Searching for God-cleansing Truth

"Current use of the term 'true' (alethea, ἀλήθεια, truth) connotes acceptance of the recurrence of an event. This fact lies at the very base of statistical analysis in natural science1 . A similar usage of the term we find in logic. The conclusion of a syllogism may be deemed true, if the process of the act of the syllogism is correct. However, in both instances, i.e. in colloquial usage and in Aristotelian logic, the term 'true' is inappropriate as in all of these cases there is an implicit or explicit probabilistic qualification (to the extent that premises are empirically derived), and therefore the presence of the element of necessity cannot be justified. In contradistinction, in formal and mathematical systems the term 'true' is appropriate, as there is no need to resort to empirical verification of formal premises or of a conclusion reached through the rules of the formal system. I do not of course imply that a formal system may not, at times, with some ad hoc modifications, be applied on empirical events in the process of natural sciencemaking. However, instances of incongruity between the empirical and formal cannot be used as evidence of absence of truth in the formal system." More....

Read it at the Library of Harvard Divinity School