TRUTH AND SPIRITUALITY

What do we mean when we say something is true? This has more than one answer Depending on who you ask A scientist will provide you with one A musician another A historian, religious believer etc Simply answering the question from different points of view

Or from a different world-view. They are all giving legitimate answers to the question No one has the monopoly on the truth As for religious truth a mixture of reason, belief, experience, trust and faith are all involved. (As well as science, history etc)

What is spirituality? Much wider than most people realise Includes traditional activities like: Reading holy book Prayer & Meditation Worship Going to holy places For some people, it also includes belonging to a faith community For some, it includes a sense of ‘God’s presence’

This can be gained from : Listening to a piece of music Being in a beautiful place On retreat Looking at a majestic work of art Talking with someone Having an encounter or experience that is hard to explain in any other way than ‘god’s presence’. All these experiences provide people with the opportunity to ‘look inwardly and speak outwardly’.

Often your own life and experiences will provide you with the necessary starting points from which you can begin to express and understand, what the word ‘spirituality’ means.

Different Kinds of Truth Pontius Pilate asked Jesus during his trial: ' what is the truth?’ It is a difficult question to answer. But we all tend to answer it and have opinions on it and live by it. It can cause us to divide, disagree, arguments, disputes, wars even. Or it has the power to unite us

OUR PURPOSES- 3 KINDS OF TRUTH TRUTH SCIENTIFICHISTORICAL SPIRITUAL & MORAL

SCIENTIFIC TRUTH We base most of our life on the assumption that there are many things about the world in which we live that we can assume to be true. We accept them as true because we observe them to be so. E.g. it takes the earth a year to move around the sun

The earth is slightly tilted so, during the year, parts of the earth are closer to the sun than other parts- this produces the different seasons. All the available evidence plus our limited observations lead us to believe that this scientific hypothesis (theory) is true. It is unlikely that our understanding of this will change but, in the nature of scientific truth,

startling new evidence could come to light at any time, which might force us to change this conclusion. Scientific truth is based on what we know, and the conclusions we draw, at the time.

Science starts with a theory and proceeds through experiment and repeated testing. It must be possible for an experiment to be conducted and the same conclusion reached each time before scientific truth can be established We must be prepared to change our understanding if the evidence compels us to do so.

There are also times when scientists based on their own experiments and results can have a different ‘conclusion’ and claim they hold the truth. Scientists do not always agree with each other So there are even disputes amongst scientists as to what is the ‘truth’ or not. Claim that Scientific truth relies on ‘empirical’ evidence. See, taste, hear, test. Not always true! What about black holes?

HISTORICAL TRUTH Once events have occurred they cannot be changed. All that can change is the way in which we understand them.

How people interpret an event can have a direct link to how historical events can be understood E.g. there is plenty of documentary evidence to confirm that the Normans invaded Britain in in 1066 and that King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 at Runnymead. These historical ‘facts' are unchallenged.

Our understanding of their significance in the later history of the UK continues to grow almost a 1000 yrs after the events. Our knowledge of historical truth is growing all the time. New ‘sciences’ such as archaeology also bring us new knowledge about the past. e.g. Stonehenge in 2002 advances have helped us gain more knowledge about this ancient mystery.

SPIRITUAL & MORAL TRUTH Religious believers also know that truth can be gained through science and history. But there is another dimension to their lives. Spiritual and moral truth There are three main ways to gain truth in this section:

SPIRITUAL & MORAL TRUTH Life & teachings of a Religious Founder Holy Book/s Belonging to a faith community

Religious Founder lifeExampleteachings Inspiration to millions In the modern world Jesus the Christ Muhammad pbuh

BELONG TO A FAITH COMMUNITY Community helps to discover truth PrayerworshipJourney Religious Experience

All of us, base our lives on ‘moral’ truths. Some people take their moral truths from their religious faith. E.g. a Jew believes adultery to be wrong because of the Ten Commandments BUT a non religious person may also believe that adultery is wrong…is that because it was passed down in culture?

Religious and non religious people may follow similar moral codes and live their lives by similar standards – but for very different reasons.

TASKS Give one example of: A scientific truth A historical truth A moral truth A spiritual truth Where do people look when they are searching for religious truth? How do we determine which truth is the truth?