Human love has little regard for the truth. It makes the truth

Hear the solemn words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the martyr-theologian who resisted tyranny with his life, who declared: “Human love has little regard for the truth. It makes the truth relative, since nothing, not even the truth, must come between it and the beloved person.” These words are not spoken lightly, for Bonhoeffer knew both the majesty and the danger of human love. He unveils here a paradox: that the power which makes love so fierce, so loyal, so unyielding, can also blind it to the eternal light of truth.

The meaning of his words is this: human love, bound by passion and loyalty, will often defend the beloved even against reality itself. A mother may deny the faults of her child, a friend may cover for the sins of his companion, a lover may refuse to see betrayal. In such moments, truth becomes relative, bent beneath the weight of devotion. Love refuses to let truth intervene, for to acknowledge it would mean facing pain, disappointment, or loss. Human love clings to its object, even if it must war against truth itself to do so.

The ancients knew of this blindness. The story of Oedipus is not only tragedy but also testimony: his mother Jocasta loved him so deeply she denied the truth of prophecy, insisting it was false, for to accept it meant to lose her beloved. So too, in countless tales of kings and heroes, loyalty to friend or family often led to ignoring hard truths, bringing ruin to all. Human love is mighty, but it is not always clear-eyed; it binds fiercely, but sometimes at the expense of justice and reality.

History gives us stark examples. Consider Cleopatra and Mark Antony, whose love defied Rome itself. Their passion was so consuming that they denied the truth of their political doom. Even as Octavian’s armies surrounded them, they clung to their devotion, making decisions not by reason or truth, but by the power of their bond. In the end, their love led them to noble but tragic deaths. Here, Bonhoeffer’s wisdom is illuminated: nothing, not even truth, could come between them and the beloved.

Yet Bonhoeffer, a man of faith, also saw the higher path. He believed that while human love may relativize truth, divine love upholds it. Human love says, “I will protect you even against the truth.” Divine love says, “I will love you through the truth, no matter how painful.” Human love clings to illusion if it must; divine love embraces reality, even when it wounds. Bonhoeffer saw this difference clearly as he opposed Hitler’s regime. Many Germans, out of love for their nation, denied the truth of its crimes. But Bonhoeffer, out of love grounded in truth, refused to compromise, even unto death.

The lesson for us is deep and demanding: cherish human love, but guard it from the blindness of falsehood. Do not let love become idolatry, exalting the beloved above reality itself. Instead, love with honesty, with courage, with devotion that does not hide from truth but endures it. True love is not fragile; it can face the hardest truth and still remain. To deny truth for the sake of love is to build a bond on sand; to embrace truth within love is to build on rock.

Therefore, O seeker, heed Bonhoeffer’s warning: human love has little regard for truth. Test your love—does it blind you, or does it purify you? Do not fear truth in your relationships; let it shape and strengthen them. Love fiercely, but also love wisely, with eyes open. For the greatest love is not that which hides from truth, but that which stands beside it, unyielding, even in the storm.