MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA TREATISE I. 18. THE TRUTH OF GOD.
St Lawrence
1388
MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA
TREATISE I
18. THE TRUTH OF GOD.
I. The first kind of truth to be considered is meta
physical truth, or truth of essence, or truth of nature. We
assert this of a being when we say that it is true to its
nature ; and we mean thereby that it possesses all the
qualities that belong to its nature, and that it is a full and
complete member of its class. This kind of truth God
possesses eminently, as having all the perfections proper
to the Infinite God. He possesses spirituality, immortality,
eternity, omnipotence, independence. All that we can conceive of good qualities and perfections He has in an infinite
degree. All that His infinite intelligence can conceive in the
way of perfection He possesses. He is true to Himself as
God. Further, God not only has, but He is this perfect
transcendent truth. For all that is in Him is Himself.
There is no division in Him of qualities as distinct from His
being. The infinity and the goodness of God are God Him
self: and so the truth of God is God. You should be like
God as possessing all the truth of your being, all the perfection and virtue which God has decreed to be proper to
human nature. If you are sensual, worldly, proud, you are
not true to the ideal of perfect man as it exists in God and
is manifested in Jesus Christ. Adore the truth of God and
cultivate it in yourself.
II. A second kind of truth is attributed to God as being
the only solid and perfect reality, the only necessary and
abiding substance. Compared with His reality, man and all
creatures are mere nothingness. " All nations are before
Him as if they had no being at all, and all are counted to
Him as nothing and vanity" (Isa. xl. 19). Vanity is that
which has no substance, which cannot be grasped, does not
satisfy, does not sustain, produces no fruit. Such is the
whole of creation. It proceeds in some incomprehensible
way out of nothingness, it is supported by the breath of
God, without Him it would sink back into nonentity. " All
flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of
the grass. The grass is withered and the flower thereof is
fallen away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever "
(1 Peter i. 24, 25). And again, life " is a vapour which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away "
(James iv. 15). Adore God as the sole reality that abides.
Do not be so shortsighted as to spend all your energies and
set all your hopes on shadows unsubstantial and transient.
" How long will you be dull of heart ? Why do you love
vanity and seek after lies ? " (Ps. iv. 3).
III. There is a third kind of truth or rather truthfulness.
It is a quality of the intelligence, and consists in ideas being
conformable to realities. God sees all truth in Himself, and
all creatures as they really are, without any deception.
This knowledge is His truth ; it is the perfect correspondence of subject with object; and He is Himself this
truth. Further, His words to us correspond to the ideas of
the divine mind ; they convey truth to us far more certainly
than any words of men, any evidence of our senses, any
conclusions or any prejudged opinions of our minds. These
words of God are not merely true, they are the truth ; and
though heaven and earth pass away, they will never pass
away. So perfect is this veracity of God that the Apostle
comparing us with Him says, " God is true and every man a
liar" (Rom. iii. 4). Worship God as the Supreme Truth.
In homage to Him cultivate truth in all its forms. Let
no doubts or sophisms turn you from the most absolute
reliance on the word of God ; be careful not to overlay it
with your own false ideas and attribute divine veracity to
them. Strive for true views of all things ; and confess the
truth without timidity or compromise.
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