There are numerous topics where you can compile a list of truths and all of them are accurate but that list still doesn‘t reveal the whole truth. Let’s say you and I each are holding a candy bar, and a researcher is trying to determine if we each have the same brand of candy bar hidden in our hand.

The questions he might ask and the corresponding answers could include: “Does it contain chocolate?” We both would answer “Yes”. “Do they have peanuts?” Again we both answer, “Yes”. “How about caramel?” “Yes”. “Are they chewy?” “Yes”. “If they both contain chocolate is that chocolate on the outside of the candy bar?” “Yes”.

The researcher decides at this point that he has enough information and he concludes:

“You both have the same brand of candy bar”.

To verify his conclusion we open our hands and in mine there is a Snickers® and in yours is a Baby Ruth®. Up to this point all of our answers have been true so there is more than one truth. Where the researcher went wrong was that he didn’t follow through. He found similarities and made an early conclusion. In this case there were many truths but if he continued searching he would have revealed an ultimate truth. We both had candy bars and though similar they have differences that are irreconcilable.

From “The Quest for Spiritual Truth” by Randal S. Kinkade, copyright 2007.