Your observation is quite accurate: there are those who use the word "truth" just as a label without being able to name it in their understanding, and there are those who believe truth can only mean certainty;- which does require belief that there is a perfectly clear way of doing things, and there is a certain style of life that is not in any error, and that truth and righteousness are in fact synonymous.
You get very clear glimpses of this level of understanding in alchemical thought; which was left behind when Science decided to "outgrow" philosophical cogency; the glaring mark of this would be Science's current incapability to understand mind (and merely generating endless descriptions does not mean you have accurately understood anything); when Science shows its ability to cure the mind, and not merely treat, then perhaps I would re-open the case of the endless materialistic accounting treadmill project.
I would advise you also to look at the article in the New Yorker (The truth wears off); and Bruce Liptons book on epigenetics (The biology of Belief) [or check out the DVD by the same name; it explores the philosophical knot (medical) science is in- but pretty sure this can be on some level generalized to most of Science that tries to put forward models that are incapable of actual understanding, albethem 'technically sweet'].
The Truth Wears Off - The New Yorker
