Truth

I'm going to make this post short because I'm really tired, and I need the energy for tomorrow.

In the third verse of 1st Nephi chapter 1, it reads, "And I know that the record which I make is true..." I just want to focus on that phrase tonight. Its simple and yet it is bold. Nephi claims that this isn't just a story, but that it is truth.

How many of you have ever been asked to define truth? To define truth almost becomes a cliche in some writing classes. But it is a good question. What is truth? When we say that the Book of Mormon is true, what does that really mean? Try asking an 8 year old that some time haha.

Truth is eternal. Truth never changes. How we learn truth or how we perceive truth might change, however, the truth itself never changes. The Book of Mormon is either true or false. It can't be both, nor can it be almost true. There is no gray area when it comes to it. If it is true, then it couldn't be false in the past or false in the future. If it was true in the past, it couldn't be false now. Confused yet? Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's another way of saying that Christ is truth eternal.

Gospel principles are truths. The way we live those truths might alter slightly. For example, the Word of Wisdom is a specific commandment for this dispensation. It is a practice of living a truth. That truth or principle is that our bodies are temples and we must respect them. That truth has always been since the first body was created. That truth will never change. 

I hope my thoughts on truth make sense and isn't just rambling.

So when Nephi says that he knows that this record is true, he claims it to be eternal and in no wise altered. How conscience are we of the term 'true' when we bare our testimonies. "I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true!" "I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet!"  "I know that the I-phone is true!" Oh, wait..

So to an investigator, when Nephi says that he knows the record is true, perhaps the question is how will I know the record is true.

That's a completely different topic that I'll talk about in the upcoming verses in this chapter.

I want to declare that I know that the Book of Mormon is true, it it's fullest meaning. Through and through, this book is eternal and does not lie. It is of God. It is of Christ. It is of Truth.