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Facts
A fact is any thing done, or that comes to pass; an act; a deed; an effect produced or achieved; an event; reality; truth. Witnesses are introduced into court to prove a fact; to deny a fact knowingly is to lie. Truth is the true state of facts or things.
—Webster’s American Dictionary
A fact is information presented as objectively real; a real occurrence; an event; something having real, demonstrable existence; the quality of being real or actual.
—Oxford English Dictionary
Synonyms for fact include reality, truth, actuality, authenticity, factuality, materiality, verity, genuineness.—Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Facts always describe some relative facet of Truth.
—Edna Lister
A fact is a component of objective reality, not of subjective opinion or prejudice. Facts are the evidence of some universal or relative truth, and describe that truth in its state of being or in its action. Synonyms for facts include actuality, factuality, materiality, and reality.
To the travelers on the Via Christa, every fact is the embodiment of some eternal idea in external form. Those facts that do not seem to reflect the perfection of the Christ Mind, are the result of some embodied soul perverting the perfection of an idea. Fact, combined with Legend and Vision, forms the seventh lesser trinity of Via Christa Degrees, whose keynote is Relationship.
Edna Lister on Facts
Searching for facts is more profitable than jumping to conclusions. The conclusions unfold from the facts.–Edna Lister, Judgment, October 24, 1934
Truth is the sum total of facts and processes as they exist, move and are stated in principle. Truth about life is the sum total of facts and processes as you find them in life.–Edna Lister, "Problems," Life in a Nutshell, 1942
Truth is truth always and forever. No motive advanced, however unselfish it may sound, no sophistry offered by the self or subconscious mind can change the facts.—Edna Lister, July 19, 1945
Base your thinking on facts as far as possible. Do not permit emotions to rule when you are making decisions. Apply logic, reason, discernment, discrimination, and discretion to all the facts in the case. Listen closely to hear what the other fellow says and thinks, not what you think he said or thinks.–Edna Lister, November 14, 1947
You cannot take a new theory and say "this is it" while you upset the facts of truth established through the mysteries of the ages. The new must encompass, not discard the old.–Edna Lister, The Seven Churches, December 13, 1949
Without all the facts, you become very involved in self, and may fly off on a tangent, going far astray, having to retrace steps.–Edna Lister, June 12, 1959
Truth is a genuine standard of principles modified into laws for daily use. Both facts and reality must back your standard of truth; it may not be haphazard.–Edna Lister, I Am the Truth, October 11, 1959
Facts are of the world, and life is what you make it. Each interprets life’s facts to suit himself, optimistically or pessimistically. Society adopts its norms from outer facts, but factual conformity, without ideals or vision, leads to death. Conformity to facts makes for what the world calls the "practical" type. Plain earthly facts, rightly interpreted, can give you God in a rainbow, or a symphony. Yet opinions can distort these same facts and prejudices color them. So, each considers the facts and makes his god according to his relative estimation of truth, not necessarily on the absolute truth of reality. –Webster’s American DictionaryThose who say, "Nature is my god," are of the materialistic faction. The atheist makes a god of his facts and names that god "Nothing." He considers all his facts and comes up with the hole in the center of the doughnut. "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s."—Matthew 22:21. This means giving the facts of this world their due but no more.—Edna Lister, The 33 Degrees of Soul Conquering, November 3, 1959
Logic o’ershadows reason, gathers outer facts and fits them into place.–Edna Lister, June 28, 1960
You may not use two thirds of the facts, but must gather all the facts to have integration. Without all facts, you can be imbalanced by new facts for which you have no explanation.–Edna Lister, The Key to Integration of Soul and Spirit, June 6, 1961
Man is educated by facts, enabled by wisdom, but saved and justified by religious faith.–Edna Lister, Omnipresence as Time-Space Relationships, October 17, 1967
Linking the eternal truth of the Creator with the temporal truth (outer facts) of your problems causes you difficulties.–Edna Lister, The Seven Ultimate Natures of Deity, October 24, 1967
Reasoning is the ability to draw conclusions from previously assembled facts.–Edna Lister, November 25, 1969
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Edna Miriam Lister1884–1971
The original Pioneering Mystic,
Christian Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.
Etymology of fact: Latin factum, from facio, to make or do.
Fact is a Via Christa Degree.
References
Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, 2024.
The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2024
The Oxford English Dictionary: Compact Ed., 2 vols. E.S.C. Weiner, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971.
Webster, Noah. Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828.