The Truth Is Out There

"The sum of Your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever." Psalms 119:160 (CCC 215)

Notice the words "sum" and "every one" in the verse above? We must remember that God equals Truth. The corollary is that Truth cannot contradict Truth.

I mention this because I frequently encounter debates about "my faith" versus "your faith" in which both sides argue using Scripture as their defense. One side argues for "saved by faith alone" (Ephesians 2:8-10) while the other argues that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). The first claims that the death penalty should be enforced thanks to "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Exodus 21:23-27) while the second disagrees by way of "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39).

It is important to understand that the Truth is much like the Highlander -- there can be only one! Truth cannot contradict truth which is to say that we cannot have two truths which disagree with each other. As Christians, we generally agree that the Bible contains the fullness of Truth. If so, then we can not argue one point if it appears to be opposed to another verse from the same tome of wisdom. Both verses must be understood in such a way that harmony exists between them.

Ephesians and James must agree with one another if they are to be understood correctly. The fact is that we are saved by faith alone, but that if we truly have faith, works are a natural byproduct. If the works are not present, the faith is not really there. In this instance, I often find that non-Catholics are argumentative about a misconception they have about our faith. In fact, we likely are not in disagreement with this belief, but merely with the way we each word it.

Exodus and Matthew, although from two different eras, must also be in accord by virtue of both containing Truth. In context, the law in Moses' time was applied because the common practice previously was to slaughter an entire family if one bull was taken from the other family's flock. The law was meant as a means to soften the penalty to be more in accord with God's love. Note that at this time also, divorce was admitted, a fact the Pharisees tried to use against Jesus many years later. Jesus' answer was that this law was a human one, and that His response was correct. In this case, Love (capitalized because by "love" we mean "God") outweighs "love" (lowercase L). At worst, man should exact a revenge no worse than the crime, but to be truly Christ-like, we should refrain from rebuke entirely.

It is for this reason that I am glad I have the Magisterium of the Church and 2,000 years of Tradition to aid in my understanding of the interpretation of Scripture. While we are encouraged to immerse ourselves in Scripture, we are meant to do so in such a way that we do not assume that our personal interpretation is the penultimate truth. Among other prerequisites (CCC 109-119), we are called to "read the Scripture within 'the living Tradition of the whole Church'" (CCC 113).

Some wonder why they as a individual should submit to the Catholic Church's interpretation. After all, they reason, "won't the Holy Spirit reveal to me God's correct meaning of His Word if I profess belief in Him?" Perhaps, but God made it clear that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church born at the rock of Peter. Does Scripture make any such claim for protection at the birth of your personal faith? Let us not forget that the devil tempted Adam and Eve not with an outright lie, but rather a twisting of the truth. Satan again tried this tactic with Jesus when He was tempted in the desert. Pray that Satan does not allow you to be deceived by a twisted Truth, and that God grants you the grace to find an establishment here on Earth that He has personally guaranteed would be free of lies and deceit.