Print this page

Letter to the ephesians

Truth and falsehood Truth and falsehood

The Apostle Paul is the author of the Epistle to the Ephesians. In the Letter, he gives an exposition of what it means to live in Charity: Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, Ephesians 4:25.
Truth and falsehood are concepts previous than good and evil. Thomas Aquinas tells us that an object is good if before we know it, or to say it is true. The truth is accuracy and precision.
Good and evil are modes of discern, lifestyles, we sin or we live righteously. The first discernment is edifying and progressive the other, destructive, involuting and chaotic.  The good is also a nature, every being tends towards his own good or perfection: the fruit is good when it is mature, the house is good when it is finished. Continuing this idea the evil in change is not a nature, it is a deprivation of the good affected by falsehood.
The good is based on the truth, "who does the truth, walk in the light" John 3. Evil is based on falsehood and the lie is a byproduct.
The lies, the oppression, the  ignorance and the injustice are oppose to the divine providence and God's plan, the beatitudes. The life of who love and practices the falsehood is characterized by inconstancy. Edify, and not rely on what luck provides is the best choice. We have to choose between good and evil, we have to choose between the truth and the lie.