Walter Ong in the present moment of truth

In The Presence of the Word (1967), Walter J. Ong provides a phenomenological account of human decision-making based on principles of orality. In his discussion, he considers the radically existential resonance of the familiar phrase ‘the moment of truth’ as a uniquely human event uniting human will and judgment in a decisive moment of thought and speech in action. This article explores the ground of Ong’s account in his work on orality, presence and personalism related to his Christian commitments to Incarnation as a personal union of time and eternity.