In June 1883 The Chautauquan magazine asked, “If a tree were to fall on an island where there were no human beings, would there be any sound?” ¹ This is one of those philosophical questions that can create a lively conversation if asked among the correct group. Today, I have a similar question, “If nobody understands the truth, is it still a truth?”

I know that I may have already made half of the eight people that read this blog stop reading because they don’t want to have this lively conversation. However, I think my question is much more important to answer than the noise question.² Before we get too far, please note that I am not trying to say that truth is relative or that it changes arbitrarily. I want to use President Nelson’s BYU devotional BYU that he shared on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, to illuminate this concept.³ The video of his devotional is below.

Truth is truth

In the devotional, President Nelson did say that ‘Truth is truth.’ He elaborated;

Some things are simply true. The arbiter of truth is God … President Spencer W. Kimball taught that absolute truth cannot be “altered by the opinions of men. . . . If men are really humble, they will realize that they discover, but do not create, truth.”… Eternal laws operate in and affect each of our lives, whether we believe them or not.

I agree that some things are simply true and that God is the arbiter of truth especially absolute truths. As eternal laws operate in our lives we can discover truth but not create it. When we start to ponder understood truth in relationships, the truth has as much to do with edification as it does with its absoluteness. Edification is defined by understood truth or discovered truths. Doctrine and Covenants 50:22-23 makes this point.

Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. And that which doth not edify is not of God and is darkness.

So maybe there is a truth that exists if nobody understands, but I think we could say that it is not edifying and that it is darkness. I will call edifying truths relational truths. I believe President Nelson provided two great examples of relational truths under his Truth numbers 3 and 4.

Relational truths

President Nelson’s examples

Notice how he explains that there was a law defined by doctors and that after people questioned those laws, they were able to discover a better law. God’s law did not change, but our understanding changed. President Nelson, as a respected surgeon was able to convince others of the ’new’ law. His explanation and experiments provided a way for others to understand and be edified. It was his obligation and ours to make sure our teachers are genuinely edifying us.

I reasoned that if every kingdom had a law, there must be laws that govern the beating heart. I was determined to discover those laws and obey them. By doing so, blessings would come, and lives could be saved. In medical school I had been taught that if one touched the beating heart, it would stop beating. However, one of the first laws we discovered in the lab was that we could touch the heart of an animal without losing its heartbeat. This finding opened the door later to uncovering another law that made more complex open-heart operations possible. … Literally we could turn the heart off long enough to repair it, and then turn it back on again.

President Nelson’s second example was much more detailed and gets directly at the point of relational truth. Notice how he explains that they were trying to communicate in love; the message wasn’t received in love; they then pondered with God what they could do to re-communicate their love and changed their communication. Finally, he gives this talk to bring more clarity so that the preacher and receiver could be edified.

The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve have continued to seek the Lord’s guidance and to plead with Him in behalf of His children who were affected by the 2015 policy. We knew that this policy created concern and confusion for some and heartache for others. That grieved us. Whenever the sons and daughters of God weep — for whatever reason — we weep. So, our supplications to the Lord continued.

As a result of our continued supplication, we recently felt directed to adjust the policy such that the baptism of children of LGBT parents may be authorized by bishops without First Presidency approval, if the custodial parents request the baptism and understand that a child will be taught about sacred covenants to be made at baptism.

Though it may not have looked this way to some, the 2015 and 2019 policy adjustments on this matter were both motivated by love—the love of our Heavenly Father for His children and the love of the Brethren for those whom we serve.

Details of relational truth

So we see that relational truth is complicated. I have felt similar struggles as President Nelson as I have tried to communicate true guidance out of love to my children that was not perceived correctly. As they pushed back, I recognized that they misunderstood me and that I may have misunderstood God’s inspiration (at least in how to communicate it). Relational truth is much more complicated than the law of gravity. It involves understanding between multiple parties that have agency and reason. Derek Flood explains the idea of relational truth well when he says that relational truth ‘does not claim that truth is relative, but simply that we are. We each perceive what we do, and if we care about others, if we care about relationship, we need to care about their perceptions and feelings - about them - more than we do about our being right. You might say its the difference between being right and being righteous. Righteousness is not self-focused, but cares for the other.’ He goes on to say, ‘Truth is not an abstract fact, it is a living Someone. Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” That means Truth is alive and relational. Truth is loving and life-giving. Truth is transformative and reconciling. Truth is love, and what is unloving and life-sucking simply is not truth.

J.O. Wobbrock helps us see how to structure our vision of principles such as sin, repentance, and forgiveness in this context of relational truth.

Morality is entirely relational. When we read the words, ‘sin,’ ‘repentance,’ ‘forgiveness,’ ‘reconciliation,’ ‘grace’… do we think in moral terms? If we do, we misunderstand why these terms have moral weight in the first place. God is not arbitrary. He commands us to avoid sin because there is no sin that is not relational. Sin is sin because it wrecks relationships. I challenge all of us to find a sin that is not relational. There is no command given that is not for the preservation or restoration of relationships. Of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17), the first four tell us how to relate to God, the next six tell us how to relate to others. Jesus captures both when he commands that we love God and love our neighbors (Luke 10:27). Are these moral? Or are they moral because they’re relational? God commands repentance because repentance restores our relationship with him. He commands forgiveness because forgiveness restores our relationships with others. He overflows with grace because without it, no relationships can survive. We must cease to view our Christian identities as moral ones. Our identities are relational; morality just serves relationship.⁴ -J.O. Wobbrock-

With President Nelson, I say, ‘I wanna know what the laws are. If I can know the laws, then I can get blessings.’⁵ I search for the blessing of enjoying a loving relationship with my family that is sustained and exemplified by the love of Christ. In our pursuit of this type of relational truth, we have the chance to receive the grandest revelation from God. The revelation that He loves.

• voices
• general
• lds
• principles
• truth
• sin