31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s seed and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”John 8:31-33 (LSB)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) neb·u·lous –adjective 1. hazy, vague, indistinct, or confused: a nebulous recollection of the meeting; a nebulous distinction between pride and conceit. 2. cloudy or cloudlike. 3. of or resembling a nebula or nebulae; nebular. [Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L nebulōsus full of mist, foggy, cloudy. See nebula, -ous]
—Related forms neb·u·lous·ly, adverb neb·u·lous·ness, noun
cer·tain·ty –noun, plural -ties. 1. the state of being certain. 2. something certain; an assured fact. —Idiom 3. for or of a certainty, certainly; without a doubt: I suspect it, but I don’t know it for a certainty. [Origin: 1250–1300; ME certeinte < AF, equiv. to certein certain + -te -ty2]
—Synonyms 1. certitude, assurance, confidence. See belief. 2. truth.
truth –noun, plural truths 1. the true or actual state of a matter: He tried to find out the truth. 2. conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement. 3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths. 4. the state or character of being true. 5. actuality or actual existence. 6. an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude. 7. honesty; integrity; truthfulness. 8. (often initial capital letter) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience: the basic truths of life. 9. agreement with a standard or original. 10. accuracy, as of position or adjustment. 11. Archaic. fidelity or constancy. —Idiom 12. in truth, in reality; in fact; actually: In truth, moral decay hastened the decline of the Roman Empire. [Origin: bef. 900; ME treuthe, OE tréowth (c. ON tryggth faith). See true, -th1]
—Related forms truthless, adjective truth·less·ness, noun
—Synonyms 1. fact. 2. veracity. 7. sincerity, candor, frankness. 10. precision, exactness. —Antonyms 1. falsehood. 2, 4, 7. falsity.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
I have always loved Astronomy. Looking into the sky at night in Oklahoma back in the mid to late 1950’s we could clearly see the Milky Way and planets and the constellations. This was before light pollution washed out the night sky. I remember seeing pictures in the library books I checked out on astronomy back then. I had no problem understanding the differences between stars, planets, comets, asteroids, meteors and meteorites. However, at that time, it seemed that there was still a great deal of conjecture about the nature of nebulas. Their explanations left me confused.