“True” and “Truth” are two of the most commonly used words within the LDS lexicon.  And yet, as with most all abstract terms, they are subject to differing interpretations.

The “One True Church” is a phrase is often used and just as often misunderstood.   (Previously--gratuitous link alert!--I wrote about how the important word in “one true church” is not "one" or "true", but “church”)

Making statements that the LDS Church is “true” inherently implies that all other churches are thus “not true”.  Many members get caught in the bind between making what sound to be exclusionary and offensive statements to members of other churches, and minimizing (or denying) the fundamental foundation of what the restored church of Jesus Christ claims to be.

What’s the right framework from which to understand “true” and “not true” in this context?  Let’s consider two mathematical problems:

x + 4 = 8, solve for x

x = y * y where y is an integer, and x < 50: find all values of x.

In the first problem, there are a number of possible values for ‘x’—an infinite number, in fact.   X could potentially be 1 or 4 or 17 or 18598.

Of course, math tells us that only one of these possible values for x is ‘true’ or ‘correct’.  Only x = 4 solves the equation x + 4 = 8 correctly, not x = 6, or x = 17, or x = 129.

Are there varying degrees of ‘wrongness’ among the incorrect answers?  In math, not really.  Someone may posit that if someone sincerely believes that x = 6, even if that isn’t entirely correct they are still a lot closer to the ‘true’ answer than someone else who believes x = 129.  However, within mathematics closeness doesn’t really mean much.  6 is still ‘not true’, just as much as 129 is ‘not true’—degrees of ‘wrongness’ are meaningless.

In the second problem, there are also an infinite number of possible values for x.  There is also one correct set of answers {1,4,9,16,25,36,49}, and any number of wrong answers.

However, because we’re working with a set of answers, the definition of ‘wrong’ is a little different here.  Someone who says the answer is {1,4,8,16,28,36,49} is not ‘correct’ in the absolute sense, but still has some correct elements within.

In this context, partial correctness matters, more so than the first problem.  Individually, {1}, {4}, and {16} are entirely and inarguably correct “answers” and should be recognized as such, even if the full solution remains out of their grasp.

So which is the most appropriate comparison when discussing churches and religion—the “you’re either right or you’re wrong” single answer problem, or the “set” problem, where the ‘correct’ solution is composed of a large group of ‘correct’ components, each one of which can be judged individually?

It seems obvious that the second model is the better fit:  religion is not composed of one single statement of fact, but rather a collection of individual doctrinal truths which can be considered separately.

Any religion, including Satanism, has “truth” in the sense that—from an LDS perspective—it contains “true” doctrine, even if it as simple as believing in a Supreme Being, and/or that life continues in some form after death.   Nothing in LDS doctrine teaches otherwise, although this does not stop many members from using the first model anyway—that since other churches are not “the true church” they are treated as if they have no truth or value at all. 

Why be more exclusionary than you need to be?  Recognizing that “truth” is a large set of individual “truths” allows even the most strident, gung-ho member to recognize and appreciate the truths in other religions without diminishing their own faith.

Now the other obvious principle here is that—according to LDS doctrine—Latter-Day Saints do not have a grasp of all truth anyway.

Compare to a different mathematical problem: looking for all values of x where x is a prime number.  There are an infinite number of prime numbers, so the set of “true” answers is also infinite.  Many primes are easy to find and understand, but once you get into primes that are over seven digits or higher (the largest known prime is 12 million digits long) they require some major math power to find. 

Since Latter-Day Saints by their own admission are constantly striving (and struggling) to find “truths” themselves to add to their mathematical solution, and the advanced answers are far beyond their mental capacity to begin with, it makes even less sense to phrase statements about “truth” in an exclusionary manner in terms of dismissing everyone else.

Everyone’s really in the same boat:  we're all trying to find truths about God and about ourselves to add to our personal data sets.  Recognizing that "truth" is not black and white, and that everyone has at least part of the answer helps to find common ground and build good relationships.