the true answer. Again, the evidence of objective truth! Every math problem has a right answer. If there really is no truth as relativists claim, why is the word "truth" even in our vocabulary? Two thousand years ago, as Pontius Pilate pondered "what is Truth", the existence of such Truth was surely acknowledged, as there was a word for it! If "veritas" (Latin for "truth", what Pilate actually said) does not exist, why does the word exist in every language? The purpose of courts, detectives, philosophers, and search engines is to seek out truth. Even so, truth is still an abstract noun lacking a solid definition. It is like a primary color, before which nothing else comes to make it. God is Truth, and Truth has no beginning, thus is one of the primary reasons why God has no beginning. But back to Truth itself. We still need an idea of exactly what truth in itself is. If one tries to describe truth, he or she will get nowhere. One may describe the attributes and effects of truth, but will only scrape the surface. Because of these difficulties, it will probably be easier to describe truth with a comparison.
The comparison that I will use here has to do with math. This math is not the type that elementary schoolers struggle with; nay, this is a combination of Algebra and Euclidean Geometry. In the seventeenth century, the French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes invented the coordinate plane for the purpose of merging Algebra and Geometry. This graph allows for a more thorough use and explanation of the simple line. Although Descartes was a philosopher who came up with many thoughts that were radically new for his day, it probably never occurred to him that his mathematical advances would be compared to truth. But that is not the point.
Before using a coordinate plane to describe the nature of truth, I need to make clear a few facts about the line and point. I apologize to those great mathematical minds who will find this article drab and unnecessarily long because of this. First of all comes the point. The point is at the same time simple and complex. A single point is supposed to be so small that it lacks any dimension in and of itself at all. All dimensions are supposed to be created by multiplying points together, and space is created by points added together end to end. For example, a one-dimensional line (having only length) is made up of points going on in one direction. Two dimensions (having length and height) occur when points can be stacked on more than two sides of each other. The third dimension that the universe is made of (having length, height, and depth) is made up of points extending from each other in every single direction.
Now, there are certain occasions in math in which the problem gets nowhere; either to nothing or to logically impossible standstills. Most of these situations are centered on the enigmatic "zero." It is even questionable whether zero is even a number, because zero, in itself, is a lack of numeric value. Anyways, if any number is multiplied by zero, the answer is always zero. However, if any number is divided by zero, there is no definite answer. Lines and points, especially on the coordinate plane, may present some similar difficulties. How can points take up any space when added together if they have no space within themselves? It is like adding or multiplying zero to zero - it should turn out to be zero. Points can never be properly depicted, because everything shown in the material universe has some size in order to be visible. Lines are also supposed to have length only and no width within themselves; however, every line ever drawn has some thickness to it in order to be comprehensible. Nevertheless, countless mathematicians over the centuries have left points and lines as too simple to define, leaving their comprehension to man`s own intuitive. Truth is like a point - it is too simple, abstract, or even too great to be properly defined, so it is left to man`s own intuitive to understand it.
Now back to the coordinate plane. On the coordinate plane, every line has a slope. Many things can be determined about line segments using Algebra, but lines that go on forever in a given direction are more relevant to this comparison. There are actually two types of lines that have zero-related slopes. These special specimens are horizontal lines and vertical lines. When one uses the various Algebra equations to determine the slope of a horizontal line, he or she will always come out with a slope of zero. However, anyone using these Algebraic equations to determine the slope of a vertical line will always come to a standstill. No matter where it is on a coordinate plane, a vertical line will always have an undefined slope. That is because, when one figures away with his or her vertical line, the slope will come out as some number divided by zero. Since any number divided by zero becomes undefined, the slope of a vertical line is undefined. I find this very interesting when related to truth, but we`ll talk about that a little later.
One of the primary reasons why Objective Truth as a whole is confusing is that there are an infinite number of facts in the universe. Every single fact, narrowed down to its tiniest details, has a truth about it. While there seem to be exceptions to this rule in Algebra (there are usually more than one correct values for a variable in a line function), those multiple truths do not apply to individual points, but to combinations of points on a line. Anyways, the need and definition of an Objective Truth seems to be lacking because there are an infinite number of truths pertaining to an infinite number of small things. Men may spend their entire lives seeking to know the truth about every single fact in the universe, but never succeed on account of the immense size of everything. For example, there are so many details and truths even within one`s own body that it is impossible to know every single one of them. Thus, while it is futile to deny any truth at all, it is exasperating to know exactly what truth is as a whole. Now, truth as a whole may mean either the source of all truth or the sum of all truth. God is the source of all Truth, and is Truth in Himself. It really is impossible to know everything about God; only God Himself knows that fully, and that thought creates more of Himself in the Third Person of the Trinity. St. Thomas Aquinas spent the majority of his adult life writing about Who exactly God is, and died before he could finish the Summa. Even so, that great book is only a scrap compared to God Himself. God is also, in a way, the sum of everything that is true.
I apologize for going too deep into theology! As unfathomable and True as God is, understanding Truth as a person is not really the purpose of this article. The purpose of this article is more of understanding Truth as an objective thing.
To get back on track, if the truth of every single fact in the universe is known, none of the truths would contradict each other. If every single truth was a point on a great figurative coordinate plane, they would form a vertical line (with an undefined slope!) reaching up and down to infinity. And even though a line goes on eternally, at the "top" of this line of truth, you would find God as the Great Truth from which everything stems, going on into eternity like the infinite line of Truth that He Himself created.
