Selfishness as the Enemy of Truth

About Bishop St. Theophane the Recluse

About "old" and "new" calendar

August 14 (27)

ICor. 15:29-38; Mt. 21:23-27

The priests and the elders, having been asked by the Lord about St. John the Baptist, thought: “No matter how we answer, it puts us at a disadvantage”, — and choose to plead ignorance [Mt. 21:25-27]. Their self-interest bound their tongues, preventing them from telling the truth. Had they loved truth more than themselves, it would have been an altogether different story, an altogether different business. Selfishness eclipsed the truth, cut it off from the heart, halted the development of an honest view and rendered the heart insensitive to the truth.

And that's quite common: selfishness is the chief enemy of truth. All other enemies of truth follow in the wake of selfishness and rely on its help. If we looked into the origin of all follies and heresies, at the bottom of all we would discover selfishness. People sing praises to the truth, but when it comes to serious business, it turns out unsuitable for them in one way or another; so they set out to eliminate the truth, replacing it with a suitable lie.

Look, for instance, at the advocates of materialism and nihilism: why would anyone follow such teachings? Because the ideas of God, Creator, Provider and Judge, of a godlike human soul, do not let them follow their desires: so, they get rid of those ideas. From the weakness of their arguments one can clearly see how little they care about the truth: they have vested interest in proving their point and seek any shadow of evidence to rely upon. If they sobered up just a little, they would see their folly; but they are concerned with defending their interests and remain what they presently are.

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