Carlos De Guzman

03/15/16
121188

TH

151 J
The Community of Truth
In the sixth chapter of his book, Timothy Radcliffe addresses the
Christian attitude towards truth, and its value and significance in our
world and society today. Truthfulness for every Christian is vital and
essential. It is valuable in itself and is neither optional, circumstantial, nor
situational. The crisis in todays society however is that people are more
and more becoming suspicious and doubtful towards one another. Be it
towards the news or media, or even towards politicians and clergy, there
has been a culture of distrust that has spread all throughout different
societies. Radcliffe attributes such distrust and lack of truth to the rise of
technology and the sense of political correctness. In response to such a
culture of suspicion, people argue that genuine transparency is the only
answer. This proposition however, offers quite a few problems of its own.
Transparency, in certain cases in society today, is susceptible to breeding
hypocrisy, evasion and deception on the side of the very people who seek
the truth. Transparency, in most cases, is insufficient and only serves to
undermine the need for truthfulness. To seek truth then, Christians must
regain their faith in reason, they must choose to believe, to stand up for,
and to gain confidence in their ability to seek reason that is in line with
our faith.

Truthfulness deals more with just be able to state facts or

knowledge, it is in a way a service to humanity in which we save people

from doubt and suspicion. Truthfulness is being able to interpret facts so

that we may in turn serve our community and be able to build a life
structured on truth rather than in doubt.