So in the end, although this article was originally about getting a picture of Truth as an abstract whole, it really is about God. In searching for Truth, one will always find God, because God is the source and summit of Truth. All the attributes and persons of God are for later, but defining Truth as a whole is just another way to prove God`s existence. The more one knows about What and Who God is, the more one will know the Truth.
The comparison that I will use here has to do with math. This math is not the type that elementary schoolers struggle with; nay, this is a combination of Algebra and Euclidean Geometry. In the seventeenth century, the French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes invented the coordinate plane for the purpose of merging Algebra and Geometry. This graph allows for a more thorough use and explanation of the simple line. Although Descartes was a philosopher who came up with many thoughts that were radically new for his day, it probably never occurred to him that his mathematical advances would be compared to truth. But that is not the point.
Before using a coordinate plane to describe the nature of truth, I need to make clear a few facts about the line and point. I apologize to those great mathematical minds who will find this article drab and unnecessarily long because of this. First of all comes the point. The point is at the same time simple and complex. A single point is supposed to be so small that it lacks any dimension in and of itself at all. All dimensions are supposed to be created by multiplying points together, and space is created by points added together end to end. For example, a one-dimensional line (having only length) is made up of points going on in one direction. Two dimensions (having length and height) occur when points can be stacked on more than two sides of each other. The third dimension that the universe is made of (having length, height, and depth) is made up of points extending from each other in every single direction.
Now, there are certain occasions in math in which the problem gets nowhere; either to nothing or to logically impossible standstills. Most of these situations are centered on the enigmatic "zero." It is even questionable whether zero is even a number, because zero, in itself, is a lack of numeric value. Anyways, if any number is multiplied by zero, the answer is always zero. However, if any number is divided by zero, there is no definite answer. Lines and points, especially on the coordinate plane, may present some similar difficulties. How can points take up any space when added together if they have no space within themselves? It is like adding or multiplying zero to zero - it should turn out to be zero. Points can never be properly depicted, because everything shown in the material universe has some size in order to be visible. Lines are also supposed to have length only and no width within themselves; however, every line ever drawn has some thickness to it in order to be comprehensible. Nevertheless, countless mathematicians over the centuries have left points and lines as too simple to define, leaving their comprehension to man`s own intuitive. Truth is like a point - it is too simple, abstract, or even too great to be properly defined, so it is left to man`s own intuitive to understand it.
Now back to the coordinate plane. On the coordinate plane, every line has a slope. Many things can be determined about line segments using Algebra, but lines that go on forever in a given direction are more relevant to this comparison. There are actually two types of lines that have zero-related slopes. These special specimens are horizontal lines and vertical lines. When one uses the various Algebra equations to determine the slope of a horizontal line, he or she will always come out with a slope of zero. However, anyone using these Algebraic equations to determine the slope of a vertical line will always come to a standstill. No matter where it is on a coordinate plane, a vertical line will always have an undefined slope. That is because, when one figures away with his or her vertical line, the slope will come out as some number divided by zero. Since any number divided by zero becomes undefined, the slope of a vertical line is undefined. I find this very interesting when related to truth, but we`ll talk about that a little later.
One of the primary reasons why Objective Truth as a whole is confusing is that there are an infinite number of facts in the universe. Every single fact, narrowed down to its tiniest details, has a truth about it. While there seem to be exceptions to this rule in Algebra (there are usually more than one correct values for a variable in a line function), those multiple truths do not apply to individual points, but to combinations of points on a line. Anyways, the need and definition of an Objective Truth seems to be lacking because there are an infinite number of truths pertaining to an infinite number of small things. Men may spend their entire lives seeking to know the truth about every single fact in the universe, but never succeed on account of the immense size of everything. For example, there are so many details and truths even within one`s own body that it is impossible to know every single one of them. Thus, while it is futile to deny any truth at all, it is exasperating to know exactly what truth is as a whole. Now, truth as a whole may mean either the source of all truth or the sum of all truth. God is the source of all Truth, and is Truth in Himself. It really is impossible to know everything about God; only God Himself knows that fully, and that thought creates more of Himself in the Third Person of the Trinity. St. Thomas Aquinas spent the majority of his adult life writing about Who exactly God is, and died before he could finish the Summa. Even so, that great book is only a scrap compared to God Himself. God is also, in a way, the sum of everything that is true.
I apologize for going too deep into theology! As unfathomable and True as God is, understanding Truth as a person is not really the purpose of this article. The purpose of this article is more of understanding Truth as an objective thing.
To get back on track, if the truth of every single fact in the universe is known, none of the truths would contradict each other. If every single truth was a point on a great figurative coordinate plane, they would form a vertical line (with an undefined slope!) reaching up and down to infinity. And even though a line goes on eternally, at the "top" of this line of truth, you would find God as the Great Truth from which everything stems, going on into eternity like the infinite line of Truth that He Himself created.
So in the end, although this article was originally about getting a picture of Truth as an abstract whole, it really is about God. In searching for Truth, one will always find God, because God is the source and summit of Truth. All the attributes and persons of God are for later, but defining Truth as a whole is just another way to prove God`s existence. The more one knows about What and Who God is, the more one will know the Truth.
"Seek the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free."
-John 8:32
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