Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Proof of the Truth?

Proof of the Truth?

If you pick up any freshman biology book or any first-year textbook for any of the sciences you can find the definition of science.If you look at it you will see that science is extremely simple! You see science is nothing more than a method or series of steps. That is utilized to reach a conclusion, that is supported by evidence. Do not misunderstand me, though these steps can be extremely complex and difficult to execute or even understand.To ensure common understanding let's look at the definition of a few words;

Faith

Faith\, n. [OE. feith, fayth, fay, OF. feid, feit, fei, F. foi, fr. L. fides; akin to fidere to trust, Gr. ??????? to persuade. The ending th is perhaps due to the influence of such words as truth, health, wealth. See Bid, Bide, and cf. Confide, Defy, Fealty.]

  1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.

  2. The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another, on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard to important moral truth. 1

Proof  /pruf/

–noun

  1. evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true, or to produce belief in its truth.

  2. anything serving as such evidence: What proof do you have?

  3. the act of testing or making trial of anything; test; trial: to put a thing to the proof.

  4. the establishment of the truth of anything; demonstration. 2

True

True\, a. [Compar. Truer; superl. Truest.] [OE. trewe, AS. tre['o]we faithful, true, from tre['o]w fidelity, faith, troth; akin to OFries. triuwe, adj., treuwa, n., OS. triuwi, adj., trewa, n., D. trouw, adj. & n., G. treu, adj., treue, n., OHG. gitriuwi, adj., triuwa, n., Icel. tryggr, adj., Dan. tro, adj. & n., Sw. trogen, adj., tro, n., Goth. triggws, adj., triggwa, n., trauan to trust, OPruss druwis faith. Cf. Trow, Trust, Truth.]

  1. Conformable to fact; in accordance with the actual state of things; correct; not false, erroneous, inaccurate, or the like; as, a true relation or narration; a true history; a declaration is true when it states the facts.

  2. Right to precision; conformable to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate; as, a true copy; a true likeness of the original. 3

It occurs to me that what is true or truth, while being based on proof is most certainly a matter of belief. I ask you to note above in defining faith, they talk of truth. In defining proof, they talk of a belief. And the origin of the word true is rooted in faith.

The assertion then follows that the three concepts represented by the words Faith, Proof and Truth are not all that dissimilar. The question that begs to be asked in whom or what do you have faith to provide proof of the truth?



1"faith." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 20 Jan. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith>.

2"proof." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 20 Jan. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/proof>.

3"true." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 20 Jan. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/true>.


1 comment:

honorboxdoc said...

"The question that begs to be asked in whom or what do you have faith to provide proof of the truth?"
Then, the next question which must follow is WHY? Why do we choose to exercise our faith in X instead of Y or Z?
Question One directs our faith; Question Two strengthens our faith.
IMHO



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