"What is truth?"

> But, I disagree with both Sr. and Sibyl in that the moment we try to
> say, regarding truth, that "here it is", or "there it is", we have
> lain a trap for ourselves. We become stuck in our own perspectives,
> becoming unable to (or, worse imho, *unwilling* to) acknowledge the
> perspectives of others.
>

Ok, tome the flaw in your argument is that you have failed to define
truth. I define truth as God, also God as truth. That's the place
where i start. I also believe that our own perspectives have value
only in so far as they approximate God's truth. I do not believe that
all perspectives are equally valid.

> So, though the very notion of "pluriform truths" may cause certain
> folks to become apoplectic, it seems to me to be the humbler approach
> to take 1 COR 13:14 to heart. I would even go so far as to suggest
> that "pluriform" is a misnomer, and that "partial" truth is more in
> keeping with St. Paul's understanding of our limited human capacity to
> perceive G-D and Creation.

When I referred to Christian pluralism, I meant nothing like
"pluriform truths". There is only one truth and that is God. The
very idea of "pluriform truths' is an oxymoron. However Christianity
over the centuries has demonstrated that with the possible exception
of the Creeds, there have been a variety of opinions about everything
else. The Creeds seem to be the one place where all Christians agree.

What I meant by Christian pluralism is the variety of practices,
variety of denominations, variety of perceived missions, variety of
vocations. Most emphatically NOT a variety of truths.

As for partial truth... again, I don;t feel that term has been
sufficiently defined. God is truth. Yes, certainly we can only
partially apprehend God. OTOH, God also became incarnate and dwelt
among us and was subject to everything we humans experience from
problems in the bathroom, upset stomachs, colds, do i need an extra
sweater. Not too mention anger, fear, joy, love, death.

So what it comes down to, it seems to me, is do we believe God is
truth? Do we trust God's self-revelation of truth?

Inevitably, I daresay, the question of truth in other religions is
bound to be raised...

Of course, other religions contain truth. It is obvious in the many
common elements, the shared moral imperatives. Hinduism even gets the
need for incarnation, although they do something vastly different with
it. Since God created humanity in His image and likeness that means
that we are all created with an ability to respond to God. Paul
writes of those who never having heard of the law live as though it
were engraved on their hearts.

But this does not mean that all human interpretations of God's truth
are equally valid. We see that in many examples. Suttee is a Hindu
religious practice, for example. Al Qaeda represents certain
religious interpretations.

Christianity goes far beyond all other religions. It invites us to
something no other religion invites us to ands that is to become like
Jesus. This is not to say that we will ever be Jesus equal. How could
we? He is the God-Man. But the Christian journey is to become like
Jesus and the glory and wonder of that is that the closer we get to
being like Jesus, the more we most truly become ourselves, the unique
person God created us to be.